A concerted effort needed by the Indian govt, and Indian citizens, intellectuals, and artists to make Africans feel safe in India (Jael Silliman)

[ . . . ] A much more concerted effort must be made by the Indian government, and Indian citizens, intellectuals, and artists to make Africans feel safe in India. The police too, who are often implicated in these racist incidents, must be trained, and issues of racism within the force seriously prosecuted. Students on Indian campuses must be made aware of racism towards foreign students and shown that it is no different from the racism faced by Indian students abroad, which India so vehemently denounces. In addition, for a country of India’s size and given the increasing number of Africans coming to India to study and for medical tourism, a far wider cultural engagement with the continent is necessary not only to combat the malevolent racism, but also to expand the global horizons of the Indian public.

Jael Silliman is an author, scholar, and women’s right activist

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