MEA team to arrive in Benaluru to reassure African students

A five-member team from the Ministry of External Affairs, including the High Commissioner of Tanzania, will arrive in Bengaluru on Friday to reassure the African students in the wake of Sunday’s incident in which a Tanzanian woman was stripped and assaulted by a mob.

“The team will meet and assure the African students who are our guests. There are more than 5,000 African students studying in various institutions across the country. This is a regrettable incident, but an isolated one,” Vikas Swarup, MEA spokesperson, said here on Thursday.

The government’s efforts in describing the Bengaluru incident as a stray case without any racial undertone comes against the backdrop of terse criticism from the Tanzanian High Commissioner John W H Kijazi who described the mob attack and assault on the young woman and her friends as a racial one.

Kijazi said the victims alleged that they were attacked because they were black and it was a case of racial discrimination. “Everybody is entitled to their own assessment, but there is an element of mob justice and racism. That’s my assessment. She was



attacked because she was black like the guy who caused the accident,” he said.

The reason behind delayed police action, Swarup said, was because the girl filed the complaint two days after the incident.

Besides the Tanzanian High Commissioner, other members in the Central team are senior MEA officials and the regional director of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, which is in touch with the foreign students.

The MEA team’s plan to travel to Bengaluru was firmed up at a review meeting chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who received a report from the Bengaluru police commissioner about the incident. Sushma also spoke to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to ensure safety and security of all foreign students in the State.

Earlier, the High Commission of Tanzania in India sent a “note verbale” about the attack on African students in Bengaluru to the MEA, asking the government to follow up on the matter and take necessary legal action against those involved in such attacks and to ensure safety and security of all African students in India.