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Tanzanian high commissioner part of team from Centre probing attack on African student

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 14 February 2017, 5:35 IST

Though the Congress-led government in Karnataka has said that the Sunday incident in which a Tanzanian woman was attacked by a mob and then stripped and paraded in Bengaluru was a law and order problem rather than one of racism, the high commissioner of Tanzania will be among a team from the Centre to visit Karnataka and investigate the matter, reports The Hindustan Times.

The woman, who was with three other Tanzanian students were travelling in their car near a spot where a Sudanese driver had run over a woman just a few minutes earlier. The woman was hauled out of her car, assaulted, stripped and paraded naked, even though she had appealed to some local policemen for help. The students later claimed that the police had initially refused to file an FIR in the matter, and that they were threatened by officers not to speak about the incident.

Tanzanian high commissioner John Kizagi said the woman and her co-passengers were attacked "simply because they were black".

The issue has become one of international significance since about 5,000 students from Africa are in educational establishments all over India. Most African students have alleged that they have faced much racism in India.

The Ministry of External Affairs has threatened stringent action against the offenders. "A team is going to Bengaluru tomorrow which includes the high commissioner of Tanzania, who is also dean of the African diplomatic corps," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

The BJP has called this incident "a racial attack". Its spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should have removed chief minister Siddaramaiah. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has asked for a report from the state government.

Union home minister of state Kiren Rijiju said: "For 200 years, India was enslaved by foreigners. We have been fighting racial discrimination. But in India itself, if there is racial discrimination, the government will take it very seriously."

First published: 5 February 2016, 9:13 IST