Racism and Mob Violence: Where is India Headed?

What allows a mob to gather, assault & humiliate people for their nationality, religion, caste or skin color?

What allows a mob to gather, assault & humiliate people for their nationality, religion, caste, gender or skin color. (Photo: The Quint)

Mob violence is a disease, and no part of India is immune.

On 31st January, a Sudanese college student in Bengaluru drove his car into a couple, killing the woman. He was allegedly drunk.

A mob soon gathered, dragging the Sudanese student out of the car and beating him up brutally. Minutes later, his friend, a Tanzanian girl, who got there AFTER the accident, was targeted by the mob. Stripped and ‘paraded’ on the street as punishment.

This is hardly the first time that Africans have been assaulted.

In 2014, three African students were attacked at the Rajiv Chowk Metro station in Delhi by a mob. In 2012, a Burundi national studying at Jalandhar’s Lovely Professional University was brutally beaten by nine locals, most of them from well-to-do families. And in 2011, Bengaluru pubs put in place a blatantly discriminatory policy, barring entry to Africans.

There are two very important and connected issues at stake. Why is it that we hate so much and so easily? If someone, anyone, commits a crime just go to the police. What allows a mob to gather and assault and humiliate people for their nationality, religion, caste, gender or skin colour?

Whatever happened to Atithi Devo Bhava??

(Video Editing: Sashant Kumar)