http://theconversation.com/how-india-can-stem-the-rising-scourge-of-racism-against-africans-61820
"The country is home to a significant migrant population, most of it from the neighbouring countries in South Asia. In 2010, there were 5.4 million foreign-born people in the country. The number of Africans in India is estimated to be about 40 000, of whom 25 000 are students.
Yet, these small numbers are significant for the growing relations between India and Africa. The Indian government has been announcing scholarships, grants and credit lines for Africa against the backdrop of the India-Africa Forum summits. In spite of these efforts to woo Africa, the government is in denial about racist attacks against Africans in India.
Despite this, stereotyping of Africa is common. African countries are often insidiously used as a metaphor for under-development. And Africans in India are associated with labels such as “debased” as well as “drug-peddling and prostitution”. These stereotypes are constructs of economic hierarchy coloured in racist hues.
Crime and prejudice in India
Racial violence has its parallels in other forms of violence in India. The prejudice runs across multiple channels from caste, region, religion to gender. Sporadic violence against “vulnerable” groups – including black people, white women, Indian women, minorities and the lower castes – is commonplace. The foreigner thus gets caught up in the social hierarchies of the country.
This was apparent in the mob attack against African students in the Delhi metro in 2014 by a crowd chanting nationalist slogans. The ostensible reason for the attack was that the African males had misbehaved towards an Indian woman, even though the police have no register of such a complaint.
The recent attack on a young Tanzanian woman student in Bangalore allegedly happened under the watch of a police constable who did nothing to stop it. She was stripped by a mob that sought justice for a road accident in which a Sudanese national’s car ran over a local woman."
