Congolese man’s murder: Govt faces tough questions from African diplomats
The Indian government
is facing tough questions from the African diplomatic community that has
decided to stay away from this year’s Africa Day celebrations to protest
against the murder of a Congolese national in Delhi and harassment of African
students in various parts of the country.
Even as the Narendra
Modi government seeks to woo the 54-nation African continent and wants more
African students to study in India, heads of missions said they might ask their
governments not to send new students.
Congo’s Masonda Ketada
Oliver, 29, was beaten
to death by three men around 11.30pm on Friday after an altercation
over hiring an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area in
south Delhi.
“The Group of African
Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this latest incidence
in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been
subjected to in the last several years,” a statement by Alem Tsehage Woldemariam,
ambassador of Eritrea and the dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission,
said late Tuesday night. “They strongly condemn
the brutal killing of this African and call on the Indian government to take
concrete steps to guarantee the safety and security of Africans in India.” Read more: