External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday met African students to soothe frayed nerves, urging that all criminal acts should not be construed as racial attacks and the government's outreach resulted in the agitated students calling off the protest planned for Tuesday .
African students called off a protest march after assurances from the MEA of a speedy trial in the case of Congolese student Masonda Olivier, who was brutally murdered last month. The decision followed strenuous efforts by the foreign ministry to assure African nationals that their grievances would be addressed.
Swaraj said the government is committed to fast tracking trial in the case of killing of Olivier and “harshest possible punishment“ for the culprits. Terming the killing of Olivier “barbaric“, the minister however, said, “it is not a case of racial crime as the CCTV footage shows that there were local residents who tried to save Olivier were also attacked.“
Swaraj, along with her colleague V K Singh, foreign secretary S Jaishankar and other senior officials, met a group of African envoys and students who raised concerns over safety and security to which she assured that government was working on a “major strategy“ under which an institutional mechanism will be put in place.
The foreign secretary had also met African representatives on Monday while President Pranab Mukherjee has expressed his concern over the incidents and pointed to the long running cultural and diplomatic ties between India and Africa.
Swaraj reached out to African students in India saying as a mother, she could understand the pain of someone who loses a son on foreign soil. It would be a traumatic experience, she said, but added, “These were not premeditated acts against a particular community , rather these were spontaneous attacks perpetrated by criminal elements.“
African students called off a protest march after assurances from the MEA of a speedy trial in the case of Congolese student Masonda Olivier, who was brutally murdered last month. The decision followed strenuous efforts by the foreign ministry to assure African nationals that their grievances would be addressed.
Swaraj said the government is committed to fast tracking trial in the case of killing of Olivier and “harshest possible punishment“ for the culprits. Terming the killing of Olivier “barbaric“, the minister however, said, “it is not a case of racial crime as the CCTV footage shows that there were local residents who tried to save Olivier were also attacked.“
Swaraj, along with her colleague V K Singh, foreign secretary S Jaishankar and other senior officials, met a group of African envoys and students who raised concerns over safety and security to which she assured that government was working on a “major strategy“ under which an institutional mechanism will be put in place.
The foreign secretary had also met African representatives on Monday while President Pranab Mukherjee has expressed his concern over the incidents and pointed to the long running cultural and diplomatic ties between India and Africa.
Swaraj reached out to African students in India saying as a mother, she could understand the pain of someone who loses a son on foreign soil. It would be a traumatic experience, she said, but added, “These were not premeditated acts against a particular community , rather these were spontaneous attacks perpetrated by criminal elements.“
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