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Sheeba Rani's parents blessed
the couple saying the marriage was God's wish
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Sheeba
Rani has been ostracised by many friends and relatives for marrying Nigerian
Sambo Davis
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Africans staying in and around India's
commercial capital, Mumbai (Bombay), complain of indiscriminate racism and
constant police harassment, reports the BBC's Zubair Ahmed.
Nigerian Sambo Davis is married to an
Indian woman and lives in Mumbai. All his documents are valid, but he was
arrested by the police recently on suspicion of being a drug dealer.
He and 30 other black Africans were
detained for hours before they were let off with an apology. But the following
day, Mr Davis said that he was shocked to read in local newspapers that they
were "arrested for drug peddling".
"The police treat us Africans like
dogs," he says.
Mr Davis claims he often faces
discrimination when he goes to restaurants or when he tries to rent an
apartment in gated middle-class communities. But he is nevertheless one of the
lucky ones. He found a decent flat to rent, thanks to his Indian wife.
But his fellow countrymen, he says,
still face discrimination: "When they go to rent flats in a normal
building they are told - 'you are a black man, you are Nigerian, and you are
not wanted'. This is racism."
'Hide
and seek'
There is no official data on how many
Africans live in Mumbai, but since India's economic progress gathered momentum
in recent years, many have come to work in and around the city. Unofficial
estimates put their numbers at more than 5,000.
Most of them are engaged in exporting
garments to Nigeria and other African countries. Many others are students,
enrolled in the region's prestigious educational institutions.
But there are also hundreds of
Africans, mostly Nigerians, who live as illegal immigrants in India. They have
either "lost" their passports or their visas have
"expired".
Every day, these people play
hide-and-seek with the police - if they are caught, they are sent to jail.
Ikeorah Junior from Lagos runs a cafe
for Africans in a crowded market on Mumbai's Mohammed Ali Road.
"I don't understand why they
[police] have to go from house to house to arrest the people who don't have
their papers. If they don't have papers, then deport them, don't put them in
jail," he says.
Ahmed Javed, who is in charge of
maintaining law and order in the state of Maharashtra, says it is not that
simple: "In most cases they have no passports. So, unless their
nationalities are determined, they cannot be deported."
Dozens of Africans have taken up
residence on Mira Road, a dusty, nondescript town just outside Mumbai. One
"illegal immigrant" there asked me for money, claiming he had not
eaten for two days.
He looked worried and told me that he
had been approached by drug dealers to work for them.
"I have been here for three years
- my visa expired a long time ago. I want to go back home. Please help me,
brother," he tells me.
In this neighbourhood, Negro or kaalia
(black in Hindi) are the two words indiscriminately used to describe all black
people.
"We call them Negro because they
are black. They look frightening," says one woman.
"They don't find homes to rent in
Mumbai, they only stay in Mira Road. Why? Because of the way they behave. They
sell drugs and indulge in other illegal activities. They cannot be
trusted," a local man commented, seemingly unaware of the offensive nature
of his words.
'Embarrassed
and ashamed'
Against such a backdrop of pronounced
prejudice, Sheeba Rani married Sambo Davis four years ago and the couple have
two children.
Mrs Davis says her parents are
enlightened Christians and they blessed them because they thought the marriage
was God's wish.
But, she says, she has been ostracised
by many friends, relatives and society since her marriage. Mrs Davis is "embarrassed and ashamed"
by the behaviour of the Indian people towards black Africans.
"When I used to go to a mall or if
I walked with him, I always wanted him to hold my hand. But when people saw me
with him, they thought I was from a bad family or even a prostitute."
Earlier, she did not understand why
black people were being looked down upon, but now she says she does.
"Because our society is obsessed
with white skin. If I had married a white man, I would have gained more friends
and society's approval too."
Mr Davis believes that the
discrimination is solely "because I am a black man".
"It's because I am from Africa, I
am a Nigerian. I think Indians see us as inferior."
Yet despite the discrimination they
face, nearly all Africans the BBC interviewed said they had a soft spot for
their adopted country.
They say the relations between India
and Africa are "rock solid". Many argued that Indians and Africans
are brothers.
"We look after Indians in our
countries. They have become rich there. All we want here is for Indians to
understand we are not drug dealers. We are not violent. We are just like
them."
This piece first appeared in April, 2013.
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