Skip to main content

NOT AGAIN

The "second-class" citizen nature of Nigerians living in India was again brought to the fore this week after the police in Vashi, Mumbai, failed to register any complaint against a mob of over 100 people who nearly lynched Onouha Lucky.

The mob attack on 24-year-old Nigerian occurred after he had a petty squabble over N13 (about Rs5) with a shoeshine vendor.

Lucky asked the cobbler, identified as Sheshrao Purbe, to polish his shoes.

Purbe narrated that he usually charged N26 (about Rs 10), but the Nigerian threw Rs 5 at him.

This led to an argument and Purbe was punched hard on his face. The fight between the two soon attracted a crowd and a mob surrounded the alien.

The angry mob started slapping and punching Lucky. He ran into the Vashi railway station and hid himself in a foodstall to save himself from being lynched. However, he had been spotted by someone, and the mob continued beating Lucky for about 15 minutes before the police rescued him.

The embattled Nigerian was sent to 2-week custody on Tuesday for assaulting the cobbler but the police failed to register any complaint against the mob of over 100 people who had attacked the Nigerian.

"Although it was wrong on part of the Nigerian to hit the cobbler, it was equally wrong on part of the mob to badly beat up the Nigerian and tear his clothes. Therefore, he too has the right to lodge a complaint against the mob, but Vashi police has not done so," RTI activist and lawyer, Vinod Gangwal, commented.

It would be noted that the Times of India (TOI) photographer, K K Choudhary, was attacked by a few persons from the same mob which was hitting the Nigerian, as they were afraid that their illegal act would be caught on camera and published in the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the cobbler, Purbe, told TOI that the municipal hospital at Vashi have recommended an X-ray of his three front teeth which were affected after he was punched by the Nigerian.

Purbe's medical report states that his front teeth are showing 'Grade 1 mobility' (slight loosening due to the fight).

It would be recalled that another act of discrimination against Nigerians in India took place about one and a half months ago, as Nigerian was beaten in Goa.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Sphere

Photograph by Elena Saavedra Buckley. Once when I was about twelve I was walking down the dead-end road in Albuquerque where I grew up, around twilight with a friend. Far beyond the end of the road was a mountain range, and at that time of evening it flattened into a matte indigo wash, like a mural. While kicking down the asphalt we saw a small bright light appear at the top of the peaks, near where we knew radio towers to occasionally emit flashes of red. But this glare, blinding and colorless, grew at an alarming rate. It looked like a single floodlight and then a tight swarm beginning to leak over the edge of the summit. My friend and I became frightened, and as the light poured from the crest, our murmurs turned into screams. We stood there, clutching our heads, screaming. I knew this was the thing that was going to come and get me. It was finally going to show me the horrifying wiring that lay just behind the visible universe and that was inside of me too. And then, a couple se
Post a Comment
Read more

The Rejection Plot

Print from Trouble , by Bruce Charlesworth, a portfolio which appeared in The Paris Review in the magazine’s Fall 1985 issue. Rejection may be universal, but as plots go, it’s second-rate—all buildup and no closure, an inherent letdown. Stories are usually defined by progress: the development of events toward their conclusions, characters toward their fates, questions toward understanding, themes toward fulfillment. But unlike marriage, murder, and war, rejection offers no obstacles to surmount, milestones to mark, rituals to observe. If a plot point is a shift in a state of affairs—the meeting of a long-lost twin, the fateful red stain on a handkerchief—rejection offers none; what was true before is true after. Nothing happens, no one is materially harmed, and the rejected party loses nothing but the cherished prospect of something they never had to begin with. If the romance plot sets up an enticing question—Will they or won’t they? — the rejection plot spoils everything upfront:
Post a Comment
Read more

On the Distinctiveness of Writing in China

Yan Lianke at the Salon du Livre, 2010. Photograph by Georges Seguin, via Wikimedia Commons . Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED . When I talk to non-Chinese readers like yourselves, I often find that you are interested in hearing about what distinguishes me as an author but also what distinguishes my country—and particularly details that go beyond what you see on the television, read about in newspapers, and hear about from tourists. I know that China’s international reputation is like that of a young upstart from the countryside who has money but lacks culture, education, and knowledge. Of course, in addition to money, this young upstart also has things like despotism and injustice, while lacking democracy and freedom. The result is like a wild man who is loaded with gold bullion but wears shabby clothing, behaves rudely, stinks of bad breath, and never plays by the rules. If an author must write under the oversight of this sort of individual, how should that author evaluate, discu
Post a Comment
Read more