Tazanian attacked in Bengaluru: Condemn it but don't jump the gun

Thank you John H W Kijazi for clearing out that the attack on the Tanzanian student was not a racist attack but an isolated incident. Kijazi the high commissioner of Tanzania declined to say that the attack on the Tanzanian girl was a racist attack.

Let us first start off by first condemning this deplorable incident in which a woman was assaulted by a bunch of goons who were protesting an accident. The Bengaluru police have been stating since day one that it was a reaction to an accident.

The same was seconded by Kijazi and Partha Sathpathy the MEA joint secretary who visited Bengaluru on Friday. Both said that the attack was not racist and it was an isolated incident which also lauding the efforts of the Karnataka government in probing the case.

Politicising and communalising the incident

When the incident took place and was first reported, the social media went wild. There was every effort made to communalise the incident. Then came the government bashing.

What needs to be taken into account that such an incident would have taken place irrespective of any government in power. The worst that one got to witness was that it was a racial attack.

Now to call it racial is taking matters a bit too far. While it was Kigazi himself who first called it a racial attack, he was quick to change his stance after he visited Bengaluru yesterday. Let us accept this fact that Bengaluru is one of the better cities in the country to live in.

Before hurling allegations of racism, one needs to bear in mind that It has a bad impact on the country. Those residing outside the country do not treat Bengaluru as a Congress or BJP ruled city. They look at it as being part of India. Hence such allegations were really not the need of the hour.

The real culprits

The real culprits in this incident are those police personnel who were at the spot that night. There was a night patrol vehicle which ought to have ensured that the girl was protected. As per the investigations the mob first attacked the driver of the car in which the girl was present.

The police who were at the spot decided to take the driver of the car to the hospital. They left behind one constable at the spot. It is quite surprising that they decided to leave behind only one constable at the spot especially when they knew the girl was present and not to forget the unruly mob. That one constable was clearly in no position to control the mob and save the girl.

The government has suspended two cops for dereliction of duty and let us hope the strongest of action is taken against them. This was clearly no way of handling the situation. On the investigation front the arrests have been quick. So far nine persons have been arrested and the police say that they are looking for six more.