In the wake of attacks on Nigerians in Greater Noida, the Delhi Police on Wednesday organised a meeting with people from African nations in an attempt to assure them that everything is being done to ensure their safety in the Capital.
“Many of them pointed out the language problem. They said that whenever there’s a scuffle, locals blame them without knowing their side of the story because they can’t understand English,” said ADCP (South) Chinmoy Biswal, adding that to solve the problem, police officials that come to the scene can communicate in English. The meeting was held at the NSU Auditorium in south Delhi.
Mr. Biswal added that through the meeting, junior police officials got a fair idea of what line of action to take in matters involving Africans.
After the raid in Khirki Extension by former Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti in January 2014 and murder of Congolese teacher Masonda Ketanda Olivier in 2016, the police said they had taken several measures to make Africans feel safe in the city.
“In their respective districts, senior police officials have been holding meetings with Africans and local residents in order to sensitise both. The last meeting was a couple of months ago where some of them told us about problems with the landlord and we addressed them,” said JCP (South Eastern Range) R. P. Upadhyay, who has been appointed the Nodal Officer for the initiative.
Delhi Police Public Relations Officer Madhur Verma said that the police makes sure that senior officers monitor complaints, which involve Africans.
‘Little has been done’
However, Samuel Jack, president of the Association of African Students in India, said that the police has been able to do little to make them feel safe.
“There have been only two meetings in the past one year, one in April and the other in January, wherein the police wanted to know how the situation is,” Mr. Jack said, adding that in the second meeting, no Indians were present.
“I am not aware of any meetings that have happened in localities. However, when we tell them about our issues, they tell us those issues are not under their control,” Mr. Jack said.
