Attack on Nigerian nationals in India not 'racially motivated': Vice President Ansari

Onboard Air India One, Sept. 26 (ANI): Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari on Monday said that the repeated attacks of the Nigerian nationals in India were just "stray incidents" and were neither specific to citizens of any particular country nor racially motivated. Addressing the media onboard Air India Special Flight on way to a five-day visit to Nigeria and Mali, Vice President Ansari said that it was however important to note that the law enforcement agencies had quickly responded wherever and whenever such incidents had taken place. On reported attacks on Nigerian nationals in India, the Vice President said that these were stray incidents and were not specific to citizens of any particular country nor racially motivated. What was however important to note, he stressed was that law enforcement agencies had quickly responded wherever and whenever such incidents had taken place. On May 20 this year, a Congolese national in New Delhi was beaten to death by three men, after an altercation over hiring of an auto-rickshaw in the Vasant Kunj area turned violent. Immediately following this, at least seven Africans, including four women, were allegedly attacked and racially abused by a mob in Rajpur Khurd village in South Delhi's Mehrauli. The two incidents prompted the 54-member African Group of Heads of Mission in Delhi to cancel the Africa Day celebrations in their embassies. They also came close to pulling out of the celebrations conducted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). (ANI)