Abstract
In May 2016 the murder of Masonga Kitanda Olivier, a 23-
year-old Congolese French teacher in New Delhi, India turned
the lens on racism and discrimination on African nationals
living in India. In the week after Olivier’s death, two further
incidents against foreign nationals were reported. In
Hyderabad, a Nigerian male was beaten up and hospitalised
and in the south Delhi area, three separate attacks on nine
African nationals, including four women and a boy took place.
These attacks are not new and such incidents have been
reported since 2013. While these attacks have been reported,
many such incidents go unreported and daily incidents of
racism continue unabated. The attacks against African
nationals highlight incidents of discrimination experienced by
African students and workers on the Indian sub-continent.
Govindarajan (2016) argues that the government seems
unwilling to acknowledge that xenophobia might be rife within
its communities; instead it seeks to implement short term
measures as opposed to long-term.