David Amum has not changed his apartment ever since he settled in the city five years ago. He never felt the need to. A month back he was asked if he could vacate. The only reason being, he is an African.
David hails from South Sudan and is an engineering student at SEA College in K R Puram. Ever since his arrival in July 2012, he has been living comfortably in his apartment and never had an urge to move out from the residential building, he says.
A month back, a local couple decided to move in to the building. They had paid a three-month-advance to the landlord and were set to move in when the couple saw David standing outside the residential building. They asked the landlord if there was an African residing in the building. When the landlord said yes, the couple said they could not move in the same building.
“The couple came to see the house a night before moving in and when they saw David they changed their mind. They said they could not sleep in the same building as an African. I could not ask David to move out because he is a very disciplined boy so I returned their advance,” says Joseph Ravi, the landlord.
David says the landlord told him to meet at 11 am the next day and asked when he would vacate the house in front of the couple. The landlord later told him that he wanted to show the couple that David is a polite person and not a threat to them.
“The locals are afraid of us and we are afraid of them,” says David. “They will believe what is shown on TV or the news and stereotype Africans as drug dealers and rapists. They will not look at the aspect where I have befriended so many locals,” he adds.
David believes that communication gap between the communities is the root cause of the problem so he came up with an initiative to have a face-to-face dialogue between the two communities.
“Peaceful coexistence is needed as it is it is too late for Bengaluru to say I do not want foreigners,” he says.
The peaceful co-existence will be attained through dialogue and not by beating and accusing foreigners, Amum believes.
Last year’s incident of a Tanzanian student being beaten up and stripped by the locals is enough proof on the strained relationship Africans share with the locals. Communication is a long awaited solution to the problem. The Africans were in countable numbers in 2010 and 2011. Students from Africa started pouring in the city since 2013 mainly because the embassy started recommending Bengaluru as an ideal destination for students. David wanted to go to Delhi, but he was told that Bengaluru is a much “safer” and a “better” option.
It was not only the incident of couples that prompted him to come up with the necessity of dialogue.
“We were not raised in this culture and they were not raised in ours. So there are chances that they may not like what we do,” he says.
Giving an example he cites that Africans often come home and as a stress buster listen to African songs and beats. The neighbours complain of loud music, often addressing it as “noise”.
“What is noise to you is music for me. If you tell me to reduce the music, I will, but do not tell me to shut it because that way I will feel restricted in the comfort of my own home,” Amum shares.
A talk between African students and the locals in the city happened for the first time on February 17 at Amnesty International, Indiranagar. The idea was to see each others’ point of view and open a regular dialogue for the sake of mutual acceptance.
“It is not about Indians versus the Africans or locals versus the foreigners, but it is about what is right and what is wrong,” concludes David.
Source: What is noise to you is music to me, says victimised african student- The New Indian Express
