RESENTMENT TOWARD HINDUS EASED BY ASIAN RELIEF EFFORTS
Typically, Indian Hindus in many countries, and especially in Africa have created a lot of resentment against themselves due to the strategy of using local resources for economic gain while returning very little to the community. In the words of world traveling Swami Pragyanand in his interview this morning at Kauai Aadheenam,

"In Europe, Asians are classed as a whole group and there is a lot or resentment against them now. While this is largely due to the radical Muslim element, Indian Hindus too are also guilty. They use their earning power to establish a home with a car while the local native people still remain poor, traveling on buses and get jealous of the wealthy Asians who give nothing back to the community. It is particularly bad in Africa where there is a saying "Body in Kenya, heart in India, money in London." Yes, its true, they take their wealth out of the African countries. . ..I have told our Hindu devotees often, they have to stop this and contribute to the local community."

But Hindus showed a new face in their response to the bombing of the USA embassies in Kenya, as reported by Hinduism Today correspondent, Prabha Bharadwaj

All sects of Hindus were claiming a great contribution after the August 7
tragedy. Hinduism Today sought some independent opinions and confirmed
that Hindus generally, and the Hindu Council of Kenya in particular, were
one of the first groups to provide much-needed supplies and human power
at the disaster scenes.

Hinduism Todayspoke with
Mr. David Fox, Bureau Chief of Reuters in East Africa. He
was very positive about the Asian contribution [PrabhaÕs note: I have
confirmed Asians were Hindu] towards the relief and rescue operations.
He said, ÒFrom the outset, nothing was organized, but Asians, especially
Sikhs, were everywhere, picking rubble with their bare hands in an effort
to reach trapped people, who were mostly dead. There were hot meals
being served at the site for all the workers. As the rescue effort was
extremely haphazard, the Asian community took the lead and filled the
vacuum. Their contribution was impressive. They were everywhere,
donating blankets, blood, food, etc., and providing much-needed services.
The remarkable aspect is, usually during riots, this community is
targeted, so how come they were the first to come out to help in a
disaster situation? It is an established fact that African Kenyans
resent Asians for their success in all fields, professional, business,
etc.. I think by their contribution in this tragedy, they have done
enormous amount of good for themselves image-wise: even construction
companies brought their equipment, though it was not organized. But on
the whole the Asian community did a commendable job.Ó

When Ms. Andrea Useem, an American correspondent for the Boston Globe, a
US daily newspaper, arrived at the scene for the bomb blast at 9 PM that
Friday, the first thing she noticed was that most rescue workers and even
curious bystanders were Asians. The question in her mind arose: If most
of the victims were black Kenyans, why so many Asians on the scene?
Families of those still trapped in the collapsed Ufundi Cooperative House
were strangely absent from the scene. She interviewed several Asians and
learnt that many of the rescue workers came from the Hindu Council of
Kenya, which had cancelled its conference and diverted its resources to
help those involved in the tragedy. Ms. Useem told HT, ÒIt was amazing.
So many bad things are said about the Asian community under normal
circumstances, but in this situation, the same community was at the
forefront, providing relief in many ways. I wish more Kenyans took note of their contribution.Ó

She was also impressed by a follow-up medical treatment session organized
at Kenyatta National Hospital by the Hindu Council of Kenya. ÒNo Asians
died in the tragedy, and yet those doctors were donating their services
to the blast victims, who were black Kenyans. It was really nice to see
that in a country that is often so racially segragated.Ó

But it seems that many Kenyans did in fact note thevisible contribution
of the Asian community. In the respected weekly newspaper, the East
African, journalist John Kariuki argued that resentment towards the Asian
community Òsubsided considerablyÓ after the bomb attack. The article
quoted Dr. Samuel Gatere, a Nairobi psychologist: ÒTheir enthusiastic
participation in the rescue and treatment of the bomb victims has greatly
eased animosity towards them and was proof that local Asians consider
themselves true Kenyans.Ó

Send your news to: hotmasala@hindu.org