Following the furore over a Tanzanian student attacked by a mob in Bengaluru, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday called on the nation to learn a lesson from the unfortunate incident and fight against such kind of 'prejudice' from spreading across the nation.
"We must take a lesson from this and ensure that that this kind of prejudice should not be allowed to flower in the country," Swamy told ANI.
However, he emphasized that India can't be given a lecture over the Bengaluru incident since the country has had a record of being hospitable to all foreigners.
"What happened in Bangalore is not particular to India and nobody can give us a lecture, but that does not mean that it should happen. We have a long record to being hospitable to all foreigners who come here to learn something from us," Swamy added.
Meanwhile, Tanzania ambassador to India, John WH Kijazi, left for Bengaluru along with a delegation of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to take stock of the situation in the state.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took a high level meeting yesterday in view of the incident which was attended by the Foreign Secretary, following which she sought a detailed report from Commissioner of Bengaluru on the incident.
Expressing regret over the incident, External Affairs Ministry official spokesperson Vikas Swarup assured necessary legal action against the culprits.
The Home Ministry has also sought a report from the Karnataka government over the incident. It has also sought details of steps taken for the protection of the victim.
Five people have been arrested so far in connection with assault on the Tanzanian student.
Tanzanian High Commissioner John WH Kijazi earlier said that 'mob justice' and 'racism' led to the unfortunate incident.
He, however, acknowledged the fact that authorities were showing great concern over the unfortunate incident and have given assurance that justice would be done.
The Tanzanian student was beaten and then stripped by a group of locals in Bengaluru after they assumed she was part of an incident in which a Sudanese man had run over a local woman.
The incident took place on Hesaraghatta Road in Bengaluru on Saturday night after a Sudanese national ran his car over a 35-year-old woman resulting in on the spot death of the woman.
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The Tanzanian student was travelling in another car, a Wagon-R, along with four others. The young woman, who arrived on the spot around 30 minutes later, was dragged out of the car and paraded naked after being stripped by the mob.
The victim told the police in her complaint that when she tried to get on a bus in order to escape the assault, people on the bus pushed her back towards the mob.
