Overseas students in B'luru seek respect, support from locals

Students from various countries, pursuing their education at various colleges in the City, on Saturday joined hands with African students in condoling the death of Shabana Taj, the woman who was fatally knocked down by a car driven by a Sudanese student on Hesaraghatta Main Road on January 31, 2016.

The overseas students, at the same time,  urged the locals to treat them with dignity and respect.

Mubarak Abdullah, a Sudanese student of East Point College at Avalahalli said, “We are gathered here to express solidarity with the family of the victim. At the same time one must understand that we  need help and support from the locals to live here,” he said.  
    
A demonstration was staged at Freedom Park on Saturday by around 100 students from various African nations as well as those from Afghanistan, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Nepal to name a few, under the aegis of the World Organisation of Students and Youth.

Rabia Mirzaia, an Afghan student pursuing her BSc at Brindivan College, Hebbal, said that while she felt sympathised with the victim’s family, there should be a rule of law to prevent excesses. “Justice should definitely be done to the victim’s family. However, they should also remember that we are like their guests and people here need to respect us,” she said.

Mohammed Nahbill of Mauritius, a third year student at Acharya Institute, said, “I cannot imagine that in a society that treats its women as a goddess, a woman was stripped and treated badly just because she is a black. This is unfair. People cannot work on the basis of stereotypes.”

Another student Utsava Dahal from Nepal said: “It is utterly unacceptable what has happened to the family, however what happened to the Tanzanian girl is disgraceful and illegal. Both sides deserve justice.” 
 
Apart from foreign students, there were a few Indian students who were also part of the demonstration. Warisha Faiz, a student from Allahabad said: “If I do something wrong why should someone else get punished for it ? It was a similar case with the Tanzanian girl,” she said.

Earlier in the day, another demonstration took place at Town Hall.
DH News Service