Recently an African American Dave Adali’s answer on Quora to "which is the most racist country you visited as a tourist?" turned attention to India. Adali’s long post detailed racism not just against Africans, or Black people, but also towards Indians who don’t have the right skin colour, belong to the wrong caste, religion etc. The post also mentions the respect accorded to people with white skin, however, in light of India’s obsession for fair skin.

Instances of racism especially against African in India are very commonplace, for this to be surprising. The Hindi term still in place to refer to them is the derogatory "Habshi" which has its origins in slavery.

In February this year a horrific incident was reported from Bengaluru where a 21-year-old Tanzanian woman was assaulted and stripped by a mob. The mob’s misplaced anger was unleashed on the woman student, after a Sudanese man’s car allegedly ran over and killed a local woman. The man’s car was set on fire but he managed to escape.

The Tanzanian woman along with her friends arrived at the site 30 minutes later, and became victims to the mob’s fury.

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Africans in India are often stereotyped as drug dealers, and some as even cannibals, we are told in the video below.

In January 2015 Delhi's then law minister Somnath Bharti carried out a midnight raid against a suspected "drug and prostitution ring" where several people of African origins were harassed and women molested. The raid was carried out in Khirki Extension in south Delhi and the effects of the raid led to many people being asked to vacate their rented premises.

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Despite this racism, a little known community of Africans has been living in India for centuries. Known as the Siddis, they are Indian in every way except for their looks which retain their African origins.

Brought to India by by Arab and Portuguese slavers across the Arabian Sea and many others who came as mercenaries and merchants, a few scattered tribes now remain in India.

Predominantly living in Gujarat and Karnataka, there are few remaining links between the communities, other than music. A fact that is brought up in the video below, where a BBC pop up team brings a student from Sierra Leone, Benjamin Pratt who is studying in India, face to face with this little known Siddi community.

Before the meeting with members of the Siddi community, Pratt and his friends detail the casual racism they face on a daily basis. Stela, from Angola says she is often propositioned by Indian men and that there is a perception that all Black women are prostitutes, she says.

Pratt says after meeting the Siddis that it "has given him hope that in the near future India will be a less racist society".

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