INDIA AND RACISM

Following the 'racist' gestures aimed at Andrew Symonds in the Mumbai onedayer, a natural reaction is, "These Aussies are so racist. It's high time we give them a taste of their own medicine."

Yes, Australian cricketers have been guilty of overt racism, be it Dean Jones referring to bearded South African Hashim Amla as 'looking like a terrorist' on air, or Darren Lehmann hollering black c***, aimed at the Sri Lankans. And then there's covert racism, where Indian and Sri Lankan players are also no angels. Racist abuse has become part and parcel of sledging, regrettable as it may sound.

But the 'monkey gestures' of the Indian fans at the Wankhede Stadium reinforce the very premise of racism - target only those who can be painted as inferior and primitive. So Andrew Symonds with Aborigine roots is the butt of ridicule. A mirror to a society with deep-rooted caste and religious prejudices.

Indians across the world would be happy to be associated with whites, but when it comes to blacks it's suspicion and disdain. Ranging from South Africa to Uganda, Black Africans have been wary of Indian-origin people, who from the colonial days considered themselves higher in the social scale. Some day I would like to see a film on an African-American in love with an Indian and how the parents react. The one such film I had seen, Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala had given the 'Indians driven out of Idi Amin's Uganda' context to explain the dislike.

The Australian media may have overreacted with ridiculous statements like 'Mumbai fans have a reputation for racist abuse towards visiting players' but the incident and the selective targeting of Symonds can't be washed away. Poking fun is one thing (extending even to calling Inzamam aloo) but creating notions of superiority and inferiority is something else.