Indian minister starts Twitter debate on racism after asking people to say 'India loves you' to 'Africans'

A week after a series of attacks on Africans in Delhi, India's external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was trolled for a tweet asking Indians to shake hand and say "India loves you" every time they met an "African citizen". 

The tweet came a week after a Congolese man was beaten to death in Delhi, with two other attacks on people from Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa in the national capital and Hyderabad a few days later. The Indian government has promised action against the attackers after numerous African diplomats asked the government to take immediate steps to ensure the safety of their citizens, most of them students.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The attack comes a few months after a mob assaulted a group of Tanzanians in Bengaluru in February. The state government had denied that the attack was racist.

Yesterday, Swaraj had said that the attacks were "criminal" rather than "racial" in nature. "These were not premeditated acts against a particular community, rather these were spontaneous attacks perpetrated by anti-social and criminal elements,” Swaraj said in a statement. In another tweet, she promised to start sensitisation program "to reiterate that such incidents against foreign nationals embarrass the country."

However, several Twitter users pointed out the problems in her latest tweet.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.