- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Amid concerns over at least 31 people from the Hakki Pikki tribe from the southern Indian state of Karnataka left stranded in Sudan where a fierce battle has started between its military and paramilitary forces on Saturday (15) and foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar slamming an opposition leader in the state accusing him of politicising the incident, one of the tribals said he was born poor but did not want to die poor.
Prabhu S, who is a member of the Hakki Pikki tribe and hails from Davangere district of Karnataka, told The Indian Express that he did not want to die poor and wanted to give his children a better future which is why he went to the north African nation.
“I was born poor, but I don’t want to die poor. I wanted to provide a better life for my children, which is why we came to Sudan,” Prabhu, 36, told the Indian daily over telephone.
Prabhu left India with his wife Soniya, 26, 10 months ago while their minor children, aged between 14 and five, stayed back.
“From my father, we inherited 4.5 acres, but it was taken away from the government, which said it was forest land. My ancestors hunted and caught birds; we did not get any education. We thought of coming to Sudan so we can grow financially,” he was further quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
The couple reportedly sell ayurvedic products in Sudan. According to them, the demand for such products is high in Sudan and Africa in general.
Anil Kumar is another tribal man who runs a similar business in Sudan. He told the daily that their tribe has been neglected for a long time and they had no option but to go to African nations for livelihood.
Prabhu said with the employment scenario bleak in India and his loans soaring, they decided to work in Africa for five years. They also borrowed money to get air tickets and to transport materials to Sudan.
One Indian national was killed by a stray bullet on Saturday after the fighting started between the army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group.
Prabhu said bombings and firings continued on Tuesday (18) as well. So far, 270 people have reportedly been killed in the violence while more than 2,600 have been injured.
On Tuesday, Karnataka’s former chief minister and Indian National Congress leader Siddharamaiah triggered a political controversy by accusing the Narendra Modi government of not taking action to evacuate the Hakki Pikki tribals from Sudan in a series of tweets. India’s external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar slammed him saying he was appalled by his posts and asked him not to do politics.
