Nightmare in Kampala, sleepless in Saurashtra

Ninety percent of Indians in Uganda are of Gujarati-origin, mainly from Saurashtra and Charotar. In fact, the first victim of violence, Devang Raval, was a resident of Noblenagar in the outskirts of Ahmedabad.

Khambat resident and tax consultant Chirag Choksi is yet to hear from his younger sister Mala and her chartered accountant husband Hiten Shah, who live near Kampala. “I am very worried because they are not answering my calls. There was just one SMS on my mobile which said they were safe and would call later. I am trying to send an e-mail to find out how things are,” Choksi told The Sunday Express on Saturday.

At the centre of the latest anti-Asian, particularly anti-Indian, protests is the Kampala-based Mehta Group, set up by the legendary Nanjibhai Kalidas Mehta of Porbandar in 1900. The Group is trying to acquire 7,000 hectares of virgin rainforest near Kampala for sugarcane cultivation, which has not gone down well with locals.

“Many Gujaratis in Uganda work for the Mehta Group. Their safety is of concern now,” said Dilipbhai Patel, BJP MLA of Karamsad, home for 15,000 Patels working in Kampala. “Many Gujaratis have moved to UK or Canada but those who own property and business or simply like to live in Uganda have stayed back. There have been many phone calls to London and Kampala from Karamsad ever since the violence started,” Patel said.

In Porbandar, the Ganatra family has been sitting by the phone. “My son Gaurang is a depot manager for Britannia in Kampala and my younger brother Yogesh is a salesman. We are worried about their safety. The violence has scared the Indian community there,” said Kirit Ganatra.

From 1900, till dictator Idi Amin cracked down on Asians in 1972, a steady stream of Gujaratis migrated to Uganda. But after 1972, many fled and settled in the UK or Canada, but some who had business and homes, eventually returned.

The Mehta family, which fled the country when Amin expelled south Asians saying they were dominating the economy, returned to Uganda in the 1990s to take up their former properties under a programme to encourage Ugandan-Asians to reinvest in the country. The government owns 51 per cent in the sugar company.

In Gujarat, the Mehta Group, led by Jay Mehta, owns Saurashtra Cements Limited in Ranavav near Porbandar and Gujarat Sidhee Cement Limited at Sutrapada near Veraval. In Uganda, the Mehta Group has interests in cotton, sugarcane, textiles, tea and coffee plantations, engineering, floriculture, management and finance.

But Ugandans, who mourned the death of Nanjibhai Mehta by flying their national flag at half-mast, are up in arms against the Group’s plans to cut the forest reserve for the plantation. The 30,000-hectare Mabira Forest Reserve is not only one of the last rainforests in the country but is also an important water catchment area that feeds several rivers.

“This forest is our heritage and cannot be given away by the Ugandan government,” said Phillip Karugaba, spokesman of the Ugandan-based Environmental Action Network, a local lobby group campaigning against the plans.

He said the forest was home to 50 different species of monkeys, along with bird and plant species only found in Mabira.

An official of an Asian community association said Friday that they are going to petition Mahendra Mehta, a director of the Mehta Group, to stop the company’s planned expansion of its sugar plantation.

“Mabira has made all of us suffer from some Ugandans’ anger. The earlier he (Mehta) gives up on Mabira the better for all of us,” said Sign Pravel, coordinator of the Association of Asian Community in Uganda.

Two days after the attack, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma today took up the matter with Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kuteesa. The Ugandan Minister assured Sharma that stern action would be taken against the perpetrators of the violence that led to the killing of Devang Raval.

—(With ENS and agencies)