FREETOWN, JULY 2: When the mob came, I just opened the door and stood aside with my hands folded in namaste. They charged in, broke our television, computer, ransacked the house and walked away with whatever they wanted. What they could not carry, like the toilet, they broke,'' said Manju Narvani, a second generation Indian in Sierra Leone. Married to Ashwani, a wealthy Indian businessman, Manju has seen her house being plundered thrice.Manju is not an exception. Since 1997, the 500-people-strong Indian community has stood silently as mobs numbering thousands surrounded their houses and screamed out for them. The Indians here, all businessmen, opened their doors to be looted. ``At least we always came out alive. Had we resisted they would have killed us,'' says Ganesh Sitlani, the manager of Freetown's biggest chain of supermarkets, Choithram and Sons.The Choithram biscuit and chocolate manufacturing factory was burnt down by the rebels, but their hospital continues to function. In fact, the UN here has taken over the hospital for its personnel and is being managed by Indian army doctors.Today of the 500 Indians, less than 200 remain. The others have all returned to India. ``We have been plundered thrice in three years. The irony is that people of our own neighbourhood with whom we have spent 30-40 years have joined the mob,'' says Manu Shahani, the officiating president of the Indian Mercantile Association, an influential body of Indian traders.``The looting each time has lasted two days. The third day the same neighbours return and say I know where some of your stuff is. We are taken to a place where we see our belongings and buy them from the ragpickers all over again,'' he adds.The Indian community is feeling threatened with clouds of uncertainty looming large all over again over Freetown. ``The people of Freetown are good and they love us but it is the rebels who come from outside and spread the general feeling of xenophobia who we are scared of,'' says Ram Mirchandani, a prominent businessman. The coming of the Indian Army here has made matters worse for the Indian community.``If our Army gets involved in the war with rebels we have had it. Earlier the Nigerian forces were here trying to put down the rebel forces. The rebels began targeting the Nigerian civilians living here. They may start that with us. At least the Nigerians are the same colour as the Sierra Leoneans, but what about us? We cannot even melt into the countryside,'' says another concerned Indian.Fear is the constant companion of the Indian community here. Each time there was trouble they sent back their families to India. But when the trouble got over, some of the families have returned. ``There was major trouble in January when all our houses were burnt and ransacked. These rebel forces are under influence of drugs when they attack. They are not only armed with rifles and rocket propelled grenades (RPG) but also with large hammers. They break down the door and walls if we keep the door shut. They are thousands in number so there is no question of armed resistance,'' he adds.Much in demand here is Anil Chopra, the managing director of an Indian insurance company. The Indian community here says they have insured their assets with him. His wife Savita and daughter are also here with him. ``We do not interfere with either the local politics or the sale of diamonds. Therefore we are left alone,'' he says.But because they have all invested a lot in the business, they don't want to leave it and return to India. ``It is not just money. I have invested 27 years of my life here. I speak Kriol (local language) better than Hindi. Also I cannot start afresh in India so I am here to bear it all. I keep praying that the situation improves,'' says Bansi Devnani.There is one thing that all Indians do here religiously. And that is pray. On the Wilkinson road is a large Indian temple and every Sunday, the entire Indian community gathers here to pray. They eat one meal together and pray together for safety.
