THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 10: Kerala Dalit Panthers secretariat leaders has criticised the city police for preventing the Afro-American fraternity team, led by Runoko Rashidi, from participating in a public meeting organised by Kerala Dalit Panthers at University Senate Hall here on Thursday.Addressing mediapersons here on Friday, KDP State president K Ambujakshan termed it a Governmental conspiracy to promote racial segregation. The police prevented them not only from attending the function but also visiting the birth places of Dalit leaders Ayyankali and Narayana Guru.The group of Afro-American tourists was virtually stranded at a private hotel in the city on Thursday. The local police were not permitting them to go out and attend a public reception hosted by Dalit Panthers.Leader of the 15-member group Runoko Rashidi told The New Indian Express that they were not even allowed to go out of the hotel without the prior permission of police. ``A group of seven police officials came to the hotelon Wednesday evening and demanded our passports and other travel documents. They also restrained us from taking part in any public function on the grounds that those who hold tourist visas were not allowed to take part in cultural or political functions,'' he said.``We have not had such a humiliating experience in any other part of India. On our arrival in Delhi on March 28, we attended a reception hosted by the Union Health Minister. Two days ago I was the chief guest at a function organised by Chennai evangelical Church Bishop Sarrgunam. I am not associated with any religious group in USA,'' he said. He also pointed out that the other members of the group were mainly teachers and other professionals.The police said the visiting Black American activists were not allowed to participate in a meeting organised by Kerala Dalit Panthers, at the Senate hall in the afternoon, as they were holding a tourist visa which was against the rules. When this was intimated to the visitors, they readily agreed, he said.He also denied that they were detained at the hotel where they were staying.However, for Rashidi, a historian who authored books like `African Classical Civilisation' and African presence in Early Asia', the two days in the State was like a nightmare. ``The Police Commissioner was rude and behaved in a nasty manner. We were made to feel that we were in a police state,'' he said.
