This country has been divided into two nations; one black and largely poor. The other Asian or Indian to be more specific and immensely prosperous. Quiete predictably this has resulted in social incohesion that will only get worse with time unless the glaring inequalities and disparities are adequately addressed and well in time.Quiete naturally, the beneficiaries do not see the unfairness of the current order.In condescending tones they blame the indigenous Batswana of a whole range of crimes that include laziness and a love of expensive luxury cars.
Key components of the country’s economy are exclusively in the hands of this Indian nation. And they are in lockstep with political leadership in rendering even a debate on this topic. They are saying talking about these matters should stay a taboo.There is a clear reluctance on the part of those in authority to even bring themselves to acknowledge the problem.Their argument, which is as blatantly false as is weird is that talking about the social inequalities, economic disparities and social injustice divides the nation. This attitude – rife among our political elite, to side with Indians against their own brethren is self serving at best and at worst a clear example of a lopsided understanding of what nation building entails for many of them. In reality what threatens Botswana’s peace is not pointing at the unfairness of the whole arrangement but pretending it does not exist which leads to nothing being done to correct it, or at best pampering over it.
There is need to openly talk about the inherent evils of this race-based inequality. Correcting this injustice is a moral duty. But there is also an existential security threat that has to be corrected. The worst affected of the indigenous Batswana are women and youth. And they mainly stay in the rural areas.Despite the wishful thinking on the part of those in power who we find increasingly self indulgent, working side by side with the wealthy Indians, there is currently no basis for coexistence between the two nations that make up our country. For there to be genuine coexistence the issue of business and economic opportunity, the issues of disparities and inequalities will have to be addressed honestly and with the urgency it deserves. Too many indigenous Batswana live in squalor while their Indian counterparts parts live in obscene opulence and wealth.
It is clear that the political leadership has lost faith in uplifting the indigenous Batswana. Indigenous citizens are expected to lift themselves with their bootstraps even as many of them do not even have the boots on to paraphrase Dr Martin Luther King jr. There’s quite a few successful Indians in our midst who understand quiet rightly that their wealth will amount to nothing unless the indigenous community too benefits. These are mainly Indians who were either born here or have been here since at least the early 1980s. They appreciate that their fate is intricately linked to that of indigenous citizens. They work at minimizing racial tensions. And cultivating racial harmony.They are acutely aware of historical facts elsewhere where their brethren were chased out.But there’s are those latter arrivals who have a perverse and in some instances racist view of Batswana.
They are unwilling despite consist goading to underwrite even the smallest of solidarity efforts to uplift citizens wishing to join them as business people. This lack of solidarity on their part is obstructing all efforts not only to uplift indigenous Batswana and achieve some level of parity but also to realise the loftier ambition of nation building. There is a pervasive economic and cultural prejudice that is not only entrenched but plays out daily. Personally I know many Asians who genuinely regard Botswana as home.They are happy here and they feel welcome. But there is a much bigger problem that we should confront dispassionately and with no traces of sentimentality; which is that a great majority of indigenous Batswana feel unhappy and even helpless in their own country.
Sometime in 1972 a madman in East Africa took a decision to expel and uproot the Asian community from Uganda. It was a human tragedy. Idi Amin was a truly madman. But he had not created the Ugandan problem. He only took advantage of it. And harnessed it towards fulfilling his heinous ambitions. I can already hear our Asian compatriots and their indigenous Batswana elite friends and partners saying Botswana is not Uganda. They are right, Botswana is not Uganda. But they are actively sowing seeds of social unrest similar to those that Idi Amin found in Uganda. And even in Botswana we have madmen who can potentially rule this country one day.Many Asians that were expelled from Uganda ultimately settled in the United Kingdom.Many of them are still alive today And what memories are left of Uganda are to regale endless stories of how great Uganda was until Idi Amin arrived.It all reminiscing.Of course I have also been to Uganda. And indigenous Ugandans tell a totally different story.They talk of how Asians kept to themselves and resisted all attempts by government to integrate. They talk of how Asians colluded with the white community to marginalize the black Ugandans and ultimately render them aliens and second class citizens in their own country.
The resentment among the indigenous Ugandans towards Indians is still there today, especially in the rural areas – fifty years after Idi Amin took a decision to expel all Asians out of Uganda. Asians in Botswana should not only read books on how to make money. They must also read history books. In Idi Amin’s Uganda it was the whites at the top, followed by Asians and blacks at the bottom working mainly as servants.In today’s Botswana it is the Asians at the top, followed by whites and indigenous Batswana at the bottom providing menial labour.
The white people in Botswana have learnt many lessons. They have done more to integrate themselves. They are much more receptive of indigenous citizens. And to a large extent they treat them as equals.The same, sadly cannot about the Asians here.Which is why 54 years after independence Botswana remains solidly a country of two nations: one black and very poor. The other Asian and very rich.
