Afghan students flock to India's universities
aljazeera.com
aljazeera.com
Recently, there was almost a riot in our university because of Afghan students (though Indians were also involved!) A student's car brushed slightly against an Afghan student and some 10 of them beat him up. Then Afghans were beaten. In reply, they were planning to beat down every Indian student in our hostel.
However, this turned into a riot and both groups (200+ Indians and 50+ Afghans) threw stones at each other for a couple of hours. Situation went ugly when Indian students threw stones at police.
The point is that Afghan students are not that, well, behaved and cause lots of problems. We have lots of Nigerian students in our university and not a single problem has happened with them. But in first year with Afghan students, this happened!
This is hacker news and a balanced and non partisan report would've been better.
> Recently, there was almost a riot in our university because of Afghan students (though Indians were also involved!)
Well, lay the blame quickly! Good start. Make the Indian involvement seem almost incidental.
> A student's car brushed slightly against an Afghan student
Ah, cars don't really brush slightly, now do they? That reads more like "he hit the student with a car" to me. Though perhaps you believe in the stereotype of the exceedingly careful Indian driver, especially the youths... ;)
> and some 10 of them beat him up.
What's "some 10"? Is that an accurate estimate? I'll take your word for it.
> Then Afghans were beaten
Interesting move to the passive voice! Compare "10 of them beat him up" to "Afghans were beaten". It almost seems like it was simply circumstance. I think Indian were more than "also involved", don't you? They beat up the Afghans after hitting one of them with a car.
> In reply, they were planning to beat down every Indian student in our hostel.
Did they put this out on Twitter or Facebook? I think you mean, "someone spread a rumour that they were planning to beat down ever Indian".
> Situation went ugly when Indian students threw stones at police.
And again, more "involvement".
> The point is that Afghan students are not that, well, behaved and cause lots of problems.
Perhaps, but your story doesn't support that.
Your tale sounds like a kid trying desperately not to lie, but bending the truth just about as far as possible to make it seem that "he started it and it's all his fault" :)
Do you have proof that Indians caused this. The guy tried to make a point that in his view the Afghans caused this. Is he not allowed that?
>Ah, cars don't really brush slightly, now do they? That reads more like "he hit the student with a car" to me. Though perhaps you believe in the stereotype of the exceedingly careful Indian driver, especially the youths... ;) Lay the blame quick. You would presume that the OP is lying especially because Indian youth are rash drivers. That is a fair stretch of the rubber band, if I may say so.
>What's "some 10"? Is that an accurate estimate? I'll take your word for it. Some 10 is acceptably used in Indian English. It means around 10 people. I am sorry if the people involved could not count the exact number of attackers. But since you are being nice and taking his word for it, it should be ok.
>Interesting move to the passive voice! Compare "10 of them beat him up" to "Afghans were beaten". It almost seems like it was simply circumstance. I think Indian were more than "also involved", don't you? They beat up the Afghans after hitting one of them with a car.
They beat up the Afghans after the Afghans beat some of them up because one of them hit an Afghan with a car. And he says he did it accidentally. Stop distorting what he said. If you know otherwise, write about that, but being snarly is not a rebuttal.
>Did they put this out on Twitter or Facebook? I think you mean, "someone spread a rumour that they were planning to beat down ever Indian". No they shouted and threatened to beat every Indian. This is most certainly an exaggeration to be sure. There were far more Indians than Afghans on the campus.
>And again, more "involvement". Which he has already pointed.
>Perhaps, but your story doesn't support that.
Of course. Even if his story was correct, we can't make a sweeping generalization about Afghans.
>Your tale sounds like a kid trying desperately not to lie, but bending the truth just about as far as possible to make it seem that "he started it and it's all his fault" :)
I am glad you can make all of that about somebody. What little I could gather about you is that you knew nothing about the incident yet can be vicious and lawyerly about someone who does. Also imagine a situation when a group of Indian students beats up an American driver in LSU. We can be sure how balanced the narrative would be then.
Oh please! "Vicious and lawyerly"? I was making fun of his so-slanted-it-was-almost-horizontal report by showing that the same "facts" could equally show the Indian students in the worse light. I even threw in a couple of smilies to lighten the tone. Stop being so melodramatic.
> Also imagine a situation when a group of Indian students beats up an American driver in LSU.
I'm not an American; I'm Scottish.
On another, lighter note, riots add sort of a romantic tinge to college life. Hell, what's that UG in India where you didn't pelted stones against police or at director's bungalow(in our case the latter was the favourite and easy target, it didn't hit back).
Jokes aside, you have not mentioned the actual/precise events. What usually happens is a guy brushes someone(it might have been a knock and you might as well have downplayed it too) and then starts abusing the pedestrian itself, the guy who was knocked down. Now, if some friends were around then this called for a beating. Most probably this was the case.
BTW, Nigerian students sell drugs in Bangalore(mentioned city name because I live here and I know this from 1st hand exp from a safe distance or rather 2nd hand experience). But that doesn't mean all Nigerian students in India are into drug peddling and people from other countries are not. Most of this business is controlled by Indians though. It's rising alarmingly, subtly and almost without a check.
I am from a NIT. So, I knew many foreign students - mostly from Africa and Middle East. They were fun. Our favourite topic of discussion used to be girls in either countries, their sexuality and preferences and they were bloody curious why it's a taboo in India(esp people from non-ME countries). Among many things we almost generally agreed upon fcuk the religion. Yes, that included people from that religion too :-)
I had an Afghan friend(from another college, non-tech, we met at a fest). He was 6+ tall, incredibly handsome(one of my friends - I was sort of seeing her at the time - casually mentioned whether I could introduce them(2 girls) to him, I wisely diverted the topic), peace loving, god fearing and a thorough gentleman! Last month he told me, from EU(he moved there), that he got married and also lost his virginity. I was ROFLing for few minutes, he had typed both events in same line. I was not able to convince him in India to take the plunge.
Moral of the story, they(foreigners) are almost like us and sometimes I think better. You should not stereotype people. People like you ought to be stoned to fever!