Darren Sammy has revealed he faced racism in India at a time when the world is battling racism. India needs to join this fight.
Darren Sammy, the famous all-rounder from West Indies, is a legend. He has led his country team and is the only captain to have won two T20 World Cups, in 2012 and 2016. His achievements in the arena of cricket are not limited to his country. He played a singular role in reviving Pakistan’s cricket team and preparing it for international matches, which earned him an honorary citizenship.
And thus the revelation that he was subjected to racial taunts by his own teammates, during his tour to India in 2013 and 2014, while he played IPL matches, was a bolt from the blue. His admirers were naturally aghast when Sammy disclosed that his teammates at SunRisers Hyderabad used to address him with a pejorative term and collectively sneer at him.
On some occasions, Sammy said, he too would smile back at his gleeful teammates, for he had innocently believed that it was light-hearted banter, even though directed at him. Sammy was completely oblivious to the fact that they were targeting him with a racist invective and enjoying “jokes” that he could not comprehend at his expense.
No doubt many of those who subjected him to humiliation were big names in Indian cricket. Yet it did not cause any uproar in India when Sammy made the truth known to the world via an Instagram post. The 24/7 news channels, which are forever searching for sensational news, and the cricketing fraternity, were quiet. None came forward to denounce the humiliation of Sammy, nor was there a public apology from the offenders. Only Swara Bhaskar, the actress, who espouses social causes rather fearlessly, demanded an apology from his teammates.
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KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 
In India, discrimination is a fact of life. It’s Dark Brown vs Tan Brown in India.
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I am a south Indian black man 77 years young and travelled most of the states in India and 13 countries in this world.I am married to a North Indian girl 50 years ago. I never experienced any discrimination anywhere. During one of my visit to a scandinavian country I met a gentleman from France who is settled in S.Africa.We decided to spend the weekend at the capital city and was at a pub.When the waiter came to take the order he said a beer for me and a scotch on the rocks for “my slave”.( it was 1982) The girl was taken aback and seemed so shocked and looked at my face feeling sorry. Then my friend explained to her since he is from S.Africa and branded as a racist he wanted to see the reaction of Scandinavian people. He said “Ram is the best friend I have in our group.and both of us have red blood running on our veins and colour of the skin does not matter”
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