Last week, Karnataka’s housing and waqf minister Zameer Ahmed Khan put his foot firmly in his mouth with racist remarks about Union minister H D Kumaraswamy’s dark complexion. Following a backlash from all parties, and an upbraiding from Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Zameer hastened to apologise for his “kaalia” comment, saying he had done it out of affection for his frenemy and that this was not his first time. By then, he had lost the narrative. Now, it could cost Congress candidate C P Yogeshwara some precious votes.
While the insensitive taunt has riled many, it must be admitted that India does practise a not-so-subtle form of racism—the fair Aryan versus the dark Dravidian. Skin colour is often linked to socio-economic status: the ‘gora’ species to beauty, wealth, upper caste, intelligence, even cleanliness, while ‘kaalia’ comes with a baggage of being lower caste, inferior, poor and undereducated.
Dusky brides are harassed and expected to bring bigger dowries; Bollywood movies and songs continue to celebrate fair women. In contrast, the ethnic Dravidian complexion is often made a butt of jokes. The complex North-South ethnic divide comes into sharper focus in a society fixated with fair skin. For the ordinary Indian, the black-and-white distinction exists—with over fifty shades of tan in between—as a prejudice handed down the generations and accentuated by the history of colonialism.
The ugliest manifestation of racial discrimination remains apartheid and untouchability, which manifests in Western nations in the form of rejection and wanton violence such as the murder of George Floyd and many other blacks in the US. It is also not surprising that Kamala Harris, a brown woman, lost to a white man in the presidential election. Regrettably, Indians who live abroad have to contend with racism in varying degrees, and ironically, it is also Indians who carry on a colour bias.
For one, we are more welcoming of white tourists than those from African nations. It is time we accepted that we are an ethnically diverse nation of over 2,000 regional groups. There has been positive change with a growing awareness that the colour prejudice should end, with campaigns against fairness creams and soaps. Melanin is only skin-deep—and the sooner we proudly take our spot on the colour chart, the better.