While Kerala boasts of achieving 100% literacy and being politically aware, recent events question the credibility of these statements. Parallels have been to the racial taunting witnessed in Australian sporting arenas. In cricket stadiums, reports indicate that only Australian citizens tend to provoke opposing teams with racial remarks when they are losing. However, in a recent incident at the Malappuram grounds, Keralites not only verbally provoked a foreign player but also pursued him across the field, subjecting him to severe physical assault until he managed to escape the mob. This behavior is deemed deeply shameful and disgraceful, particularly in how it treats a foreign sports player who has journeyed across borders to take part in a local event.
Dairrassouba Hassane Junior, a footballer hailing from Ivory Coast, was extended an invitation to join a local tournament called the “Sevens Football Tournament,” a variation of the sport featuring seven players on each team. He was recruited by the Jawahar Mavoor Football Club to partake in this sevens football event. However, during a five-a-side match near Areekode on March 10, the player from West Africa found himself subjected to a severe attack by a group of spectators.
Hassane Junior reported experiencing a violent assault and being subjected to racial insults at a football ground in the Malappuram district of Kerala. He lodged a formal complaint with the local police, alleging that he was assaulted by a crowd of fans who also racially targeted him, pelting him with stones that caused him to fall to the ground.
According to his complaint to the Malappuram district police chief, Hassane recounted, “During a corner kick for our team while we were leading by a goal, I approached the corner flag to take the kick, and the locals and the audience began calling me a monkey. Someone from the audience threw a stone at me, hitting my head. Upon turning around, I was met with two more stones being hurled at me along with verbal abuse, including racial slurs such as ‘fuck African monkey, black cat.‘”
He further stated, “To protect my life, I fled. Both supporters and members of the opposing team threw stones at me, inflicting severe injuries. I managed to escape when supporters from my team intervened and halted the attack.”
Expressing the mental anguish caused by the incident, Hassane Junior asserted in his complaint, “My race and I have been insulted. I was targeted because of the color of my skin.”
Law enforcement authorities are currently conducting an investigation into the mob implicated in the assault on the football player.
“Those people who threw stones at me were saying f**k African monkey, black cat… My race and I have been insulted. I was attacked because of the colour of my skin.”
A footballer from Ivory Coast has alleged that he was subjected to a mob attack and racial slurs at a football… pic.twitter.com/W554WqM7bp
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) March 13, 2024
Ironically, the same Kerala made a film with the storyline of a black footballer named “Sudani from Nigeria” in 2018 in Malappuram itself.
Lol.. They made this movie with a black footballer storyline 'Sudani from Nigeria' in the very same Malappuram district and mfs very boasting about humanity and shit with this.
And then the actual face of the place shows itself https://t.co/C001r7HhU0 pic.twitter.com/Svm96ovQiQ
— Krishnaa (@Krishnaa_Murari) March 14, 2024
(with inputs from Indian Express)
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