Museveni applauds Indian community, backs Bayindi tribe quest

President Museveni has once again backed the Indian Community on their quest for constitutional recognition as one of the tribes in Uganda.

While hosting the Indian community at State House Entebbe yesterday, the President said the Indians already have a tribe popularly known as the Bahindi or Bayindi and appealed to fellow citizens to accept the reality and put them in the Constitution.

“Actually, sociologically speaking, the Indians already have a well-known tribe like the known groups Bazungu (Whites), Bahalabu (Arabs), Chinese except that it should be considered constitutionally. The Indians are already part of Ugandan society,” the President said.

He added: “In my village of Ntungamo, when I would be walking to the school and you look inside the four Indian shops that were there, and see the picture of the Aga Khan, we would say ‘that is the king of Indians’, we thought the Aga Khan was the king of all of you fellows. And when the other Aga Khan died in 1958, I think the father of the present Aga Khan, they said ‘the king of the Indians has died’…. So, sociologically, you already have a tribe here, all we need is to accept the reality and put it in the Constitution …”

The President was responding to the Indians plea to be included among the local tribes in Uganda. This request has been on table for some time and at one time in 2014, the President said Indians who have lived for a long period of time in Uganda qualify to be registered as citizens of Uganda.

The President was yesterday addressing the Indian Community living in Uganda during the Diwali celebrations.

The Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control (Amendment) Act allows foreign nationals who wish to retain their citizenship in a foreign county, the option to acquire Ugandan citizenship.

President woos investors

The President commended the Indian community in Uganda for immensely contributing to the economic development of the country.

He appealed to India community in Uganda to encourage more people with money to exploit the available vast investment opportunities in Uganda.

Mr Museveni said next year, government will support the Indian community when they are commemorating 100 years since they arrived in the country.

He congratulated the Indian community on the day of Diwali, saying it was worth being marked among the Indian race as a unifying factor in faith.

Diwali is an Indian festival that symbolises the spiritual victory of light over darkness among Indian community faiths in India: Hindus, Sikhs, Jain’s, Muslims and some Buddhists, and has been hosted in Uganda for the last six years.

Museveni attacks Amin

On Indian’s expulsion from Uganda, the President noted that by historical authority, he had a mandate to reject the mistakes of former head of State Idi Amin for the expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972.

“There was no legitimate reason to expel the Indians. Idi Amin’s act was rubbish,” he said.

The Indian High Commissioner to Uganda, Shri Ajay Kumar, reminded the Indian community on a symbolic day.

The chairperson of the Indian Association in Uganda, Mohana Rao, said through their umbrella organisation, they sensitise all Indians to rally together with the government authorities about Covid-19 precautions, abiding by the laws and enabling an environment that the government created to contain the pandemic for businesses to revive.

The event was also attended by Finance minister  Matia Kasaija, the new Uganda High Commissioner to United Kingdom, Ms  Nimisha Madhvani, among others.