EAST AFRICA THE ASIANS IN THEIR MIDST FOR MANY EUROPEAN SETTLERS, / 
AFRICA FOR THE AFRICANS " SIMPLY MEANS PACKING UP AND GOING 
HOME, PAINFUL THOUGH IT MAY BE . THE FUTURE IS FAR 
DARKER FOR THE ASIANS IN EAST AFRICA, WHO HAVE LONG FORMED 
A PRECARIOUS MIDDLE CLASS . DESPISED BY COLOR-CONSCIOUS WHITES, WHOM THEY 
GREATLY OUTNUMBER (400,000 TO 96,000), RESENTED BY EAST AFRICA'S 25 MILLION 
BLACKS, THE ASIANS MOSTLY INDIANS AND PAKISTANIS ARE LOATH TO RETURN 
TO HOMELANDS THAT FEW HAVE SEEN, AND WHERE JOBS ARE ALREADY 
CRITICALLY SCARCE . FOR THE GREAT MAJORITY OF ASIANS, THERE IS 
NO OTHER ALTERNATIVE BUT TO STAY ON IN AN INCREASINGLY HOSTILE 
AFRICA WHERE, AS ONE WESTERN DIPLOMAT SUCCINCTLY SAID RECENTLY, THEY ARE 
" THE HARD UPPER RUNG AGAINST WHICH THE RISING AFRICAN BUMPS 
HIS HEAD . " EXPORTING PROFITS . THOUGH THEY HAVE BEEN 
TRADING ON THE EAST COAST OF AFRICA FOR CENTURIES, MOST OF 
EAST AFRICA'S ASIANS HAVE TAKEN ROOT IN THIS ALIEN LAND ONLY 
SINCE 1895, WHEN THE BRITISH BROUGHT IN 32,000 INDIAN WORKMEN TO 
BUILD THE NARROW-GUAGE RAILWAY THAT OPENED THE INTERIOR TO COLONIZATION . 
ASIAN QUICKLY TURNED FROM RAILROAD BUILDING TO TRADE, AND SO COMPLETELY 
DOMINATED COMMERCE THAT UNTIL 1919 THE RUPEE WAS THE OFFICIAL CURRENCY 
OF EAST AFRICA . TODAY, MILLIONAIRE INDIAN MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS OCCUPY 
SOME OF NAIROBI'S FINEST HOMES ; BUT THE ASIANS ARE FOR 
THE MOST PART SMALL SHOPKEEPERS DUKA WALLAHS TO THE AFRICANS AND 
JUNIOR CIVIL SERVANTS, WHO HAVE NEVER FOUND MIDDLECLASS SECURITY IN THEIR 
MIDDLE-CLASS VOCATIONS . AFRICAN NATIONALISTS HAVE LONG COMPLAINED THAT THE ASIANS 
ARE A CLANNISH, ALIEN PEOPLE WHOSE ONLY INTEREST IN AFRICA LIES 
IN THE PROFITS TO BE WRUNG FROM AFRICAN CUSTOMERS . " 
THE INDIANS ARE OPPORTUNISTS AND QUISLINGS, " CRIES NYASALAND'S PRIME MINISTER 
HASTINGS BANDA . " EVERYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY THEY ARE TAKING 
BUSINESS FROM AFRICAN BUSINESSMEN . " THE ASIANS MAKE A HABIT 
OF SHIPPING MUCH OF THEIR PROFIT OUT OF AFRICA ; AFRICAN 
POLITICIANS CHARGED BITTERLY LAST FALL THAT THEIR TRUE LOYALTY WAS DISCLOSED 
BY THE SUMS OF MONEY THAT THEY RAISED FOR INDIA DURING 
THE BORDER WAR WITH CHINA . THREE YEARS AGO, HALF OF 
THE ASIAN MERCHANTS IN UGANDA'S BUGANDA KINGDOM WERE DRIVEN OUT OF 
THE COUNTRY BY A WAVE OF UGLY VIOLENCE AND A BOYCOTT 
OF ASIAN SHOPS . EAST AFRICANS WERE CHEERED LAST WEEK BY 
THE DEPARTURE FROM MOZAMBIQUE OF THE LAST BATCH OF 4,600 INDIANS 
DEPORTED TO THEIR HOMELAND BY PORTUGUESE AUTHORITIES IN REVENGE FOR INDIA'S 
1961 TAKEOVER OF GOA . IN TANGANYIKA, ALL 6,000 ASIAN CIVIL 
SERVANTS WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS AS SOON AS ENOUGH AFRICANS CAN 
BE FOUND TO REPLACE THEM . AFRICAN LEADERSHIP . IN KENYA, 
WHEN EX-MAU MAU DETAINEES RETURNED TO THEIR VILLAGES AFTER REHABILITATION COURSES 
IN BRITISH CAMPS, THEY USED THEIR NEW KNOWLEDGE OF BASIC ECONOMICS 
TO TAKE OVER RURAL TRADING POSTS FROM THE LONG-HATED ASIANS . 
LATELY, KENYA'S INDIAN MERCHANTS HAVE CONTRIBUTED HEAVILY TO BOTH BIG AFRICAN 
POLITICAL PARTIES IN HOPES OF BUYING PROTECTION AFTER KENYA GETS UHURU 
(FREEDOM) . KENYA'S NATIONALIST LEADER TOM MBOYA IS ONE OF THE 
FEW POLITICIANS TO PLEDGE THAT HIS KENYA AFRICAN NATIONAL UNION WILL 
PERMIT NOT ONE TO BE " VICTIMIZED ON GROUNDS OF RACE, 
COLOR, TRIBE OR RELIGION . " BUT EVEN MBOYA ADDS BLANDLY, 
" WE OF COURSE WISH TO SEE ASIANS AND OTHER NON-AFRICANS 
ADAPT THEMSELVES TO THE NEW ORDER BY ACCEPTING AFRICAN LEADERSHIP AND 
AFRICAN GOVERNMENT . / 