Indian diaspora caught in Kenya mall carnage – The Hindu

Excerpt – Santosh Tiwari and Shahab Uz Zaman, both Indian passport holders, were en route to a meeting at Westgate but were delayed. Moved by what they saw, they have since begun compiling a list of victims. “The official figures say only four killed, but the loss to the community is much greater,” said Mr. Tiwari.

“We have conducted 12 funerals in the last three days. Another 10 will happen in the coming week,” said Kishorebhai Aasha, the priest at the Hindu Sabha crematorium, “The Muslims and Ismailis have lost a lot of people as well.”

The Westgate mall is walking distance from Parklands, the middle-class neighbourhood of the Shahs of Saurashtra. “Everyone here is from 52 villages near Jamnagar,” said Keshubai Shah, outside M.P. Shah hospital, a community facility built 80 years ago.

Apart from the Shah community, who came as traders as early as the 1800s, the Punjabis are present in large numbers. “My grandfather came over in 1897 as a stationmaster with the railways,” said Mr. Vidyarthi, who survived Saturday’s attack.

via Indian diaspora caught in Kenya mall carnage – The Hindu.