Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday termed media reports about Gujaratis being targeted in Kenya as “untrue” and clarified that “no person of Indian origin has been killed”. The Ministry, however, said that arrangements have been made for the persons of Indian origins who wish to leave Kenya in the wake of the violence.

Those who want to leave Kenya will be airlifted from Nairobi to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, before sending them to India, sources said.

“The Hindu Council has reiterated that there has been no loss of life or injury to any Asian in Kenya. They have specifically mentioned that reports appearing in the Indian media about Gujaratis being targeted or an Asian being killed are untrue,” the Ministry said.

The issue had assumed a political tone with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi writing two letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding the Centre’s intervention in the ongoing unrest in Kenya and save the lives and property of people of Indian origin. “The state Government has information that people of Gujarati origin have suffered heavy losses to their property due to the violence. The state Government has so far not received information of deaths of any non-resident Indians in Kenya,” Modi had stated in his second letter to the Prime Minister.

Modi has also demanded that the Central Government should relax rules regarding Yellow Fever Vaccine Certificate for Gujaratis who wants to come to India from Kenya.

Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan also called upon the Government “to take steps to protect the lives of the people of Indian origin in Kenya.” Even as the Government is monitoring the situation in Kenya which is home to about 75,000 Indians and the High Commission in Nairobi is in touch with the community groups, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said: “There is no report of any person of Indian origin being targeted in the violence.”

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