New Delhi: An Indian man has claimed that he faced racism from an employee of a grocery store in Vietnam, once again triggering debate over what some see as changing attitudes toward Indians abroad.
In the video, posted on Instagram on 24 May, travel blogger Anant M alleges that the cashier at the store in Hanoi refused to sell him some items but then sold the same products to White people.
Anant says that the employee made him feel like someone who begs on the streets. Visibly upset, the blogger asks the employee to call his manager and also threatens police action against him.
“This time, let’s not leave it. Let’s call your boss,” says Anant, adding that “police will come and tell you the reality”.
Following this, Anant walks out of the store and claims that he talked to the employee with the help of a translator and “cleared up the misunderstanding”. He then agreed to sell him the items he wanted, and the matter got resolved, Anant says.
“He made an excuse that ‘I thought you don’t have cash and want to pay by card’ but I don’t care as he apologised and making him feel embarrassed about it was more important for me,” Anant wrote in the comment section.
Who’s at fault?
The video, which has over 3 million views on Instagram, was widely circulated on social media, eliciting mixed reactions. While some said Indians often face such discriminatory behaviour in Vietnam, others pointed out that the employee could have been just confused and did not mean to be rude.
“It looks like 7/11 convenience store. The price of each item is mentioned. Why would he need someone to tell him the price. My guess is he wasn’t in the queue and it doesn’t work that way in South East Asian countries,” a person said on X.
Another said, “Newly arrived indians see every price is up for negotiation. Shops would rather not deal with that kind of nonsense”.
“We have to stop first this in our country then after we’ can call to others. Change must be come from us not by others,” a comment on X read.
Earlier, another video had gone viral claiming that a restaurant in Vietnam denied entry to Indians. “The restaurant even refused entry to the women because we are Indian,” a man in the video said, also claiming that they encountered signs that read, “Indians not allowed”.
It is not new. The problem is people are trying to tag certain sections as racial. Truth is humans are territorial too. The tribal instincts very much resides within humans. It is just that we are conscious of it and certains groups take care to get over those instincts. When it comes to people within their own nation, Khmer people are discriminated against and it is well documented.