"During the protest rally, an Indian driver lost control of his vehicle and ran over two locals. This infuriated the mob and they lynched the first Indian they could get hold of who, unfortunately, was Devang Raval," said Shyam Chug from Kampala. A Gujarati who has been living in Uganda for the last seven years, he spoke to rediff.com.

He said there had been some unrest among the Indians, but "now it is quite all right, and we have reopened our shops and offices."

During the recent unrest, a temple and some Indian business establishments were also ransacked by protestors in Kampala.

There are an estimated 17,000 Gujaratis in Uganda, mainly from Saurashtra and Kheda-Nadiad belt, better known as Charotar.

Anilabahen Kamdar, a resident of Porbandar whose sons have settled in Kampala, told rediff.com, "My son called me up and said there was some tension but now it seems everything is okay."

For them and for now, everything might be okay, but for the Rawal family, life has changed irreparably and for ever.

Devang may just become one more story in the centuries-old history of Gujaratis' migration in search of a livelihood.

Image : Relatives and friends of Devang Raval carry the coffin with his body to a waiting ambulance in Ahmedabad on April 15.
Photographs: Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images
Also see: When Kashmir's lifeline shuts down

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