New Delhi, July 23: Aparthied reared its ugly head in Nelson Mandela's South Africa during the 2003 cricket World Cup and Indians were among the worst victims. This and other startling and intriguing facts have been highlighted by well-known cricket writer K R Wadhwaney in his latest book ''Scandals, Controversies and World Cup 2003.'' Giving vivid and extensive instances of racial discrimination in South Africa, Wadhwaney writes, ''It was bad in 1970s and 1980s when it was openly practiced. Now, it is worse because even innocent Indian visitors get caught unawares.'' ''While whites withdraw into their own shell refusing to communicate with the Indians, blacks accuse them of siding with the whites during the apartheid period. Indians are at the receiving end from both the communities,'' he notes.
''Believe it or not. No Indian choses to walk as sun sets and if he is travelling by car in night, he is always armed with a revolver or a pistol,'' Wadhwaney writes.

Even a party of journalists from India were escorted by police personnel to a function where the Indian cricket team was invited for unveiling of a special plaqaue at the Pietermaritzburg railway station where Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of the first class compartment ''meant for whites.''

The writer points out that while the attitude of the whites has remained more or less the same towards the Indians, the blacks' grievances were more imaginary than actual. ''The blacks consider Indians as enemies who had 'sided with whites' when the ANC was fighting against apartheid. The fact is that Indians are now maintaining a very high lifestyle because of their systematic art of living rather than be a party to whites' affluence,'' he notes.

Bureau Report.