Coronavirus: Arunachal MLA seeks PM Modi's intervention to stop racial attacks on people from Northeast India

A Congress MLA in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to stop incidents of racial discrimination and attacks on those from the north-east in various parts of the country in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Lawmaker Ninong Ering expressed his concern over "ill-treatment" meted out to the people from the region in many states, violating the ethics of the country.

"The ethics of our country are being violated, as people from the north-east have been facing ill-treatment due to COVID-19 pandemic. They are being called 'corona' or 'virus'," Ering pointed out in his letter.

A woman from Manipur had recently alleged that an unidentified man spat on her and called her "corona" in northwest Delhi's Vijay Nagar area while two students from the north-east region were reportedly not allowed to enter a supermarket in Hyderabad.

Citing these two incidents, the legislator representing Pasighat West assembly constituency said, "It breaks my heart to see such differences in our country when the need of the hour is to unite...India is a signatory of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination."

The former Union minister urged the prime minister to condemn the incidents of racial discrimination.

He also appealed to people across the country to be sensitive to all communities and refrain from racial profiling and discrimination in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union (AAPSU) has condemned the frequent incidents of racial discrimination and attacks on people of the north-east amid the COVID-19 crisis.