Racism on the rise; Ban use of ‘corona’, make learning about Northeast compulsory

Two students from Nagaland who happened to visit a supermarket in Mysore on March 25 were not allowed to enter it on the pretext that they were foreigners. Their plea that they were Indians and production of Aadhaar card, fell on deaf ears. After the matter went viral, four employees including the manager of the market were arrested.

Earlier, a man on a scooter passed lewd comments on a 25-year-old woman of Manipur when she was returning home after purchasing groceries on March 22 late evening in Mukherjea Nagar. On her objecting to his comments, he spat on her and drove away calling her “corona”. After she lodged a complaint with the police, the 40-year-old culprit was arrested and FIR lodged under Section 509 of IPC.

A few days earlier, a student hailing from the North-East was hit by a water balloon in Delhi University area and called “carona”. In yet another incident, a woman from Shillong was forced to leave a restaurant on Pandara Road just because others had a problem, suspecting her to be a carrier of coronavirus in blatant violation of Article 15 of the Constitution.

Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh was beaten to death by a few goons following a fracas at a shop in Lajpat Nagar on January 30, 2014 (all these incidents happened in Delhi). The government ordered formation of the Bezbaruah Committee to look into the concerns of the people of N-E living in other parts of the country. The Committee has since submitted its report but further action is found wanting.

Expressing concern over the spurt in crime against N-E people in Delhi, the Delhi High Court recommended in February 2014 that a study be carried out both by the Centre and the Delhi government either in tandem or separately to identify the problems so as to arrive at solutions.

Such racial discrimination has been reported from Mumbai, Bengaluru and other parts of the country too. Meiyang Chang, an Indian actor, was called “corona” recently by two bikers when he went out for a morning walk in Mumbai. In Bengaluru, Higio Guntey, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, was tortured by his landlord on the pretext of his using too much water in March 2017.

With the rise in frequency of such incidents posing a serious problem, the Ministry of Home Affairs had to issue an advisory to all states to initiate serious legal action against such miscreants. The advisory further added that all law enforcement agencies should be sensitised to take “appropriate action in cases of harassment when they are reported.” How far the advisory would be implemented needs to be seen in the days to come.

Most people even in metropolitan towns presume that people with Mongoloid features hail from other countries. The scant knowledge of N-E and their culture has led to unsavory incidents in the national capital and other parts of the country. Quite a few associations of the N-E people have sprung up in Delhi to protect the interests of the people of this region.

Of the over seven lakh people from N-E residing in Delhi and the NCR, 86% have reported that they faced racial discrimination, 81% women have been sexually harassed while 23% women complained of molestation by their lascivious landlords. In 2018, as many as 4,500 distress calls were received in the exclusive helpline number for the N-E people by the Delhi Police. To a large extent, media stands to be blamed for the ignorance about N-E. Hardly any coverage to the happenings in that part of the region is telecast. It is only when security forces are ambushed and killed or when there is a political turmoil, some news trickle out from the region.

One has to just listen to the TV newsreaders pronouncing the names of the denizens particularly of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. It is amazing and atrocious. Amazing for the people of the rest of the country and hurting the sentiments of the people from these states.

To bring about awareness of the N-E states, it is imperative that the geography, culture and history of these states are compulsorily taught in the schools, though the National Council of Educational Research and Training claims that text books at every level from Class 3 onwards include substantial mention of N-E.

Youth camps and NCC camps as well as national level games should be held in one of these states every alternate year. Most public schools arrange trips of students to other countries during vacations. They should be encouraged to arrange vacation trips to N-E. When they do not know their own country well, there is no point going abroad.

Little faith

People of N-E have very little faith in Delhi Police. Some 80% of N-E shy away from approaching the police because of their behaviour and attitude. The remaining 20% felt uncomfortable whenever they approached them.

There is a need to sensitise the police personnel about the culture, traditional attire and customs, and the best way would be to post police personnel of the rank of head constables and sub-inspectors for a two-year tenure in N-E states like Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh as is done for IPS officers.

As part of their basic training, a fortnight-long tour of the region could be conducted for the constabulary of such states where incidents of harassment of the people of N-E are rampant.

Though the present set of laws under Section 509 of IPC and the SC and ST Act can be effectively used to send the culprits to jail, a separate set of laws to deal exclusively with such racial discrimination is the call of the day.

Such offences need to be made cognizable and non-bailable if it is to deter miscreants from passing despicable comments as “chinki”, “chinese” and “momos”. Though the word ‘chinki’ is derogatory, it is yet to be notified by the government. Now that the word “corona” is being associated with China and it is being used to humiliate our N-E brethren, this word needs to be added to the law, banning its use.

The denizens of the rest of the country too need to have a better understanding of the culture and history of the region. The deep sense of alienation nurtured in the hearts of these people will continue to simmer and create dissensions until the people from the rest of the country treat them with love and compassion as our very own. Until then, all this hullabaloo about nationalism will merely be humbug.

(The writer is retired Inspector General of Police, CRPF)