Zafri Mudasser Nofil
The shocking death of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania after he was allegedly beaten up by some shopkeepers in a busy market area in Delhi following an altercation sparked by their taunts on his hairstyle is yet another incident of targeting of people from the northeast.
Tania, son of Congress MLA and Parliamentary Secretary in Health and Family Welfare Department, Nido Pavitra, was a BA first year student at a private university in the national capital. His relatives alleged that he had an altercation with the shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi after they made fun of his hairstyle, following which they allegedly thrashed him. Police had reached the spot and brokered a compromise after which Tania returned to his Safdarjung home with his friends.
However, he did not wake up in the morning. When his friends took him to AIIMS, he was declared brought dead.
The incident has sparked a furore with allegations of discrimination against people from the region.
According to Arunachal Pradesh MP Takam Sanjoy, students and other people from the northeast have been facing humiliating discrimination either in Delhi or elsewhere.
“This is not a new incident… Several such incidents have been reported earlier where students of NE are victimised and we have taken adequate steps to sensitise the people … Even I raised the issue several times in Parliament,” said Sanjoy.
Student groups from the northeast have been protesting at Jantar Mantar demanding that those involved in the attack on the student be brought to book. Despite assurances from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Paranab Mukherjee, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that justice will be delivered in the case, the protesters say they won’t give up till Tania’s killers are hanged and the promises made by politicians delivered.
The Prime Minister said his government will make “every possible effort to punish the guilty and to provide effective protection to students and citizens from other parts of the country, especially the northeast, who visit or reside in Delhi”. He noted that all political parties in Parliament have affirmed that every Indian should ensure that fellow citizens from the northeast feel safe and that every part of the country welcomes them.
“New Delhi is the national capital and a diverse and vibrant city, enriched by people from all over the country who have made it their home. People from other parts of the country like the northeast are as much a part of the city as anyone else. All citizens need to work together to ensure that our brothers and sisters from the northeast feel safe and secure in Delhi,” Singh said in a statement.
Former IAS officer M P Bezbaruah has been named to head a six-member committee set up by the government to suggest remedial measures to address concerns of the people of northeast. The former Union Tourism Secretary has strongly advocated framing of an anti-racial legislation there is definitely a need for such a legislation though the larger question is implementation on the ground.
Former IAS officers H W T Syeim, Allen Temshi Jamir, Tape Bagra and P Bharat Singh will be members of the committee which will have Deputy Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs S Saha as Member Secretary.
Following the incident, the Government has directed Delhi Police to adopt zero tolerance approach in cases of attacks on people from northeast and asked it to strictly follow the guidelines in providing security to those hailing from the region.
The Home Ministry directed Delhi Police to immediately register cases of atrocities on people of northeastern region, launch probe upon receiving complaints and book the guilty. Delhi Police was also asked to sensitise all police stations about the people of north living in their respective jurisdiction and resolve their grievances.
Though the Home Ministry had issued four-page detailed guidelines last year, these have been hardly adhered to.
According to the guidelines, issued to all state chief secretaries and DGPs and Delhi Police Commissioner, the police forces should increase visible security at places where people from northeast study, work or reside, maintain utmost vigil in communal and hyper sensitive areas without giving any room for spreading of rumours inciting communal passion.
Monitoring of social networking sites on a daily basis for detection of malicious mails, assessment of the mood and temper of the people from northeastern states and their grievances on a regular basis were also advised.
Besides these measures, what is the need of the hour is a strong anti-racial law. This is also the demand of the protesters who want “a strong antiracism law to be enacted by Parliament for the country so that not just people from the northeast but anybody who faces any kind of discriminationanywhere in India gets justice”.
The past five years have seen several incidents of attacks and sexual harassment on people from the northeast. In October 2009, a girl from Nagaland was raped and killed in Delhi while in November 2010, a Manipuri woman was raped. In April 2010, the niece of Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma was found dead in Gurgaon while in February 2013, 10 Manipuri students were harassed on the Delhi University campus. In August 2013, three northeastern students were heckled.
The North East Support Centre & Helpline, established in 2007, says that up to 78 per cent of the around 2 lakh people from the northeast living in the national capital suffer various kinds of humiliations, ranging from molestation to beating, rape and murder.
These incidents indicate that the prejudice against people from the northeast is perhaps driven by racism. This racism can be anything from rude and biased comments on food, dress looks and living styles to difficulty in finding rented accommodation in big cities. Little knowledge about the northeast and least effort to know more about it is another factor.
Is Shillong in Assam? Do all people eat dogs in northeast? These are some of the common questions posed to northeasterners by people from other parts of the country.
New Delhi is always blamed for its long neglect of the northeastern states that affected both nationbuilding and India’s strategic interests. Though northeast has always been called as the gateway for India’s Look East policy, the country’s growth story has left the region behind. It’s high time that corrective steps are taken.
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