Prejudice, Ignorance and Intolerance: Racial Discrimination of North-East People in Delhi
This article was written for the March 2007 edition of Eastern Frontier and published on 13 February 2008 on this blog.
For a long time, people from the North-East India staying in the
national capital region (NCR) have been facing numerous cases of
discrimination, harassment and humiliation. What explains this unfortunate phenomenon? This is a report on racial discrimination of North-East people in New Delhi.
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| Over the years, the issue of racism faced by people from the Northeast in the capital city has become no less than a pandemic. (Image credit: Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona/Unsplash) |
First Information Report
For a long time, people from the North-East India staying in the national capital region (NCR) have been facing numerous cases of discrimination, harassment and humiliation. Intense sociopolitical conflicts and the resultant stress in their hometowns that impact all aspects of their lives have already taken a heavy toll on them. They come to New Delhi for better opportunities and have to face these problems all over again.
What's worse is the fact that a majority of these cases of assaults and discrimination are targeted at women from the Northeast. Over all, there are approximately 90,000 people from the region staying in and around Delhi.
To cite one of the latest instances of harassment, two women from Manipur were molested and beaten up by 25 thugs in January this year (2007). They were only the latest victims from the region. Y. Monika, a cyber café owner in North Delhi's Gandhi Vihar had slapped a man for misbehaving with her sister, Anjali. Later, the main accused returned with his friends, dragged out the two sisters and allegedly molested them.
Dress to kill
Clothes can reveal so many things about a person. No doubt, culture is characterized significantly by what people are clothed in; but, it will be unfortunate if this very matter cast a shadow over the dignity of a whole community and if it is sowing dissension between groups of people. To be precise, the way the Northeast girls dress has raised questions on their morality in the capital city.
However, it will be sheer stupidity if we say the reason behind the sexual assault are because of their dressing sense. It will also be sheer ignorance if we say the girls with their freedom and choice to live their own lives are responsible for all these hate crimes.
On retrospection, the clash of culture or rather the domination of one over the other can be the sole factor. In simple terms, it is racism. What is happening with the people from the Northeast is a textbook case of racism. Its dictionary definition is: 'prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.' (Oxford Languages Dictionary)
Six decades of chicken-neck syndrome have shackled the lives of the North-Easterners and the saying that people from the region are blameworthy has waxed more hate and resentment towards mainland India.
The roll is endless
Last week, the Manipur Students' Association, Delhi (MSAD) released a list which included some of the cases they have taken up:- Dhaula Kuan Rape Case, May 2005: A 19-year old Mizo girl was gangraped by four men in a moving car after abducting her from a roadside eatery. The next day, the Vice-Principal of Kirori Mal College issued a press release mentioning that North-East girls should wear salwar-kameez to avoid any such happenings in the future.
- Chanakyapuri Incident, November 2005: A Manipuri girl was molested and mishandled in Chanakyapuri.
- Nehru Vihar Case, November 2005: One girl was molested while she was returning from the market by dragging her in a deserted alley. The police refused to take timely action. When a complaint was lodged the police asked the girl to take it easy. They replied that the action will be taken when she identifies the culprits.
- Mahipalpur Incident, June 2006: A girl was molested by four persons. No police actions were taken.
- Viyaynagar Case, January 2007: The accused raped and murdered a girl from Manipur in her rented room in Vijaynagar. The girl was blamed for immorality for whatever reasons.
- Kingsway Camp Episode: Three women were dragged from a rickshaw and were molested in broad daylight by a candidate of the Delhi police constable exam. No police action was taken.
- Mahipalpur Case, October 2007: One girl was molested by a tenant in Mahipalpur. The duty officer of Vasant Kunj Police Station refused to register a case until the media intervened. The accused was arrested but the police failed to book a case.
- Vijaynagar Case, November 2007: The accused molested the girl and passed lewd comments. In this case, both the accused and the victim were tenants of a reputed Delhi Police officer.
- Gandhi Vihar Case, January 2008: Two sisters from Manipur, aged 24 and 18 respectively, were thrashed and molested by 25 rowdies in Gandhi Vihar on 5th January, 2008. The police registered the case only two days later when the media intervened.
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| A group of students from the Northeastern states in a candlelight vigil following the death of Nido Tania in New Delhi in February 2014 (Image: BBC/AFP) |
Non-entity in mainstream consciousness
It is often regarded that the whole North-East is an open society where sex, drugs and violence are pervasive. That is apparently how the Indian nation imagined its communities. The ignorance of mainland India about the so-called Northeast is one of the reasons why people have so many stereotypes about the people from this region in the first place. In worst cases, this translates to hate crimes and all sorts of racist issues.
People from this region with their distinctive epicanthic features, behaviour and dress habits are also taken as "outsiders" and often categorized as barbarous, uncivil, unrefined, tribal, easy and what not. The idea of being an Indian by the mainland people never seems to include the build and frame of the North-East people and it is deplorable that ignorance can also lead to racial discrimination and sexual harassment. When ignorance is blended with arrogance, the result is lethal.
Furthermore, as noted earlier, the situation is worse for girls. Owing largely to their liberal culture in the conservative Delhi milieu, they are often seen as 'fast' or 'easy. Diana, a Mizo student at IP College said, "Delhi men believe that North-East girls are easily available. They look at us with only one thing in mind: sex. If we protest, they warn us to stay quiet because we are alone and there is no one we can turn to for protection".
Research studies shows that Delhi is like an alien land with unfamiliar language and unknown socio-cultural terrain for many students that comprise a majority of the Northeasterners living in the city. While they complain that the mainland people do not understand their culture, some people argue these students also do not make an effort to understand the culture of the others.
N. Manishwar, General Secretary of the Manipur Students' Association, Delhi pointed out that some people have brought disgrace with their untoward characters and that usually North-Easterners also do not interact enough with the local populace due to language barrier.
Is there a way out?
Last October, a manager of a call centre firm in Green Park Extension, New Delhi made sexual advances to two young women from the Northeast. He stopped their salary and suspended them from work when they refused his advances. The victims complained to the North-East Support Centre and Helpline (Contact: +91-9818-3141-46), a joint initiative of various human rights activists, social workers, students, journalists and lawyers seeking to prevent harassment and abuses meted out to NE people.
Initial investigations showed that the two women from Nagaland, aged about 23 were employed at Accurate BPO. It was found that the manager had made constant sexual offers to one of them. When she refused, the manager turned to her friend. She also refused and ultimately both of them were sacked from the job without any payments.
Madhu Chandra, spokesperson of the NE-SCH said, "It's been just five months that we launched the NE Support Centre and Helpline and we have received more than a dozen cases of sexual harassment. When we tell them we are not here to replace the police, but help smoother communication with them, many of the complainants leave the case at that. That's why most of the crimes go unreported and the accused goes scot-free. This is a major hurdle we are facing right now".
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| "The people of India's northeastern states face discrimination in other parts of the country, which has been known to turn deadly. Even when it doesn't, the effects can make life almost unbearable for them." (India 'ignores' plight of northeasterners | Caption/Image: DW) |
The last in line
Eventually, the mindset of the people in Delhi towards the NE people and the lackadaisical attitude of the Delhi Police towards such issues need to be tackled. Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research and president of the Women Power Connect, said, "In the northern belt, the mindset is such that men believe they can control women physically. That's why they can't stand the freedom of sexuality that men and women in the North-East enjoy".
She added, "There's no way out of this problem but for women to take charge of these issues. In this regard, we will be observing a National Shame Day across the country, hopefully coinciding with International Women's Day on March 8, to tell the people that women must be respected".
Meanwhile, the attitude of college authorities and the local police to incidences of sexual harassment is usually nonchalant. A couple of years back, just a day after the gangrape case of an NE girl, the vice-principal of a reputed college in Delhi University announced dress code for the girl students from the region.
In the press release issued by the vice-principal, it reads: "All the NE girls are sent by the militants of the region in order to seduce the mainland people so they are molested are raped. In this way, they are trying to culminate anti-Indian sentiment".
The ignorance and arrogance are beyond anybody's imagination. When people in power are making such absurd statements, the situation looks bleak, and it never gets better.
Often police stations refuse to register FIRs and provide data on sexual harassment of these girls. One policeman told mediapersons recently, "This is the daily drama these girls play at… how many complaints should we register? Anyway, there is no smoke without a fire". Not surprisingly, many NE students in Delhi are incensed by this callous nature of the police. Sensitivity training needs to be given to the police, and not to the targets of attacks. There have been also several cases when the police simply refuse to take note of a case.
Alternative frame of reference
In another perspective, it is notable that discrimination of any kind is highly prevalent in present-day India cutting across region, race and culture. Unsurprisingly, India ranks 114 in a list of 128 countries in the recently released Global Gender Gap report of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Particularly, Delhi is considered as the rape capital in the country and no wonder again albeit unfortunately, so many women from the North-East have fallen victim to the harsh social reality.
Rakesh Pukhrambam, a Manipuri student at DU said, "We need to create an atmosphere of resistance to show our strength. The authority cannot afford to overlook the aspirations of the people who are often regarded as belonging to a human zoo".
Finally, social work interventions, concrete measures to fight discrimination and enhance socio-cultural exchange between communities of students could help alleviate the problem. Also there are law enforcement agencies to prevent crimes but they alone will not be able to solve this issue. The local people's co-operation is also crucial in eradicating the menace. Above all, people from the North-East, who have different sensibilities, also need to be better informed about Delhi which is largely orthodox.
--Concluded.
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