Racial Discrimination Faced by North Easterners Shows the Dark Side of Modern Society

Posted on October 11, 2017 0 Comments438

Northeastern states of India comprises of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya,
Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim & Mizoram. This region is also
referred to as the Seven Sisters. The physical characteristics of the
inhabitants of these states are different than the Indian people due to
which they face racial discrimination in other parts of the country.

Northeasterners
have oriental looks and are hard-working, friendly people. Matriarchy
is practised among many groups in the Northeast. Successive Indian
governments neglected this whole region, as a result it has stayed
backwards in terms of infrastructure.

Controversial AFSPA

Tourists
need special permits from the government authorities to visit many
regions of Northeast India. In 1958, the Indian government passed a law,
the Armed Forces Special Act (AFSPA) that applies to various
Northeastern states. This grants security forces the power to search
properties without a warrant, to arrest people and to use deadly force
if there is ‘reasonable suspicion’ that a person is acting against the
State.

Army officers have legal immunity for their actions as per
AFSPA; there can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding
against anyone acting under this law. Indian army frequently misuses its
power by harassing the residents of Northeast region under the pretext
of this draconian law.

Social Exclusion of the Seven Sisters

An
activist from Manipur, Irom Chanu Sharmila holds the world record as
the longest hunger striker”. Sharmila grew up in Manipur, one of the
Seven Sister States in India’s northeast, which has suffered from
continuous neglect by the Indian government for decades.

Sharmila’s
primary demand to the Indian government has been the repeal of the
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). She started her fast in Malom
on 5 November 2000 and vowed not to eat, drink, comb her hair or look
in a mirror until AFSPA was repealed. She ended her hunger strike on 9
August 2016 after 16 years of fasting. Sadly, AFSPA is still in force.
Ordinary people of Northeast India are tormented by Delhi through its
army.

No major industry exists in this region, therefore, the
employment prospects for the locals are practically non-existent. Basic
infrastructure like roads and electricity supply is not up to the mark
in this area. Youngsters from these parts migrate to big cities of India
like Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore etc. to find jobs.

Racial Chauvinism

The
women of North East are good looking and fashion conscious. Majority of
Indian males are sexually frustrated perverts. They harass Northeast
women on a daily basis. People from Northeast are racially abused by
mainland Indians as ‘chinkis, This derogatory term means an individual
with slanted eyes. The same abusive word is also used by the majority of
Indians while referring to the Chinese citizens. State of affairs is
dreadful in New Delhi, which is the capital city of India. Delhi has
many localities known as Urban Villages. These places are just villages
in a name. They do not have any farming land. Owners of houses in these
neighborhoods have got tall buildings erected by flouting all building
laws, regulations in order to build the maximum number of rooms and put
them on rent to earn easy tax-free cash. Northeast migrants to Delhi are
overcharged higher rents by these deceitful landlords. Urban villages,
especially in areas around South Delhi are dominated in particular by a
community known as ‘Jats’. They own most of the houses in these parts.

The
Jat community comprises of male chauvinists of the worst kind on this
planet. They earn huge tax-free income every month as rent from
Northeasterners and other migrants to Delhi; as a result, most of them
don’t do much productive work. They just sit in groups, play cards and
drink liquor from morning-night. All Indian political parties are scared
of Jats as they resort to hooliganism to blackmail central as well as
state governments in order to get concessions for their community. These
Jat men have made the life of Northeastern women in Delhi a living
hell. These Northeastern women cannot go back to their homes in
Northeast because they face sexual violence at the hands of Indian army
personnel furthermore; there are no job prospects in the region. They
are teased, sexually harassed and even raped by these unscrupulous Jat
house owners and their family members.

Delhi Police also has
plenty of Jat personnel and so, these poor, unfortunate Northeast women
cannot even complain about their ordeal to the Police. A few women, who
gather the courage to approach police stations to lodge complaints are
ridiculed and abused by the Police staff as women of loose character,
‘chinki whores’ etc. Northeasterners are highly depressed and frustrated
due to this daily ordeal. Their culture, language, food habits and
norms are all entirely different from the mainland Indians.

Does Unity in Diversity really exist in India?

India
prides itself on its so called diversity but these are just plain
talks. The real situation on the ground is terrible for all
Northeasterners, especially womenfolk. The citizens of all seven
Northeastern states should not tolerate this discrimination anymore.
They must pressurize their local politicians to raise this matter
seriously with the central government in Delhi alternatively, they could
completely boycott their so called political representatives.

‘No
taxation without representation’,this slogan originated during the
1750’s and 1760’s in U.S.A. It summarized the primary grievance of
American colonists in the thirteen colonies against the British
Parliament. This ultimately culminated in the successful American
Revolution. No voting without safety & respect Northeastern citizens
across the entire length and breadth of India should unite under the
slogan;

No voting without safety & respect

Election
Commission of India has introduced NOTA (None of the above) on the
ballot papers as an option for the voters. It means that the voter does
not find any political party’s candidate competent enough, that’s why
they exercise the NOTA option by not voting for a candidate of any
political party.

If, the ordinary residents of all seven
northeastern states unite together and press NOTA during all state
assembly as well as Parliamentary elections, then their local
politicians, as well as political parties in Delhi, would definitely
wake up to their serious grievances and initiate measures to prevent
this dastardly treatment meted out to Northeast citizens in India.

Written by- Gaurav Tyagi
The writer has a Masters Degree in International Tourism & Leisure Studies from Netherlands and is based in China.

Source: https://eclecticnortheast.in

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