Seeking steps to deal with racism
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 20 2015 -
There are certain quarters even from within the Northeast communities which keep on arguing that provisions of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was more than capable of dealing with racial hate crimes against people hailing from Northeast in other parts of India.
Moreover, there are also acclaimed cynics outside the region who had been arguing that many migrants in the region have been “killed and attacked” based on racial discrimination.
This counter theory has been pinned down time and again by those who have understood the complexity and the historical dynamics of migration in a region like the Northeast.
It is under this context, that one has to welcome the recent Supreme Court’s action in seeking to know the Centre’s response about steps taken for making racial violence a penal offence.
The apex court’s effort is significant as India signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965, 47 years ago in 1968.
The apex court social justice bench sought to know the Centre’s response following MP Bezbaruah Committee which had recommended putting in place stringent laws that make it a punishable offence.
The Bezbaruah Committee was set up by the Union Home Ministry on February 5, 2014 to suggest measures which could be taken in the wake of attacks on the people hailing from the Northeast region of India in parts of India primarily metro cities.
The committee was formed after the alleged killing of Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh in a racial attack in Delhi.
It may be mentioned that the Bezbaruah Committee in its 2014 report had recommended suitable changes in Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code to curb and punish incidents of racial violence targeting people from the Northeast region.
Section 153A of the IPC punishes acts of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and committing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony. The Supreme Court sought the Centre’s response while hearing two PILs.
The Supreme Court had been told that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination mandates the signatory countries to put in place laws to curb and punish racial violence.
While the steps taken up by the apex court should be welcomed, one should also be reminded that the spurt of violence against “outsiders” in the region, in the recent past, has been attributed to the prolonged indifference and political turmoil triggered by excessive militarization.
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