Twitter Chat on Racial Discrimination against people from the Northeast India
February 27, 2014
The recent attack on Nido Tania, a young North Eastern boy, studying in Delhi, raised several questions on the issue of racism in the country.
To address the issue, Seven Sister's Project, Northeast India's first mobile phone based citizens news service organized a Twitter Chat on Racial Discrimination against citizens from the NE. This was done in collaboration with GrassRoute India, an independent, non-partisan organization that works to increase interaction between citizens & politicians.
The Panel included:
Kavita Krishnan- Polit Bureau Member, CPI (ML)
Dushyant Arora- Advocate & Founder, Law Tree
Yanam Wahge- Fasion student and blogger at Sevendiary.com
Borkung Hrangkhawl- Rapper from Tripura
Nilim Dutta- Executive Director, Research & Operations at the Strategic Research & Analysis Organization, India
The twitter chat covered various issues of racial discrimination in the country. Questions on enactment of anti-racism laws, role of media & reservations leading to discrimination were raised. Opinions on how racism can be curbed were voiced & suggestions on the same were offered.
They are in deliberation on how to take this forward and share the crowd-sourced opinions with members of various political parties.
Here is the link to some of the most interesting tweets and discussions- http://bit.ly/1mIKuX7
Seven Sisters Project is Northeast India's first mobile phone-based citizen media project. To record a story call our toll free number-08376952143.
Inputs from Rooplin Sharma
Twitter Chat on Racial Discrimination against people from the Northeast India
Guwahati, February 27, 2014: The recent attack on Nido Tania, a young Arunachali boy, studying in Delhi, raised several questions on the issue of racism in the country.
To address the issue, Seven Sister’s Project, Northeast India’s first mobile phone based citizens news service organised a Twitter chat today on racial discrimination against citizens from the region. This was done in collaboration with GrassRoute India, an independent, non-partisan organisation that works to increase interaction between citizens & politicians.
The initiative was to discuss the issues faced by the community and to identify points that can act as a tool to bridge the gap and end racial discussion. The event included panelist Polit Bureau Member, CPI (ML) Kavita Krishnan, Dushyant Arora (Advocate & Founder, Law Tree), Yanam Wahge (Fasion student and blogger at Sevendiary.com), Borkung Hrangkhawl (Rapper from Tripura), Nilim Dutta (Executive Director, Research & Operations at the Strategic Research & Analysis Organization, India) among others.
The twitter chat covered various issues on racial discrimination in the country. Questions on enactment of anti-racism laws, role of media & reservations leading to discrimination were raised. Opinions on how racism can be curbed were voiced & suggestions on the same were offered.
Lucknow-based journalist Jayanta Deka suggested inclusion of Northeast India in school curriculum which was widely retweeted. His tweet, “Add NE to the curriculum, ask NE related Qs in current affairs section of competitive exams,” lead to serious discussions.
Deka was also quizzed about “why there is little or no coverage of Northeast India in mainstream media?” to which he tweeted, “@akUlee @_GrassRoute 1. Regional media isn't in that good shape. Working journalists in NE are facing tough times. [CONTD] #NoToRacism” and adds, “Media needs to enter the real northeast rather than reporting sitting in Delhi or say Guwahati #NoToRacism”
The deliberation on how to take this forward and share the crowd-sourced opinions with members of various political parties was also discussed.
On the importance of infrastructure development, @blackeesh tweeted, “NE region is rich in flora and fauna,why not built more and more Environment related institution,help in opening up of NE region #NoToRacism.”
The discussion was summed up by Deka with his tweet, “Final comment: Education, development, tourism, sensitization, media support, introspection. And spread love. #NoToRacism”
* This PR was sent to e-pao.net by Seven Sisters and Rooplin Sharma who can be contacted at info(at)sevensistersproject(dot)org
This Press Release was posted on February 28, 2014
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