Will Racial Prejudice Ever Come To an End ?

Deepa Khomdram *

Justice for Loitam Richard : Protest at Town Hall, Bangalore :: 20 May 2012

Racial discrimination has always been deep-rooted in our society since time immemorial. No matter where we go, what we do, we are always looked down upon. Mainlanders are looked down abroad; north-easterners are looked down in other parts of their very own country. The politicians shouting in the Parliament that North easterners are very much our own is simply vague words with no absolute meaning.

Discrimination, today, seems to have become a function of life. It is said, charity begins at home so does discrimination. Consciously or unconsciously, the differentiation that we make between family and non-family, club-members and non-members; colleagues and non-colleagues; countrymen and foreigners etc is where the seeds of discrimination, racial discrimination to be precise, are sown.

Racism is an idea linked to a very fragile sense of superiority based on hate and ignorance. Humans, being the most intelligent group, are complex entities and thus, trying to completely eradicate racism will be difficult. It demands complete transformation of the self rather than simply changing our opinions and views. It demands a change in the way we create our identity.

And sadly, the idea of racism today is more like an inborn process which has been inherited from generation to generation and continues to breed in our society overtly as well as covertly. The question now is, "How do we discriminate?" and not "Do we discriminate?" Unless we stand up, accept and admit that we do discriminate, the answer to how do we discriminate will never pop up.

And so long this continues, racial discrimination will continue to prevail in various forms in our society. This is a harsh truth that the mainland Indians still has to realize.

Day in and day out, we have been facing the issue of racial profiling everywhere we go, just because we are from the North-eastern part of the country and we look different from the mainland Indians. The death of the two innocent students, Richard Loitam and Dana Sangma, at the prime of their youth, has highlighted the issue of institutional racism and racial profiling as both the students were from North-East.

What more could we derive from the attitude of the institutions and the police force who are investigating the deaths of the two students. In the case of Richard Loitam, the college authorities at first feigned complete denial of any scuffle having taken place between the victim and his hostel-mates trying to cover up the murder. The victim was instead framed as a drug addict.

Was it simply because of the fear that the image of the institution would be tarnished? What would have been the situation if the victim had been from big cities like Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai? Would the institution still try to suppress the issue putting the blame on the victim, framing him as a drug addict?

I believe the situation would have altogether presented a different scenario. For instance, we can cite the death of Ansh Agarwal, an XIth standard student from Mumbai who was allegedly beaten to death by his friends. In the case of the Mumbai student, the police took immediate actions based on the testimony of the eye-witness.

It may be noted here that the incident of the death of the student based in Mumbai took place on the 19th of April that is, a day after the news of the death of Richard Loitam came. Doesn't this arouse your inquisitive self? Both of them were students but why the delay in case of Richard Loitam?

This is where the very idea of racial profiling creeps in. We can't help but think that the situation has been deliberately mismanaged. The incident has been deliberately misled by the college authorities as well as the Karnataka police. The testimony of the eye-witness was proof enough for the police to file the case and arrest those who were guilty of the crime.

Thankfully, because of the pressure of the public and the protests of the students, the police have finally filed a case of murder against the students who were involved. The act of covering up the incident and trying to hush it up by the institute points towards institutional racism.

I am not jumping into the conclusion of racial discrimination just because of the fact that a student from my state was murdered in an institute. The delay in investigating the incident, the inappropriate action of the police force, the wrong filing of the murder and the indifferent reaction of the institute left me with no choice but to conclude with the thought that, Yes! Justice has been denied because we are from the much neglected North-Eastern states.

The states and those in power took a fortnight to react at the incidents. Forget about other states, even our own honourable CM, Shri O. Ibobi Singh, took 14 days to pressurize the CM of Karnataka to deal with the issue. Why did the need for the students to protest for justice to awaken the system arise? Doesn't it clearly indicate that something is truly wrong and amiss within the so-called democratic country?

It is said not knowing breeds fear and fear breeds prejudice leading to discrimination. In a way, we might even assume that without discrimination we are lost in a world of confusion. It is easier to live a life of ignorance for learning about others culture, race and other social diversities make us think and thinking takes time.

But does it really? Racism is not just blatant hatred but a disgraceful and illogical, subtle prejudice. It is one of the major manifestations of the "them and us" syndrome based on fear and ignorance. The notion of cultural otherness has been incorporated into a policy of institutionalised discrimination in order to inject the feeling of the dominant other.

Till date, this has always been one of the major causes that have literally afflicted collective growth in the country. This has subjected us to assertions, counter-assertions, the feeling of subjugation and alienation in our own country. Right from prescribing a code of conduct for the students from North East, which includes imposing dress code, food habits, etc in the name of security to the way we are being treated and questioned of our identity, speaks out clear enough how institutionalised racism is shaping into a policy only meant for harassing and discriminating the North Easterners.

Isn't this an act of racial profiling? How would anyone justify it that it is beyond what we call as discrimination, harassment and alienation? Education and creating social space is one of the ways through which the attempt to bridge the discrimination can be made. Combating fear and ignorance with education and overcoming the tribal instinct that we have in all of us may help in eradicating the slur from this country/world.

But it will surely take more than a lifetime to materialize it. Having said all this, the question, "Will racial prejudice ever come to an end?" still remains open and answered!