Plight of Northeast People in Delhi

Dr. Gairiangmei Maringmei *

Protest against crimes committed to NE people in Delhi : At Imphal on Feb 11 2014 :: Pix - Deepak Oinam

First of all, the problem of racial discrimination in Delhi has to be solved in Delhi itself and the rest of the racial discrimination problems in other parts of the country will follow suit. The non-stop killings and assaults on the people of Northeast in Delhi have been increasing in the last few years. Recently, series of atrocities on the people of Northeast have been wide-spread in the major cities of India also. The mysterious murder of a 33 year-old, Ph. D scholar Zingran Kashung Kengoo hailing from Manipur, Juliet, a young Mizo girl was killed by suspected mainland person in Delhi and Reingamphy Awungshi, a girl from Manipur was murdered under mysterious circumstances in Delhi.

And three students from Manipur - T. Michael Lamjathang Haokip, Ngamkholen Haokip, and Rocky Kipgen were brutally attacked in Bengaluru for not speaking the local language, Kannada and another two boys - Awang Newmei, and Aloto Chishi from Nagaland were beaten blue and black in Gurgaon, Haryana by a gang of local people. Many Northeast educated youths were also brutally attacked and murdered by the mainland people in Delhi and elsewhere in India and yet not a single tangible legal action was delivered to the grieved families.

These actions of brutal attacked and killing innocent people of Northeast by the mainland people are directly attacked on the humanity. Such incidents of racial crime-atrocities pose a great challenge to the so-called largest democracy of the world, India. All citizens of India are equal before the law of the land. Under the Article No. 14 of the Constitution of India stated that the State shall not deny to any person, equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. Here, the equal protection of the laws to its citizens seem lacking to the Northeast people living across the country and it is a gross violation of the fundamental rights of the Indian Constitution.

Delhi is the capital of India; right from the beginning it is a glamorous metro city that has been a centre of attraction for the migrants from various parts of the country. Like any person migrating from many parts of India to the capital of the country, likewise many Northeast youths have been migrating to Delhi each year in their quest for higher education and better job opportunities. There are many reasons for Northeast people coming to Delhi leaving their respective states to seek refuge from armed conflicts, insurgency problems, rampant corruption, and low levels of investment etc.

The Northeast states as a whole is backward region in India and inadequate development of basic infrastructures as well as the lack of educational and employment opportunities. According to Centre for North East Studies and Research, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi, there are over 2 lakhs of Northeast people living in Delhi. Today, the Northeast migrants have begun to engage in retail; clothing stores, sports stores, cosmetic stores, spas, call centres, restaurants, hotels and other private companies.

India is a multi-cultural and multi-plural society populated by various races: Aryans, Dravidians and Mongoloid. In many cases, there are many conflicts occurred, perhaps the different faiths, religions, traditions and cultural background prevails in the country. Molestations, sexual assaults, rape and murder may happen to anyone, but the disturbing and unacceptable point is when these crimes are committed with a preconceived notion.

The ideas of "nationalism", "secularism" and "unity in diversity" are yet to be fulfilling in the country in a true sense. "Unity in Diversity" seems a mere slogan and so there is no actual practice that led miserably fails to maintain it. India celebrates its 67th Independence Day this year, 2014, but the people from the Northeast states have been still racially discriminated and treats them as "foreigners" because of their distinct looks, the colour of skin, personalities and the kind of food they eat. They are regularly subjected to verbal mocks, slurs, jokes, physical and sexual assaults, brutal attacks, murdered as well as cheating by landlords and employers. In many cases, the job seekers in private sectors find it difficult to get their desire jobs and those who gets it are lower salary than their mainland counterpart holding with same education qualifications.

The ongoing attacks on people of Northeast in Delhi and across the India's major cities are a clash of culture, tradition and religion. The feeling of patriotism to the nation is missing with the people of Northeast. The constant unfair treatments of Northeast people as "foreigners" and repeated brutal attacks by the mainland peoples have been escalated the feelings of alienation to the mainstream India. Recently, Bangalore based NGO, Reach out Foundation conducted a survey on the people hailing from Northeast region living in Delhi and reveals that the discrimination is a reality and those acts happen in many public places.

It may be mentioned that when a student, Nido Tania hailing from Arunachal Pradesh was murdered in January, 2014 at Delhi and it led to a huge public outcry. After the said incident nothing has changed on the ground. After the death of Nido Tania, the 11-member of MP Bezbaruah Committee was formed. The Committee is to look into various concerns of the people of the Northeast region living in different parts of India, especially metropolises. According to the Committee report there are two lakh plus people from Northeast region migrated to Delhi, the capital of India from 2005 to 2013 and about 86% have faced some sort of "Racial Discrimination" in metro cities across the country. The Committee had conducted a study into the problems faced by the people of Northeast and it recommended measures to reduce the problems faced by them. Till date, no action has been taken on its recommendations.

It is worthwhile to state here that in the pre-independent India, Nagas had an apprehension that in the future the mainland advance people could commit discrimination and atrocities against them. Thus, the Naga leaders submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929 at Kohima and they demanded that "the Nagas should be left alone whenever the British decided to leave India". This memorandum was the first written document in which the Nagas had expressed the fervor of their longing and political aspirations to regain their independence. Today the Naga leaders' prophecy seems to come true and they still fight for their own place not to depend on the Indian soil. Manipur and Tripura kingdoms were the princely states in British India. The Northeast region is far away from mainland India and it has difficulties of communication which translated into a social and cultural distance that poses a great challenge to national integration. Perhaps that is the reason why even today the separatist movements continue in Northeast India.

Today, over 98% of Northeastern states' are arbitrary international boundaries surrounded by China, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The Northeast states are consisting of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. In many cases, there was no consent from the people of Northeast when the boundaries were demarcated. And when we talk about overall development, there is rampant discrimination against the region as a whole and this is reflected in inadequate basic infrastructure developments as well as lack of educational and employment opportunities. Suppression of political aspirations of the Northeast people is also another evidence of racial discrimination. No sincere approach to solve the decades-old conflicts prevailing in the region by the Government of India till date.

Instead, in the name of counter-insurgency in the region the draconian laws like Armed Forced Special Power Act (AFSPA), 1958 and other inhuman laws imposed on its own citizen that is grossed violation of international laws.

Here is another glaring example of isolation, exclusion and discrimination policies of the founding members of the Indian nation to the Northeast region. From the following Indian national anthem, let us find out how it goes:
Jana Gana Mana
Jana Gana Mana Adhinaayak Jaya Hey,
Bhaarat Bhaagya Vidhaataa
Panjaab Sindhu Gujarat Maraatha,
Draavid Utkal Banga
Vindhya Himaachal Yamuna Ganga,
Uchchhal Jaladhi Taranga
Tav Shubh Naamey Jaagey,
Tav Shubh Aashish Maange
Gaahey Tav Jayagaathaa
Jana Gana Mangal Daayak,
Jaya Hey Bhaarat Bhaagya Vidhaataa
Jaya Hey, Jaya Hey, Jaya Hey,
Jaya Jaya Jaya, Jaya Hey.

The above famous national anthem - "Jana Gana Mana" was written by Rabindranath Tagore. It was officially adopted as the Indian National Anthem on 24th January, 1950. The following translation (edited in 1950 to replace Sindh with Sindhu as Sindh after partition was allocated to Pakistan), attributed to Rabindranath Tagore, is provided by the Government of India's national portal.

Jana Gana Mana in English translation:
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida, Utkala and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Ocean.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny,
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

From the above anthem, we do not find any word mention about the Northeast region. Even after 64 years of officially adopted it as Indian national anthem, the founding members of the Indian nation and the concerned authority are not initiating to modify or include the word that is related to the Northeast region for the national interest.

Rethinking the historical, institutional and structural fault lines left-over by colonialism and new colonialism is the need of the hour and constitutionally resolved by way of grand reorganization of the entire Northeast on ethnic lines and provides maximum self-autonomy to their aspirations.

On the other hand, can we always blame the Central Government for unwanted thing that is happening to the people of Northeast India? Can we forever depend on the Central Government? We do have our own states to address the grievances and provide basic infrastructures for the welfare of the people. The Northeast Governments, political parties, Hon'ble Members of Parliament and State Assemblies are occasionally raised their voices against the repeated occurring racial atrocities on their people.

These political elites of the Northeast are not serious and pro-active for the welfare and interest of their people. These elites who are supposed to speak on behalf of the people's common interest, they maintained silent that makes devaluing the life of Northeast people before the eyes of mainland people. The following are few legislations to curb the racial discrimination:

o In 1967, India signed the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
o In 2012, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India issued a directive to punish anyone who calls a North-easterner "Chinki" with up to five years in prison under the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
o 1n 2014, the 11-members of M P Bezbaruah Committee formed to conduct a study into various concerns of the people of the Northeast region residing in different parts of India, especially metropolises.
o On 13th November, 2014, the Mizoram Assembly unanimously passed a Private Member's Resolution calling for an end to discrimination and violence against people from the Northeast.

But can these pieces of legislation battle against the racial discrimination?