Stop Xenophobia against North East People. North East People are Not Covid-19 Carriers.

Madhu Chandra *

The people of North East India living in metropolitan cities of India never ends the suffering of xenophobia.

This time at the outbreak of Covid-19, number of North Easterners from different parts of India reported of people calling them Coronavirus.

The Coronavirus does not know the differences between caste, creed, religion, race, color or place if birth. But some of the mainstream society of the nation has a mentality to different between the carriers of Coronavirus. North East people are seen as potential carrier of virus.

There is not scientifically proof that the people from North East India can be potentially the carriers of the Pandemic virus, but some of the mentality of the mainstream siciety have felt it.

Girls and boys from North East India living in metropolitan cities have been discriminated by calling some of them as Coronavirus and refusing them to come inside malls to buy essential commodities during the lockdown.

At the outbreak of the pandemic, the entire region of north east India has recorded just 2 cases without any casualty of life, which proofs that people from North East India are not the carriers of the Pandemic virus.

The mentality of discriminating and creating the community as xenophobia is condemnable.

The centre Government and state governments must ensure to stop racial discrimination meted to the people of North East India.

Racial discrimination faced by the people of North East India is the first but it has been going out for a long time.

I along with few of my friends in 2007 at natiinal capital with the help from many public figures and social actors had to setup NE Helpline to provide help to North East girls who were sexually targetted and boys racially abused in market and work places.

Series of research and documentation were carried to help the government to bring policy and plan of action to stop the racial discrimination faced by people from the regions.

Following is the piece of the finding at that time.
Social Profiling: The Root Causes Of Racial Discrimination Against North East Indians By Madhu Chandra
https://www.countercurrents.org/chandra051012.htm