March toward Parliament foiled ; NE youth reject committee
Source: The Sangai Express / Ninglun Hanghal

New Delhi, February 06 2014: On the 6th day of protest against the death of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania after he was allegedly beaten up by some shopkeepers following an altercation sparked by their taunts on his hairstyle, thousands of NE youths were blocked with barricades and heavy security when they marched towards the Parliament today to place their demand for an Anti-Racism Law in India.

After a brief encounter with the police, the youth courted arrest and were taken to the Parliament Police station.

In response to a demand that the Members of Parliaments form the North East come to the police station, an odd six of them turned up at the police station where they were faced with tough questions by the angry, exhausted, and emotional youth.

A heated argument also took place.

NE MPs taking part in the protest

Facing uproar over his statement of a scuffle between Nido Tania and the locals at Lajpat Nagar, that led to a fight and subsequent death of Nido in a national media, Ninong Erring, the MoS for Minority Affairs & MP from Arunachal admitted his mistake and clarified his stand that the scuffle began and eventually ended in a racist attack.

Other members included, Th Meinya and Thangso Baite (Lok Sabha MPs from Manipur), Birendra Prasad Baishya (Rajya Sabha MP from Assam), Agatha Sangma (Lok Sabha MP from Meghalaya), CL Ruala (Lok Sabha MP from Mizoram) and former Arunachal Pradesh MP, Kiren Rijiju.

After over 2 hours of heated stand off, where protesters insisted the MPs to join if not lead the March to Parliament, the NE MPs led the youths out from the Police station towards Jantar Mantar, where another round of altercation took place between the MPs and the agitating students.

Several discussions on issue of security, justice and safety were discussed.

Meanwhile the NE youths have rejected the six-member Committee set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the aftermath of the killing of Nido Tania on the main ground that members appointed comprise of only Bureaucrats in the Ministry.

The members include Bezbaruah MP and member NEC as Chairman, and retired IAS officers HWT Syeim, AT Jamir, Tape Bagra, P Bharat Singh and incumbent Deputy Secretary of Home Affairs, S Saha.

Later in the day a consensus came upon a new committee with new members.

The youths have also insisted that the members should comprise of representatives from NE youth/ students/ CSOs.

Meanwhile, in a significant development the SHO of Lajpat Nagar Police station has been placed under suspension.

On the other hand, the ground work on proposals and suggestions for safety measures etc that have evolved from several political leaders during the 6-day long protest is still yet to be worked out.

Given the mere number of 25 in the sea of 545 total Lok Sabha members in the Parliament, the demand for a new legislation appear a herculean task, a helplessness indicated by the NE MPs themselves.

On the other hand the protest has been on hold till Monday, pending the forensic report as well as to reenergies themselves for the coming days.