Tetseo Sisters from Nagaland Call for an End to Racism against NE Indians

Rana Pratap Saikia:

With the coronavirus pandemic keeping Indians at home amid the 21-day nationwide lockdown, the focus of India’s Northeast has shifted to the incidents of crass racism that have come to define these dark times for many in these hilly parts. After repeated incidents, with the Northeast at the receiving end, many of the prominent personalities from the region, including the Chief Ministers of Mizoram and Nagaland, have voiced concerns over the issue. Joining the voices of those condemning these acts of crass racism are the musical sisters from Nagaland, the Tetseo Sisters (Lulu, Mercy, Azi and Kuvelü), who have called for unity in these trying times. Below are some excerpts from a recent interview with Inside Northeast:

How are you as a musical quartet dealing with the challenges of the lockdown brought about by the COVID-19 crisis?

Lulu: Not even 8 weeks ago, we were full of excitement and planning for gigs, personal and work related travel and so forth, then suddenly news of a new disease outbreak started doing the rounds. Eventually the virus was everywhere and slowly our events got postponed or cancelled. We rushed home to prepare for the upcoming challenges of self isolation and nationwide lock down as our parents are senior citizens with health concerns and we live in a remoter part of the Country.

Mercy: And then life came to a standstill in more ways than one. Now, with the panic, paranoia and stress of protecting ourselves as well as parents and other vulnerable members of our family and community.

In the wake of the advent of the COVID-19, we keep hearing reports of Northeast Indians being abused due to their mongoloid features. That is a challenge for the region to overcome.

Mercy: We are Tetseo Sisters and we believe in a world we can create to make life better. At this moment, we want to voice our concern and disappointment at the slew of racist attacks and abuse to our fellow NE citizens in the many Indian cities in the wake of Corona Virus Outbreak. And this is alarming and unsettling! In the immediate aftermath of the outbreak and the myriad challenges it entails, we had the additional burden of having to worry about racist attacks in our own country from people who are citizens too. How sad!

Now, facing racist mistreatment from fellow Indian citizens is not new and is definitely not novel to the Covid19 outbreak.

Kuvelü: It is even more heartbreaking to hear that innumerable people have been attacked, called names, threatened to pack up and vacate their flats, spat on and what not because we NE people have Asian/Mongoloid features and somehow that was justified. This is not right and absolutely unacceptable that a person who is a natural citizen be treated like that just because he or she has different facial features and can't speak the local lingo properly.

Several from the Northeast have been vocal in their opposition to these racially motivated hatecrimes. What is your message to the rest of India in the wake of these racist attacks?

Kuvelü: Nobody deserves to be mistreated that way in their own homeland. We put up with so much nonsense ourselves and we have had enough. We'd like to clarify that it is not a major chunk of people who do this. Rather a bunch of unexpectedly callous or ignorant who ruin it for all of us.

Azi: During a time when the world is looking inwards to rediscover their humanity, please help us believe again by making an effort to recognise the human in your fellow countrymen/women and find a person with feelings and emotions too. We beg you not resort to dehumanising a person based on your notion of a race, a certain skin shade or physical features after all, we all belong to the same country and are governed by the same laws and the same constitution.

Lulu: We the people of Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are as Indian as people from any other state of India though our culture, features, food habits etc maybe slightly different from the rest of the country. We enjoy a dosa or chole bhatura as much we love our axone (fermented soybean) or pork with rice.

Racism again Northeast Indians has been widely condemned -- even by the Chief Minister of Delhi. How do you think we can overcome the so-called "emotional distancing" during the time of a pandemic when the entire world is dealing with the challenges of the corona? 

Lulu: We all love a good joke, we fear for our loved ones in the face of a pandemic and mostly, we want to feel safe and at home in the country we call ours. We are not perfect. We are human after all. We deserve the respect and goodwill we accord to the rest of the country inspite of everything. At the end of the day, we are all struggling to find a reason to smile and a place to lie down and have a peaceful sleep.

Mercy: We just want to be accepted and acknowledged as a part of the unique family that is India since forever and it is 2020 already. Come on India, we are better than this! In the face of fear and uncertainty, let's be the hope for each other and not be another reason to say "It only happens in India!" Let's say no to racism because racism kills unity and national pride and shreds the fabric of humanity.

In these times of strife, anything that the Tetseo Sisters could provide that could be a balm of ease for a world that is in suffering?

Azi: To brighten the sombre mood, we have released a new Music Video for the song Ohe. A song that celebrates friendship and life. We hope for a world in the very near future that is racism free and let's make this happen right here in India first.

Lulu: We want to thank all our friends and people in authority who apologise for the rough treatment and try to make up for the pain we often go through due to such racist mistreatment. Thank you for standing up for us and with us.

Kuvelü: We, as a band continue to try and create more awareness about the NE and Nagaland. We can only try to show you who we are but what you see is on you and we hope you see right soon.

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