Coronavirus: Naga Youths not Allowed to Enter Karnataka Grocery Store, Manager Arrested

Bangalore, March 29, 2020:

At a time when coronavirus and racism against Northeast Indians have been established as the clear threats of the day, another incident of racial profiling and discrimination has come to the fore; this time from the State of Karnataka. After a video in which Naga youths were not allowed to enter a Mysuru grocery store amid the 221-day lockdown, 3, including the Manager of the store, have been arrested by police.

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"You guys don't accept us as Indians, why? You guys don't know about Nagaland. You guys don't know about Northeast India. Why are you discriminating us?", says one of the students who was barred entry to the grocery story. The one shooting the video then chimes in, and asks, "We have AADHAAR card, why don't you accept us?"

Then, one of the employees of the store is seen charging the person shooting the video while saying "NOT VIDEO!" The man then continues to chase the Naga youth shooting the video who is forced to back away.

Later, this video found its way into social media platforms, where it was widely shared by Northeast Indians who condemned the action of the store employees for depriving the Nagas of the basic necessities.

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It may be mentioned here that after the video went viral on social media platforms, Mysuru City Police on Sunday lodged an FIR at the Krishnaraja Police Station and the manager and staff of the outlet were taken into custody. The FIR was lodged after Political Adviser to the Nagaland CM, Priyang Pandey, spoke to the Commissioner of Police of Mysuru, Chandragupta. In a tweet, the Mysuru City Police has urged all the people and shop owners/staff to desist from doing such acts and behave responsibly in this time of crisis.

It is pertinent to mention here that there have been multiple incidents of racism after the outbreak of the coronavirus.

After the recent incident in Delhi during which a 25-year-old Manipur scholar was spat on and called ‘corona’ by a North Indian man called Karan Vohra, Shaikhom Chingkhei, the President of the Manipur Students’ Association in Delhi told Inside Northeast: “You know, this kind of racism has always existed, even before it made national headlines. I, myself, have been subjected to it. En route to the market yesterday, I was called corona by a small child. That speaks volumes.”

On 20 March 2020, 24-year-old Cathy Chakhesang and her eight colleagues from Nagaland working at a dental insurance company’s call centre had to spend the night in a government quarantine facility meant for suspected patients of the coronavirus disease allegedly because of their Mongoloid looks. They had no physical symptoms of the coronavirus, no foreign travel history, no apparent contact with any laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 patient and none of them ticked any of the boxes that qualify people to be treated as a suspect case.

On 16 March 2020, 74 year old Rinzin Dorjee and his daughter Tsering Yangzom from Northeast India were denied entry in Shree Sainath Housing Society at Mulund (East), Mumbai on the suspicion that they hail from China. Mr Dorjee has been a frequent visitor to Mumbai for his cancer treatment and has been staying at the Housing Society for the last three months. However, on 16 March the security guard did not allow him and his daughter to enter the society alleging that they might be infected with the virus.

These are just a few examples of racial discrimination that the people of the Northeast have had to face. We have received reports from Northeast students staying in Delhi that they dread going outside their hostels or rented houses because they are being mercilessly teased as ‘corona’.

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