Naga Hoho Demands Anti-Racial Law to End Racism against NE Indians

Kohima, April 10, 2020:

Condemning racist acts against Northeast Indians, the office of the Naga Hoho has said that "no one, even if they are not Indians or are from India should face racism in the country". The Naga Hoho, terming the racism as "unacceptable", has called for an anti-racial law to tackle the menace.

In a statement, calling for an anti-racial law, the Naga Hoho stated, "India is a signatory to the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination a d with a long history of caste and racism should have anti-racial laws in place".

Furthermore, the Naga Hoho has appealed all the Northeast India States' Chief Ministers to reach out to the Prime Minister Modi and "urge for the safety and security of the people living in different cities and direct every state to take up cases of racism stringently and sensitive the police and people."

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The Naga Hoho further alleged that the "people from the Northeast region are subjected to aggressive racist profiling, slurs, attacks and discrimination in the cities" during the 21-day lockdown called in India to contain the spread of the COVID-19.

There are cases reported from many places and there are also many cases which are not being reported and many suffer such indignity silently, the Naga Hoho said.

The Naga Hoho also brought attention to some incidents of crass racism during the crisis which have taken the country by storm. "Two women from Manipur, one in Delhi and the other one in Mumbai were spat on by bikers. Both were called "Corona". In Ahmedabad, 9 from Nagaland were picked up for forced testing and quarantine. In Mysore and Hyderabad some students were not allowed to enter grocery stores to buy essentials. In Kolkata a 24 year old from Sikkim who was unwell was denied entry in two hospitals, was later summoned by the police and locked in an isolation ward with others suspected of COVID-19."

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It is generally believed that prejudice against those hailing from the Northeast Indian states has seen a sharp spike in the aftermath of the outbreak of the coronavirus or COVID-19. Across the nation, several such incidents of racial profiling have been reported and the term “corona” has found acceptance as a pejorative against those with mongoloid features.

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