Racism on the Rise against NE Indians amid Corona Pandemic Crisis

Sudarshan Goswami:

CoViD-19 cases in India are rising increasingly and along with it is a rising apprehension among the people of the country. The uncertainty raised out of CoViD-19 originating in China has intensified racism among citizens across many countries. Coronavirus is also being called the China virus or the Wuhan virus for the point of origin of the virus like another one years ago called the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

The Chinese diaspora around the world are being targets of racial slurs resulting from the fatal toll CoViD 19 is taking on humanity. In India we are witnessing cases related to direct abuse of people targeting mongoloid features in many parts of the country. People are being called ‘Corona’, physically abused and spat on with a clear intention of socially discarding them.

A Manipuri girl who had been spat on in a recent incident in Delhi’s Vijay Nagar is a victim of racist ailment of prejudice infesting people’s mind and creating an ambiance of hatred. The Northeastern population who possess such features are surely aware of these racial behaviors, as the government has from years failed to generate some sense among the Indian population against it. In these dire times of the country after standing for the National Anthem in movie theatres for past many years, now couldn’t find a niche in their hearts for a fellow Indian.

There are incidents of such remarks when the abused had to confront and talk some sense to try and grab the imagination of those who mentally alienate the northeasterner due to their inability to decipher the unique cultural identity. But the smirky faces and the aggressive language of the mass is uncalled for.

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The hurdles of surviving during these unseen times of the country for a Northeasterner is unsettling as the paranoia of being ill-treated prevails due to the rising Sinophobia being channeled into people from north east India and Himalayan topographies. Viral videos of people being targeted with incantations of the pandemic is taking a toll on their daily life. A sickening incident of a Naga youth being physically assaulted by an aggressive mob was being reported in Kolkata.  The spike in such cases of racial attack is peculiarly concerning as the country has come under lockdown. The restraint imposed on travel round the clock and other epidemic prevention restrictions present in the country currently has made North Easterners highly pregnable. People are forced to stay inside despite the need to purchase their daily needs from the risk of being subjected to racism more than that of the virus. The government has recognized these issues and have publicly commented on - the latest tweeted by BJP MP Kiren Rijiju (Arunachal Pradesh).

The Police has a role here to instill a sense of safety on the people though it is prevalent that hardly anyone has registered these incidents in the police stations. The lack of police reports regarding the cases in spite of such rising incidents reported online speaks of the lack of police cooperation received over years of bigotry bullying faced by people deprived of concrete justice. The recent capture of the perpetrator of the Delhi spitting incident is a good sign in this regard. It is suggestible for the administration to consider these indirect hazards faced by the population out of the bindings of the pandemic and the related restrictions imposed in the country and also to initiate campaigns against it so as to stop racial profiling done by the government officials who consider mongoloid features as carriers of Coronavirus.

Student communities of Northeast specifically Naga student federation residing in different parts of the country have urged for assistance from the administration. Nagaland Chief Secretary Temjen Toy has released helpline numbers from his office to report against any such racial abuses relating the people of the state to Corona. Even this has not been able to keep the infractions at check. The latest of such incidents was reported couple of days in Mysore when two Naga youth were refused entry into a grocery shop in Mysore even after they produced their Aadhar cards. Although later the three perpetrators of the hate crime were later arrested by the police, the racist attitude of people has not been addressed sufficiently as the reason for this abnormal behavior has not been identified. It’s a psychological epidemic spreading parallelly amongst us. Curbing these irrational behaviors spreading against North easterners solely depends on identifying the cause like arresting any epidemic from spreading among communities.

People are flocking to leave for their homes and daily life has come to halt across countries as people are surviving on their limited supplies gathered. In such times it’s worrying to witness cases of people being called Corona Virus only due to their looks. Continuing to waive off these incidents as isolated and personal will be perilous. The commissioning of Northeast cell and renewed efforts of the administration to curb racism over the years stand witness to their efficiency in such times. The times when people need vessels to let out their agony in shameful ways have chances to spiral off towards much more heinous crimes in the future. It is reassuring to see Gujarat police take proactive measures in such incidents. A video of Gujarat police personnel intervening to stop evacuation of rental premises of Northeastern students is earning accolades in social media spheres.

Using milder sense for racism as prejudice is surely not curbing racist abuse against people from Northeast. Fast track settling of racism cases against North Easterners and enactment of a law against it, is expected in these times. The psychological distance existing for Northeast population is fueled by the disaster originating out of China. The looming uncertainty of the future when the world is bracing itself for a much grimmer situation requires communities to hold tight and come to each other’s aid. The racist slurs are being reported in places where usually such cases are not common.

It’s time to heed the urge of MP Tapir Gao and issue an advisory to all the states of the country against racism towards North Easterners owing to their resemblance with Chinese. The stigma associated with the CoViD-19 is the resultant divergence of logic from science as prejudice attributes food habits of northeasterners as unhygienic. Such notion holds no ground as the disease originated from the transfer of a virus from unconfirmed animal source to humans currently understood to have spread from pangolin through bats to human. Carriers of a virus is indiscriminatory of race be it Caucasians, Mongoloids or Negroids and convictions against it is no different from the idea of gaumutra being the cure of coronavirus. It is imperative to maintain social distance from others irrespective of their identity and maintain calm and cooperation among ourselves and not to fan a fume of hatred in the society.

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