KUTOKA UDOSINI: North-East people feel racially discriminated

ABOUT 86 per cent of the people from the North-East living in Delhi and NCR faced racial discrimination in 2009. This came to light in a survey report released by the North-East Support Centre and Helpline (NESC& H).

The report says that discrimination ranged from molestation, physical assault and teasing to vulgar remarks. It also says that only 14 per cent of the surveyed people said that they did not face racial discrimination.
However, it is not that they were unaffected. People call them all sorts of names including 'chinkies' and 'Nepalis', but these they did not consider as racial discrimination.
Half of the people who said that they did not face racial discrimination are those who have been in Delhi for less than two years. Those who had said that they faced discrimination had lived in Delhi or NCR for more than two years.
NESC& H spokesperson Madhu Chandra said that racial discrimination remained unheard of by the authorities till a 19-year-old Naga girl was murdered at her Munirka residence by an IIT Delhi PhD scholar last year.
The NESC& H had recorded 70 cases of racial discrimination against people from the North-East from 2005 to date.
Statistics show that cases of molestation have increased against people from the North- East from five ( 2005-08) to eight in 2009. Besides, two cases of rape were registered from 2005 to 2008 and one in 2009.
In comparison to 2005-08, where only one case of murder was recorded, the number increased to three last year.
The Prime Minister and Delhi chief minister had instructed that stringent action be taken to stop racial discrimination. But only 38.6 per cent cases have been registered in police stations and nobody knew whether the police have taken any action against the perpetrators.
The NESC& H is an initiative of various human rights activists, social workers, students, journalists and lawyers seeking to prevent harassment and abuse meted out to women, people from the North-East and tribal communities.
                             Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.