The death of Angel Chakma has unified political voices across the Northeast
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The tragic trajectory of internal migration within India is frequently punctuated by moments of acute violence that strip away the veneer of national integration, exposing a deep-seated structural alienation. On December 26, 2025, the death of Angel Chakma, a 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura, in a Dehradun hospital, became the latest flashpoint in a decades-long struggle for dignity and safety faced by citizens from the Northeast residing in mainland India. This incident, occurring in the Selaqui area of Uttarakhand’s capital, serves as a grim reminder that the geographical boundaries of the Indian state do not always coincide with the emotional and social boundaries of its "mainland" citizenry. The case has reignited a fierce national debate, drawing parallels to the 2014 killing of Nido Tania and compelling a re-examination of the legal, institutional, and sociological frameworks that govern the lives of millions of Northeasterners living outside their home states.
The events leading to the death of Angel Chakma began as a mundane errand and ended in a brutal display of identity-based violence that underscores the precariousness of life for those perceived as "other." On the evening of December 9, 2025, Angel and his younger brother, Michael Chakma, had gone to a local market in the Selaqui area to purchase groceries and household items. While they were shopping, they were targeted by a group of six intoxicated local men near a roadside canteen and a liquor shop. The confrontation began with verbal harassment, as the group hurled a barrage of racial slurs, including "Chinese," "Nepali," "Chinki," and "Momo". When Angel sought to assert his dignity, he reportedly responded firmly, "We are not Chinese, we are Indians. What certificate should we show to prove that?". This assertion of citizenship, rather than de-escalating the situation, triggered an escalation into physical violence. Michael Chakma was initially attacked on the head with a heavy metal bracelet, or kada. When Angel intervened to protect his younger brother, the primary accused, Yagya Awasthi, allegedly stabbed him multiple times in the head and back with a knife. Another assailant utilized a metal rod to inflict further damage, while others in the group joined the scuffle. The medical report later detailed the catastrophic nature of these injuries, noting deep lacerations in the occipital region of the head, spinal cord fissures, and a complete loss of motor power on the right side of the body due to severe neurological trauma. After a 17-day battle in the Intensive Care Unit of Graphic Era Hospital, Angel succumbed to his injuries on December 26, 2025.
The investigative response followed a pattern often criticized by Northeast activists for its perceived lack of alacrity. Michael Chakma filed the initial complaint on December 10, yet the Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) has alleged that the police took three days to register the formal FIR. The initial charges were filed under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections related to voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation, but it was only on December 14, after doctors recorded the gravity of Angel’s injuries, that charges of attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy were added. This delay, according to the CDFI, provided a crucial window for the prime accused, Yagya Awasthi, to flee across the border into Nepal. While five other accused—including tea stall owner Avinash Negi, bakery owner Suraj Khwas, and two students identified as Shaurya Rajput and Ayush Baroni—were taken into custody or sent to juvenile reform homes, Awasthi remains the subject of a manhunt with a INR 25,000 reward for his capture. The presence of Khwas, who hails from Manipur, among the group of attackers is a particularly jarring detail that suggests the complexity of social dynamics in mixed urban settings.
The public outcry following Angel Chakma’s death has consistently invoked the memory of Nido Tania, the 19-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh whose killing in Delhi in 2014 catalyzed a national conversation on racism. News reports often link the two cases, sometimes leading to confusion about Angel’s state of origin; while Nido was from Arunachal Pradesh, Angel was a native of Tripura’s Unakoti district. This confusion is symbolic of the "othering" process, where diverse Northeastern identities are flattened into a singular category by mainland society. Nido Tania’s death occurred under eerily similar circumstances in a South Delhi market after he was mocked for his stylized hair and clothing, which shopkeepers viewed as "un-Indian". The subsequent protests led to the formation of the M.P. Bezbaruah Committee, which recommended specific anti-racial laws, police sensitization, and changes to the NCERT curriculum to bridge the knowledge gap regarding the Northeast.
The lineage of racial violence and institutional apathy predates even the Nido Tania case, with 2012 serving as a particularly dark year for the Northeast community. The deaths of Richard Loitam in Bangalore and Dana Sangma in Gurgaon remain open wounds. Richard Loitam, a 19-year-old architecture student from Manipur, was found dead in his hostel room in April 2012 following an alleged assault by seniors over a dispute regarding a television channel. Around the same time, Dana Silva Sangma, an MBA student from Meghalaya, died by suicide in her hostel room at Amity University after an invigilator allegedly used abusive language and threatened to "finish her career" over a cheating accusation. Her family alleged that Dana was driven to suicide by the humiliation and discriminatory treatment she faced at the hands of university officials. These cases, along with that of Angel Chakma, illustrate the various forms that discrimination can take, from physical assault to institutional humiliation.
The persistent victimization of Northeast Indians is rooted in systemic alienation where individuals with Mongoloid features are frequently misrecognized as "foreigners" in their own country. This alienation has taken on new forms through "racial capitalism," where the "otherness" of Northeasterners is commodified in soft-skill industries such as spas and hospitality, while simultaneously making them targets for harassment. Media portrayals further exacerbate these biases, often depicting Northeasterners as "mysterious" or "exotic" characters, which normalizes the idea that they are guests in the mainland rather than stakeholders in the nation. A central demand following Angel Chakma’s death is the implementation of a dedicated anti-racial violence law, as activists argue that the transition to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in 2024 failed to fill the legislative gap. While Section 103(2) of the BNS addresses murder by a group on grounds of identity markers like race, critics argue it fails to criminalize the racial slurs and everyday harassment that precede physical violence.
The death of Angel Chakma has unified political voices across the Northeast, with leaders like Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma of the Tipra Motha Party highlighting the "patriotic" contributions of the region and demanding justice. The recurring question, "Are We Not Indian Enough?", encapsulates the frustration of a community expected to be hyper-patriotic at the borders while being treated as aliens in the capital. The path forward requires more than just reactive arrests; it necessitates the implementation of the Bezbaruah Committee’s recommendations in their entirety. Until the sociological "othering" of the region is dismantled and the mainland Indian identity becomes inclusive enough to accommodate the diverse features of its own citizens, the memory of Angel Chakma must serve as a catalyst for a genuine transformation of the Indian heartland.
Fr. Innocent Panmeisdb
Don Bosco Kohima