Temjen Imna Along says racial prejudice is a result of sheer ignorance
Our Reporters
Dimapur, March 23 (EMN): A woman from Manipur was reportedly spat on and called ‘coronavirus’ in Delhi, in another case of racial profiling.
It was reported that on March 22, after the ‘janta curfew’, two female students from the Northeast had gone out to buy groceries, when a man on a scooty hurled racial slurs at the two students and spat paan on them.
President of Manipur Students’ Association (MSA) Delhi Chingkhei told Eastern Mirror that the incident took place at around 9 to 10 pm on Sunday at Vijay Nagar Single Storey, Mukherjee Nagar in North West Delhi.
After the incident, the victims called up the MSA in Delhi, after which they went to the Mukherjee Nagar police station North West to file a first information report (FIR). However, it was reported that the police refused to file an FIR claiming "there was no law to book a person for racial discrimination and the incident does not fall under any section".
It was only after they approached the Northeast police cell that the Delhi police filed an FIR under Section 509 of IPC on March 23.
Chingkhei said that racial slurs against people from the Northeast have escalated with the spread of Covid-19.
On March 20, nine Nagas working with a company in Ahmedabad were subjected to racial profiling. In a video that went viral, two Naga women were seen explaining about their experience after Gujarat police made them undergo a ‘coronavirus test’, just because they had mongoloid features.
"The nine of them were taken for the coronavirus test which came out negative, but they were still made to stay in the hospital to get another test done," said Aren Walling, the vice president of Naga Students’ Union Gujarat.
Walling informed that the nine persons, mostly women, were isolated at AMC hospital and were allowed to go home only on March 21.
In another incident, a group of Nagas were reportedly asked to evict their flat in Ahmedabad by their neighbours. A source claimed that the Nagas were made to evict because of their looks.
A senior official in the Gujarat Police confirmed to Eastern Mirror that the two incidents have been resolved.
"It is because of fear and ignorance that people are suspicious of everyone who isn't a local," said the official.
In a press release, the president of Nagaland BJP unit, Temjen Imna Along, who is also minister of Technical and Higher Education, and Tribal affairs, stated “this racial prejudice against the mongoloid people of the country is a result of sheer ignorance on the part of many of our mainland brethren, about the diversity of our great nation."
Along appealed to his fellow BJP presidents to use their offices to create awareness about the importance of maintaining communal harmony among the people in this extraordinary time.
Ensure safety of Naga students — NSF
The Naga Students' Federation (NSF) on Monday appealed to the state government to "actively liaise with the central government and their counterpart in other states" to ensure the protection of Naga students residing in other states, in light of the recent reports of racial profiling against them caused by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
"The Naga students residing outside the state has been facing discriminations in various forms due to their physical appearances," a press statement of the NSF read. It also urged the government to "ensure the physical and emotional well being of the Naga students living outside the state."
The NSF has appealed to the state government to provide all necessary assistance to the Naga students who has been arriving from other states and are stranded in various places due to the restrictions placed by the government on movement of public transports, the statement read. It has also urged all the educational institutions, including coaching institutions to strictly comply with the directives of the state government.
Further, the office of NSF will remain closed from March 24 to April 12, in compliance with the government's directive and their effort to restrict the spread of coronavirus. "However, the day-today functioning of the federation shall remain unaffected," it added.