By Madhu Chandra
One of the media friends invited me a panel discussion, the day MC Mary Kom fought her semi final women boxing in London Olympic. I declined to the show as I was outside of Delhi. She asked, “Will Mary Kom’s medal in London Olympic create better image on the people from North East India in mega cities.” I said a big “NO.” That is exactly happening now across the nation. The nation is not ready to accept the people from North East India as fellow citizens. The fundamental rights for justice to the people, who have been victimised of social profiling, racial discrimination, and attack. The Indian Parliament from all Parties united yesterday on the current crisis of hate campaign and kept on trying to convince the nation and the people from North East India that it is a rumour, safety and protection will be provided. The people from North East India has lost faith in politicians, police, and law enforcing mechanism and consider safer by fleeing, though it does not solve the problem.
When the racial attacks repeatedly had happened in national capital and other cities, the cries from the North East community have been intentionally ignored, denied, and delayed. The rape victims go without justice, the rapists walk free, no compensation to the victims, cases are not taken up to the courts, the charge sheets are intentionally delayed and denied by police forces.
If this rumour turns into a reality, though there are attacks and threat are reported in some places and the communal forces of this hate campaign could organised and attack on the people, will the nation turn into an action to protect the people from North East India. The community is yet to believe in law enforcing mechanism of the nation. It is an unfortunate.
The racial profiling and attack on NE people is happening for last few years, first in Delhi and NCR, now spread to the rest of the India. Many people believe that this hate campaign against the NE people could be impossible to spread in such a mass scale without any communal forces. These invisible communal forces want to create an atmosphere from the current communal violence in lower Assam to provoke hatred among different sections of the society. It has been sensing that the invisible forces of this hate campaign could be no other than Hindutva communal forces. Some are naming it “Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena” and we need more evidences.
There is also fear that these Hindutva forces could organise attack on NE people in different parts of the country to add fuel to the burning fire and blame to certain minority communities. The nation has witnessed such cases when the bomb blasts were planted by themselves to defame the certain minority communities.
Before the hate campaign against people from North East India broke out, there has been a massive social profiling and attack on them for last many years. The government machineries were not able to stop, the crimes increased, first in Delhi and NCR, now expanded to mega cities and all over the country. Now with this hate campaign that has reached highest officials of the nation including the office of Indian President and whole Parliamentarians, will leave a much harmful impact on entire North East India communities living in different parts of India for long time.
AMU Alumni Association of Maharashtra with its volunteers standing at LTT, Mumbai to boost the Moral of Northeastern brothers and sisters, requesting rhem not to leave Mumbai and Maharashtra.
The media – print, television, and social networks have done both good and bad in handling the situation. The ones, who never heard about the hate campaign, have been reached to them, irrespective of the place where the people live. The hate campaign will duel to the people who had already a kind of mindset against the people from North East India, perhaps in a manner worse than before and uncontrollable.
The people from North East India, who look different from the rest of the country, have been profiled as aliens in their own land, cheap people, and a polluting community to mainland India society. The law guardians do not considered them equal citizens of the nation, denies their complaints, refused action against the attackers, and allows the accused to flee.
Such social profiling has been to the marginalised people of India under caste system for years and the nation has failed to solve this problem. What the people from North East India are facing right is very much a reflection of caste system. The caste system runs the entire Indian social system.
Much campaign has been conducted to include the racial profiling, discrimination and attack on North East communities into the Scheduled Caste/Schedule Tribe Prevention of Atrocity Acts 1995. Memorandums have been submitted to Union Home Minister and finally the ministry has responded positively and instructed all the State Governments to book all the offenders of racial profiling, attack and discrimination under the same law. The nation is yet to see this order is materialised or just a mere lip service.
The problem of racial discrimination, attacks, and profiling is likely to increase in years to come, because the number of people going out from North East India is a massive exodus in search of earning, better education, and career.
The North East Support Centre and Helpline conducted a research project in 2010 on North East Migration and Challenges in Mega Cities. The study found the massive number of people going out right after class 10 + 2, for higher education, jobs, and future career. In last six years over five lakhs of people have gone out to other cities, this figure is the increase of 12 times every year. With this increase each year, there will be 50 lakhs of people migrated from North East India in next five years.
The main factor that pushes people out of the region is the lack of higher educational infrastructure in the entire North East India. The private schools have substituted the failure of government schools in providing primary educational service up to class 10 + 2. The topper students like Mohammad Ismat proved this from Manipur, who secured top of All India CBSE class 12th examination 2012.
The Union Government and the state governments of the entire North East India, including North East Council have failed to plan, invest, and develop higher educational infrastructure. The government run colleges have more teachers than students in many colleges. There is limited choice for students to choose their preferred subjects available in these colleges. The parents with their hand to mount situation manage to send out for higher education.
Every citizens of India, including the people from North East India has rights to go and live any part of the country and it is not the issue but what pushes them out and challenges they face there is the matter of core concern.
The longer the procrastination to address the challenges of the higher educational infrastructure in the region by the union and state governments, the exodus from the region in search of better education and job will continue. The more migrates to different parts of India, the social profiling; racial attack and discrimination will increase.
Now the issue of social profiling toward North East people from mainland India has become a national debate. All the parliamentarians of all parties in one voice have raised their concern of the safety toward the people from North East India. They must also with same passion realise the alienation of the region from the entire nation in term of development, job opportunities and education infrastructure and come up with plan of action to meet this challenges in the region itself. Otherwise, the challenges will remain unmet.
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Madhu Chandra is freelancer from Manipur. He works as spokesperson of North East Support Centre & Helpline (www.nehelpline.net) and Regional Secretary of All India Christian Council (www.indianchristians.in)