NORTH EAST INDIA - THE PREJUDICE THEY FACE

Youth of north east India

North East India , it wouldn't be wrong if we contemplate it as the most beautiful part of our nation. This part of India has given us nothing short of abundant reasons to be proud of. It is long due now that the north east Indians get the deserved respect and equality from the rest of the Indians in every each way. 

The big question is that when will all of India start accepting the fact that north east people are our very own people and they must be given the significance they should not even ask for in the first place. 

North east India comprises of Sikkim along with the profoundly famous seven sisters namely Assam , Mizoram , Manipur , Arunachal pradesh , Meghalaya , Nagaland and Tripura.

The people from north east India are very gifted and talented in some way or the other. They have produced gems for our country in every field such as sports , music , arts , dance and the count continues. Naming some of the prominent personalities to have made north east India proud are -

Mary Kom [ Woman Boxer]

Baichung bhutia [ footballer]

Angaraag Mahanta [ singer ]

Arnab Goswami [ journalist]

Somdev devvarman [ Tennis player]

Alobo Naga and the band 

And many more........

When it comes to Racism against north east Indians, even the most famous personalities claim to have experienced it.

Mary Kom accused the Indian referees and judges to have discriminated her on the basis of her race.

She Quoted - 

" Sometimes i feel very upset. Some of the referees and judges do not favour me but i don't mind. Okay,i am from north east, no problem, but, i am still an indian."

From left: Mary Kom and Pinky Jangra

The whole issue here was that the manipuri boxer lost to a fairly young Pinky jangra in the national women boxing championship held in haryana which seemed to be an easy route for her. Being rational to the whole situation, we must realise the fact that she had trailed her opponent for three of the four rounds. So, commenting everything in her favour would be an unfair deal.

In recent times, bigotry has reached to a different level against north east Indians. 

Why is it that many Indians still do not know or even if they know do not consider our very own people with the same dignity and respect ?

It has become so common in recent times that people especially in north India call foul names to people from north east India who have come here either for studies, work, earn a living and much more......

Delhi tops the list. Racism is done in various manners which are not acceptable or justifiable by any means or standards. People call names such as " chinki", " bahadur", "nepali", "momos", "chinese",......it is never ending......

Do we ever feel when we harasse them in any manner that it could put a worse and ever lasting impression of the rest of India on them ?

On what terms is it justifiable that we are racist to such innocent people ?

Just because tthey look different and practice different culture , does that give us the rights to be uncooperative and be rude to them ?

The biggest dilemma which i feel has created a barrier between northeast Indians and the rest of India is our mentality and not their looks. There are always some ill minded elements who treat the girls of northeast only as a sex symbol. Sexploitation is a huge no no for any girl facing it, does not matter from where you belong. 

Some futile minds believe that just because they wear short clothes or are much more comfortable in western ideas and clothings, thus, gives them an indication that they are easily approachable and would be interested in sex. 

In our country where women are given the position next to goddesses, does what we wear determine how we should be treated ?

If every northeast girl starts wearing full clothes from neck to toe , does that guarantee us no harassements ?


No. That does not . The fault is in our minds and thoughts.

My personal experience has also been quite disappointing where i have experienced people ill treat the north east youth.

I have a sweet and lovely friend from manipur and if u believe me she is nothing short of the cutest piece on earth. When she had first come to Delhi, and in college, she had this group project in the class. So , she was talking to this guy in her group about some project related thing and was finding it difficult to use the correct hindi word and pronounce it accordingly.After a while, this guy became completely irritated and very abruptly and in a rude tone of manner asked her to shut up and first learn hindi and then talk to him otherwise he will kick her out of the group.

She felt so bad about it. I asked her to leave that group and confronting that guy i asked him -

"OK! her hindi is weak ,but, she is trying right ...you are a well educated young guy " Can't you guys converse in english ?"

His reply was shocking for me - he said- " Aajate hain kahan kahan se yahan prr padhne "

What makes me so upset is the fact that the youth utters such words from their mouth.

Also, a recent case of racism took place when monika khangembam of manipur was harrased by a delhi officer at the airport after repeatedly questioning her nationality. 

MONIKA KHANGEMBAM

The officer looked at her passport and said you do no not look indian and continued to ask her stupid questions such as number of states in the country and states that border manipur. She posted this on facebook and drew attention and support of the nation. 

In a youtube video " The other Indians ", northeast students studying in delhi university stated - 

" If northeast India is all about small eyes , then, India is all about small minds."

Time has come and let us all join our hands to create an India which in it's true sense can be 
described as a united nation. 

To conclude , only coordinating some cultural events { now and then} and performing some theatre arts would not make a huge difference in the long run , but, our willingness to accept the northeast Indians as our Indian family and giving them the respect which has been long due would bring the change . The purpose of equality will only be assured the day every northeast Indian starts to feel at home in any part of the nation. 

LET US ALL PLEDGE TO CREATE ONE HAPPY AND PEACEFUL INDIA !