Nido Tania, a 21-year-old student at
Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar, Punjab, was pursuing a Bachelor of
Science degree. He was assaulted by shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar on 29 January 2014,
after being taunted for his hairstyle. He succumbed to his injuries the
following day.
The son of a Congress MLA from
Arunachal Pradesh, Tania had come to Delhi only a few days before the attack.
His tragic death has sparked outrage, bringing the issue of racial
discrimination against Northeasterners into sharp focus and fueling calls for
stronger anti-racism laws in India.
~ Bruce K. Thangkhal
New Delhi
-----
Various News Reports on "Nido Tania" .....
Modi
slams attacks on northeasterners in Delhi
MEERUT: Reacting to the dominant
news in the media over the last couple of days, BJP's prime ministerial nominee
on Sunday made a passionate pitch for integrating the people of the
north-eastern states into the mainstream. He slammed the Centre for the fatal
attack on the Arunachal Pradesh student and the harassment of Manipuri girls in
Delhi last week and described these as shameful incidents that fly in the face
of Delhi's aspirational tag of a global city.
Saying these attacks took place under
Congress president Sonia Gandhi's watch who is the real force behind the
government, Modi, extolling the Indianness of the people of Arunachal Pradesh,
said, "While we greet each other with namaste and Ram Ram, the people of
Arunachal Pradesh greet each other with Jai Hind. If a youth from such a state
is killed in Delhi, it's a matter of shame."
Tharmila
Jajo
and Chonmila, two Manipur women,
were subjected to racial abuses in Delhi on January 25. Chonmila, who works in
a mall, had gone to a shop managed by Tharmila to buy some Manipuri herbs. On
seeing them, one of the goons who abused them tied his dog's leash to
Chonmila's shoes and laughed when she panicked.
"Whenever I hear that people from
Manipur and North-east don't get houses on rent, I feel sad... Like all others,
they're also our children and related to us through blood. It's our duty to
protect them," Modi said.
Without naming the Aam Aadmi Party, Modi said
the language used by some of the leaders in Delhi these days is deplorable.
"My head bows down in shame when I hear some of the comments," he
said.
Interestingly, Modi chose not to describe
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as "shehzade", instead, he
referred to him as "man-niye Rahul". Earlier, Congress leader
Janardhan Dwivedi had dared Modi to repeat this epithet for Rahul, saying the
Youth Congress won't allow him to carry out his political rallies if he didn't
stop name-calling. But Modi continued calling Rahul "shehzade" until
his Meerut rally.
~ Times
of India, New Delhi, Feb 3, 2014
Racism
in Delhi: Their pride hurt daily by prejudice
NEW
DELHI: Nido Tania died
because of a "racist attack", protesters at Lajpat Nagar insisted on
Saturday. And virtually, every northeasterner at the agitation had a story to
illustrate how racial discrimination had become a daily thing in their lives
here. The homogeneity of the gathering bore out much of what they were
claiming, for hardly any local face showed up barring a few students' union
members.
On Saturday, as hundreds of boys and girls from
the eight northeastern states marched down the lanes where Nido had
gone looking for his friend's home on Wednesday, locals peered out of their
windows or lounged around on their balconies gazing at the protesters go by.
None bothered to join or express solidarity.
Among those marching was Leyi, a lawyer who
is from Arunachal Pradesh. She practices in Delhi and claims she feels
discriminated against even in the courts. "I am invariably asked to get my
senior, even though I'm an independent advocate. It's evident they think a
northeast woman cannot practice on her own. I try to ignore it, but it's very
obvious."
Retaliation hardly helps, Manipur's Caroline
Maninee and Holong Ngomamai from Nagaland say. "Only the other day,
someone taunted my friend for her slit eyes calling her makkhi ki aankh (fly's
eye). She hit back and called her tormentors bhains ki aankh (buffalo
eyes)," Caroline recalls. "Having said that, we realize it's so
pointless and petty. We belong to the same country. How do we fight our own
like this," she asks. Caroline and Holong have on numerous occasions been
called Nepalese and asked where their home states are?
John Tehi, a law intern from Arunachal, was
bitter because AAP had given the protest a miss. "Not long back, we saw CM
Arvind Kejriwal hold a dharna at Rail Bhavan to save his minister, Somnath
Bharti, from being punished for racial discrimination. Why didn't the CM join
our protest," he wondered.
Lenmem Dai of Arunachal is in town to train
at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. "Schoolchildren call us
names - chinki, chowmein, what not...Such impressionable minds are taught to
see us as different. They are taught that it's fine to poke fun at us. How can
we even expect their parents to join the agitation? The only consolation is
that all the northeastern states are one in this protest. We're holding hands.
We are united."
Her classmate Ampee Tasung says that the
jibes and barbs are invariably about the way northeast people look and the way
they dress. "I wonder why they don't make fun of Bollywood stars who wear
western clothes. Back home, we are brought up in a liberal, progressive
atmosphere. Here, sexism and racism seem to dominate."
Dinesh, a Dayal Singh College teacher was
among the few "mainland" faces at the protest. He was born and
brought up in Arunachal. Some bitter memories made him join the march. "My
family has lived in Arunachal since 1940. When I came to Delhi I too faced
similar discrimination despite my north Indian looks. I was at Nehru Boys
hostel at Dilshad Garden in 1999. A friend, Tolkham Maring, a Naga student from
Manipur, was brutalized by locals as he protested against racial taunts. We
reported the incident to police but nothing happened. After 15 years it's the
same apathy," he said.
IT professional Mayuri Saikia (name changed)
doesn't believe in sloganeering anymore. "I've been in Delhi for eight
years and have faced racial slurs. I studied at a south Delhi college. Once
while returning alone from Lajpat Nagar market around 9pm, someone grabbed me
from behind. After college, I once went out to Lajpat Nagar Market with
friends. While returning I was alone and it was about 9 pm when someone grabbed
me from behind.
As I tried to turn around he covered my mouth
with one hand and said 'chinki' what's your price? I managed to flee. free
myself and fled.
I narrated my experience to my landlady and got
to know the man was her nephew. The next day, I was asked to vacate the
house."
~ Times
of India, New Delhi, Feb 3, 2014
Justice
for Nido Tania, social media’s latest war cry
NEW DELHI: As offline demonstrations raged
against the alleged assault that killed Nido Tania, the cries for
justice grew loud online too.
On Facebook, where the 19-year-old student
from Arunachal Pradesh was among the trending topics, at least three pages
called "Justice for Nido Tania"
have come up in the past 24 hours. The number of likes range from 900 to 21,000
(till 6 pm). These pages shared messages condemning racism against those from
the Northeast and also gave out details of offline protests and candlelight
vigils in the city.
One internet group circulated a picture with
" Stop Racism Unite Together" written on it and exhorted people to
put it up as a mark of protest.
One of the most widely shared messages across
several groups was addressed to "fellow citizens of India". "If
we dress like a Rock star because we are born with Music and are talented. Is
there any wrong? (sic)," reads one of the many questions in the post. It
later adds, "Come to our region... we will take you around our neighbours
and will try to be your best companions instead of giving you names."
In an alleged remark that appears to have
racist undertones, Tania was teased about the colour of his hair
outside a shop in Lajpat Nagar on Thursday. An altercation between a shopkeeper
and the student turned into an alleged assault. Tania succumbed to
injuries on Friday.
Another 'Justice for Nido Tania'
page hosted an open letter to CM Arvind Kejriwal from a Sikkimese student of
Satyawati College, asking him to look into the case and hear the voices of
those from the Northeast.
A petition addressed to home minister Sushil
Kumar Shinde on saddahaq.com asks him
to expedite the investigation and to "institute a cell that shall look
after the needs, safety of people from the Northeast living in Delhi." On
the official TOI Facebook page, an article about the Northeast community
feeling alienated got several comments, one of which was, "Its a request
to all Delhiites to save our brothers and sisters from discrimination..I am
sure not all people of Delhi are like those criminals."
~ Times
of India, New Delhi, Feb 2, 2014
Anger
at Centre, Kejriwal govt
-
People hit streets in Shillong and Guwahati against discrimination
Shillong,
Feb. 2:
Hundreds took to the streets of Shillong and Guwahati today to protest the
racial discrimination people from the Northeast face in mainland India and to
demand justice for Nido Tania, who died after an alleged racial
attack in New Delhi on Thursday.
Tania’s last rites were performed today at
Raga in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
According to CMO sources, Arunachal Pradesh
chief minister Nabam Tuki, AICC general secretary Jay Kumar and MP Takam Sanjoy
attended the funeral.
In Shillong, students shouted slogans against
the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government. They were protesting
the racial bias northeasterners face in New Delhi, where they are often branded
Chinese nationals. The Assam unit of the Aam Aadmi Party also submitted a
memorandum to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking action to ensure the
safety of students from the Northeast. “There is a strong feeling in the
Northeast that Delhi is not safe and free of discrimination for students coming
from the region. This concern has been there for a long time and needs to be
addressed urgently,” the memorandum said.
A delegation of students from the Northeast
met Kejriwal last evening seeking immediate steps while a Facebook page,
Justice for Nido Tania, has evoked large online support not only from
people from the region but from other parts of the country. “Really ashamed of
being part of a nation where people are judged by their appearances and worse
are beaten to death if they raise their voice against the discrimination,”
Munisha Chauhan, a sociology student of Delhi University, wrote on the page.
“All those culprits should be hanged, not
imprisoned so that they get bail later. Stop racial discrimination, think of
what the British did to you,” Palijore Tshering Bhutia, a student from Gangtok
who lives in Calcutta, posted on the Facebook page. The page has already
received over 25,200 likes so far.
The rally in Shillong began in front of the
Indo-Tibetan Border Police office near Anjalee petrol pump from where it wound
its way through Mawlong hat and Khyndai Lad before crossing Raj Bhavan, Barik
point, St Edmund’s School and culminated at Arunachal Bhavan in Cleave Colony.
Students from other northeastern states
studying in Shillong also took part in the procession, which was led by the
Arunachal Students’ Union Shillong, Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) and student
organisations from Nagaland, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram.
“This is not the first time that this sort of
incident has happened against our people from the Northeast,” KSU education
secretary Donald Thabah said.
The KSU leader alleged that the Centre was
not concerned about people from this part of the country and treated them as
“second-class citizens” because of differences in culture and looks. He also
demanded punitive action against the culprits.
Tania’s cousin Nido Nangam said he
died because of negligence by Delhi police.
“The police instead of taking care of my
cousin, who had been assaulted, dropped him back at the place of the incident,”
she said.
Another student, Sunaina, said people from
mainland India call “us Northeast, but treat us like we are from other country
and every time call us Chinese”.
At the end of the rally, Kakyar Dulom,
president of the Arunachal Students’ Union Shillong, addressed the gathering
and a two-minute silence was also observed.
In Guwahati, students and young professionals
from different parts of the region who reside in the city staged a protest in
front of Dighalipukhuri. “Over the years we have seen that Delhi is not a safe
place, we want a safe capital as many people from the Northeast go there for
higher studies and to work,” said Debangini Ray, one of the organisers.
Social activist and National Youth Award
recipient Ranjan Kumar Baruah said: “Delhi police need to be more proactive and
they must become friendly towards people from the Northeast.”
~ The
Telegraph, Kolkata, Feb 3, 2014
Narendra
Modi targets AAP for Arunachal Pradesh youth’s death,
‘ill-treatment’ of
Ugandan women
While continuing to target the Congress, BJP
prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday also hit out at the AAP
government in Delhi, raising the twin issues of the death of a youth from
Arunachal Pradesh and alleged harassment of Ugandan women.
Addressing a rally here, he said, “We should
try to make Delhi a global city. But in the last few days, the language and
actions have brought disrepute, not only to the national capital but to the
entire country… African women were ill-treated. Students from Manipur have been
ill-treated. Now a student from Arunachal Pradesh was killed. This does not
look good for the city.”
Though Modi did not name Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal, who had declared himself an “anarchist” while staging a
protest demanding action against Delhi Police officers, or his Law Minister
Somnath Bharti, who led the controversial raid targeting Ugandan women in South
Delhi, he criticised the Delhi government for being “careless” about
governance.
Calling for hostels for Northeast students in
major urban centres across the country, Modi said the government in Delhi is
not bothered about these things.
“In Delhi, a student from Arunachal Pradesh
was killed under the nose of Sonia Gandhi… It is shameful,” he said. Continuing
his attack on Sonia, a day after she accused the BJP of sowing “seeds of
poison”, he said it is the Congress which sows seeds of poison and reaps the
harvest from it by its divisive politics.
“Congress party has started a new raga. You
ask some question, they will answer something else. When people ask Sonia about
farmers’ suicides, she says they are farming poison,” he said.
“At the Congress’s Jaipur meeting, Rahul
Gandhi said his mother (Sonia) told him that power is poison. Who has been in
power the longest? If power is poison, who has tasted it the most? Who is
sowing poison? And who is harvesting that poison? It is the character of the
Congress to play divisive politics. It is the party of divide-and-rule that
indulges in vote bank politics,” said Modi.
“The Vajpayee government got a separate
Uttarakhand, both Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand celebrated as we had sown
affection. Similarly, both Bihar and Jharkhand celebrated. It was the same
story with Chhattisgarh. But those who have sown poison have brought turmoil in
Telangana as well as Seemandhra,” said Modi, targeting the Centre for allegedly
mishandling the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. “Enough with the politics of
poison, the time has come for politics of development,” he said.
Attacking the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar
Pradesh, Modi said, “Riots were not uncommon till over 10 years ago. But since
then, the people of Gujarat have decided to live in peace, unity and harmony,
shunning vote bank politics and following politics of development… Don’t you
all want a riot-free Uttar Pradesh? The BJP believes in peace, unity and
harmony. We will provide you a riot-free Uttar Pradesh”.
Stating that Modi had never supported the
Gujarat riots, BJP president Rajnath Singh said, “They (Congress) demand an
apology from Modi. There was a lone incident that happened during his 12-year
regime, while there have been numerous riots during the regimes of Congress, SP
and BSP. Modi never justified those riots. He termed them unfortunate. Now the
per capita income of minorities in Gujarat is better than that of minorities in
other parts of the country.”
He added that the BJP, if voted to power,
would honour the one-rank-one-pension demand of ex-servicemen.
Modi and Singh sought to woo the farming
community by invoking former Prime Minister Charan Singh and late farmer leader
Mahendra Singh Tikait, both of whom hailed from the region.
Meanwhile, former Mumbai Police Commissioner
Satyapal Singh joined the BJP at the rally on Sunday.
~ The
Indian Express, New Delhi, Feb 3, 2014
BJP
takes to streets, demands quick action in Arunachal students’ death
Harsh Vardhan, Goel say such incidents need
to be stopped.
The Delhi BJP on Sunday held a protest at
Rajghat to express solidarity with people from the Northeast states and to
press for immediate action against those guilty of the death of an Arunachal
Pradesh student in the capital.
Nineteen-year-old Nido Taniam died
on Thursday after being allegedly beaten up by a shopkeeper in Lajpat Nagar in
South Delhi.
Addressing the BJP workers, Delhi BJP chief
Vijay Goel said, “I have already spoken to the police commissioner and I am
going to meet him on Monday to demand immediate action in this case. There is
an urgent need to set up helplines at the district level as students from
Northeast states are often harassed. The authorities need to be sensitised to
react quickly to complaints and to take preventive steps to check harassment of
people (from the Northeast states), especially students.”
Goel said, “A survey by Northeast Help Centre
in Delhi shows that around 60 per cent of women from the Northeast feel
harassed. There have been cases of harassment of students too. This situation
needs to be reversed immediately.”
Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Harsh
Vardhan, said, “There is an urgent need to take steps to ensure that such
incidents do not happen again. Those guilty of committing this crime should be
brought to book.”
~ The
Indian Express, New Delhi, Feb 3, 2014
Your
son’s death is a blot on society, guilty will be punished: Sonia to Arunachal
MLA
Manipuri
women assaulted in South Delhi, faced racist comments
Delhi
hate crime:
Arunachal boy dies after shopkeepers beat him
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday
wrote to the father of Nido Taniam, the 19-year-old student from
Arunachal Pradesh who became a victim of hate crime in the capital and died of
injuries after he was allegedly assaulted by several persons in Lajpat Nagar.
In her letter to the victim’s father, Nido Pavitra,
a Congress MLA from Arunachal Pradesh, the UPA chairperson promised that strong
action would be taken against those involved in the incident. Calling such
incidents a blot on society, Sonia said, “Is tarah ke ghatnayen puray samaaj ke
liye kalank hai.”
Last Wednesday, Taniam, a B.Sc student at
Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar, was assaulted by a group of men in
Lajpat Nagar. He died a day later. He had come to Delhi a few days before the
incident.
Following protests across the city and other
parts of the country, Delhi Police has asked senior IPS officer Robin Hibu,
also from Arunachal Pradesh, to deal with various students’ groups protesting
in the city.
On Sunday, several students’ bodies held
protests at Jantar Mantar, demanding the suspension of police
officers who they alleged had mishandled the case, resulting in the death of
Taniam. A candlelight vigil was also organised at Jantar Mantar. Protests were
also organised at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The AISA-led students’
union at JNU held a protest march on campus against racial discrimination
against people from Northeastern states.
Police said they had detained three more
persons and were investigating their roles. A police team has also been sent to
Uttar Pradesh, where two men, who allegedly assaulted the victim on Wednesday,
are believed to have fled after the incident.
Police are yet to make any arrests and are
awaiting the autopsy report, which is expected on Monday. Police officers
investigating the case said the viscera and post-mortem report would give them
vital leads.
Taniam was on his way to a friend’s house in
Lajpat Nagar when he got into a scuffle with several men, who commented on his
appearance. Police were informed but both sides were let off after a compromise.
Taniam was found dead at his relative’s house in Green Park Extension the
following day.
~ The
Indian Express, New Delhi, Feb 3, 2014
Nido death: SC/ST Act case to be heard
by special court
New
Delhi, Feb 7, 2014: A
city court, hearing the bail plea of two persons arrested in connection with
the death of 19-year-old Arunachal student Nido Taniam, on Thursday
transferred the matter to a special court. The matter was transferred after
police, in their status report, said the two men had been arrested under
provisions of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The matter was posted before Metropolitan
Magistrate Pawan Kumar, who transferred it to a special judge citing lack of
jurisdiction. The special judge will hear the plea on Friday.
The two men, Pawan Singh and Sunder Singh,
have claimed they were mere witnesses to the quarrel between shopkeepers and
Taniam, and had no role in his death. “They had taken photographs of the
incident… showed it to police but nobody believed them,” counsel Shalabh Gupta
told the judge on February 4, while submitting the bail application.
According to Gupta, the two men live opposite
the spot where the quarrel broke out between the shopkeepers and Taniam. They
were mere witnesses and also called police, he claimed.
He said Pawan also signed as a witness in the
settlement paper, under which Taniam paid Rs 7,700 to the shopkeepers. “It is a
matter of grave concern that innocent citizens have been harassed and illegally
been accused… they have never been involved in any other case and have clean
antecedents,” the bail application stated.
~ The Indian Express, New
Delhi, 07 Feb 2014
Delhi Police's new FB,
Twitter pages for northeast people
By Alok Singh
Wed, Feb 12, 2014, 6:51 PM
New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) Faced with criticism over
its perceived lack of sensitivity and outreach to the northeast community in
the capital, Delhi Police is set to launch a Facebook page and a Twitter
account for people from the northeast where they can post complaints and
suggestions.
In another move, a 24-hour Delhi Police helpline
will be publicised widely by their social media websites.
The decision was taken by Delhi Police in the wake
of an alleged "racist" attack on Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania that led to his death and a furore among
people from the northeast region.
Delhi Police already has a committee, formed in
2012 and headed by a joint commissioner of police, to tackle problems faced by
students and other people from the northeastern states living in Delhi. It is
currently being headed by Joint Commissioner Robin Hibu, who hails from the
region.
"A Facebook and Twitter account of Delhi
Police will be launched soon where students from the northeastern region can
put forth their grievances and suggestions," a police officer told IANS.
He said the accounts will be monitored regularly
by a police team with good knowledge of social media and computer handling.
"Delhi Police will take note of the posts and act upon them."
"We will also post the action taken by Delhi
Police on the complaints and suggestions," he added.
Delhi Police will also publicise its 24-hour
helpline number - 1091 - on the website of the ministry of development of north
east region (DoNER) as well as its Facebook and Twitter pages.
It will also encourage northeast students to pen
down their thoughts and experiences on wattpad - an online community themed
around writing and story-telling on which users can post articles, stories, and
poems about anything.
The DoNER ministry has already launched a support
centre for students from the northeast following the death of Tania.
The decision was arrived at after a joint meeting
between Delhi Police and officials of DoNER Feb 5, said another police official.
The support centre has been opened at the
NorthEast Council Guest House in Chanakyapuri in central Delhi.
Professional counsellors will be hired on
contractual basis to deal with problems and issues raised by northeast students
at the support centre.
In another step at outreach, Delhi Police is
planning to conduct half-day seminars once a month that will see professional
counsellors and northeast people discuss issues and problems faced by them. In
this move, the DoNER ministry would also chip in.
Delhi Police holds meetings once in two months
with students and people from the northeast in the seven police districts of
the capital. The minutes of the meetings are forwarded to Hibu and the Delhi
Police commissioner, said an official.
https://www.khalvontawi.in/2014/02/valentines-day-protest-justice-for-nido.html
https://www.khalvontawi.in/2014/02/northeasterners-unite-against-racial.html
https://www.khalvontawi.in/2014/02/protest-in-delhi-justice-for-nido-tania.html
Compiled by:-
Bruce K. Thangkhal
Media In-charge
North East Support Center & Helpline, New Delhi
!!! NO TO RACISM !!!!
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