Safety of Northeast People, Still a Cause of Concern?

There had been isolated attacks in Pune and Mumbai where working professional and students from northeast were beaten up in the cities. In Mysore, a Tibetan college student was stabbed by two people who suspected him to be from the northeast.  As lot of panic is gripping among the northeast people, the government of various states has assured safety of the northeast people. “People from the Northeast are safe in Karnataka,” said R Ashok, Home Minister of Karnataka. He also gave warnings that those spreading rumors would be severely punished.

To assure safety to these people, the police had deployed a good number of their personnel to the areas where northeast people reside in large numbers across different cities in India. People of northeast have always been singled out in India as they look different from the rest of the Indians. As a result, they have always faced discrimination and have been involved in racial attacks. The murder of Richard Loitam had sparked anger among the northeast people. Richard was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his hostel room. The police claimed that it was accident, but his friends and family said that he died after he was brutally beaten by his college hostel mates following a tiff with one of his classmates over changing the channel. The pain of embarrassment that lie embedded in the hearts of all northeast people in the case of Richard Loitam case have bursted out like hot molten lava from a volcano eruption.