Thursday 16 August 2012

Train to Guwahati

Few days back in London when Mary Kom won Bronze medal in Olympic, whole country went gaga over her. We were quick to claim her as one of our own. It looks like that finally so called developed Indians have started realizing that India does include the 'north-eastern (NE) states'. But it was all mirages.
From past two days, thousands of fear-struck people from the north-East continue to flee southern cities like Bangalore and Pune after rumors they would be attacked in reprisal for recent ethnic violence.  There were rumors that northeastern people, who look more east Asian or Tibetan than most Indians, would be attacked after the end of the holy month of Ramadan on August 20. Isn’t surprising that just one rumor can lead to such massive exodus of northeast people. We are fail to restore confidence on north east Indian.

North East Indian Fleeing to home (Image)
This massive exodus clearly shows that northeast people feel second class citizen in their own country. Most people from NE don't refer to themselves as Indians merely because of the fact that the rest of the country doesn't see them that way. Exodus of such level is not result of just one rumor. For years, northeast people have faced racial discrimination in their own country. They are often termed as “chinky” based on their different look  in many parts of the India . From a long time, North East Indian community has been suffering insults, taunts or physical assault. The central government has always shows leniency towards these incidents.
The recent Pune attack has just made the situation worse for them. The fear that all this has generated among the people from the Northeast is understandable, considering that the police in most places prove unequal to the task when there is a mob involved in the attacks. The government must send a clear message that it stands committed to protecting those from the Northeast. It should also tell the people that the unrest in Northeast is an Indian vs foreigner issue and not a communal issue. It is high time  that politicians are severely warned that the country has had enough of vote-bank politics.

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