Anjel Chakma, 24, a student of the Unakoti district of Tripura and an MBA student in Dehradun who had borrowed money from a bank to pursue higher education in the city, was killed. On 9th December he was stabbed in the head with a knife, and a metal bracelet was taken from him, and he died on 26th December. Even when he claimed to be an Indian citizen of the state of Tripura, the attackers hurled slurs at him and his brother, including “Chinese”, the attackers said, according to his family.
The racism Northeast youth experience in urban India is a familiar reality: foreigners in their own country. The results that came next were just as telling. Dehradun police didn’t find any evidence of racial discrimination and FIR also didn’t contain any allegation of racial bias. Student groups have accused the police of attempting to cover up the case. If police don’t state the reason, they have already decided the seriousness of the crime.
The political reaction was quick and predictable. Union minister Kiren Rijiju has described racism as a “disease” and urged states to establish special police units to combat the disease. Leaders of all parties condemned the killing, and Tripura has announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the family.
Sympathy is easy in both the cases in Uttarakhand and Tripura when it comes to the BJP at the helm in the Centre. Rijiju himself admitted that such incidents are not uncommon in Delhi where people reside in the Northeast. The pattern can be recited by a minister and the government will act. But there is still no specific legislation against racial discrimination in India, and the Dehradun case illustrates how an allegation of racism can be ignored at the first hurdle.
Students have spoken up for what is right. The Twipra Students Federation called for investigation of the case of murder, hate crime and racial discrimination. That’s a reasonable request. The BJP courts Northeast to earn votes, take votes with highways and pictures of the summits; but its youths are yet asked to prove their belongingness.
