‘Don’t call us chinky, momo or chowmein’
Hate crimes against Northeastern people are treated as isolated cases by lawenforcement agencies and are being ignored by most Indians
Dear Susana,
We never met, I never heard your name and have not even a single clue to recollect if I have encountered you in life. I learned about your death through NE SOS WhatsApp group while on way to meet a rape victim who is also from Manipur. While I was reading this heartbreaking news, I met one of your nieces wiping her tears and on her way to see you where you were found dead in mysterious circumstances. But without proper investigation, the authorities concluded that your death was natural.
You cannot speak any more or tell us about what happened to you. If I count the statistics you are 11th N-E woman to have been found dead in their rented accommodation in Delhi/NCR in 2016.
Many women in the past have also met the same fate. Let this be the last and I’m praying for safety and justice for all the women in the world. In life, you may not have fulfilled your dreams but in death you will be fondly remembered by your near and dear ones, they will love you still, and in their hearts you hold a place no one else will ever fill. You are in safe hands now, in God’s hand. Rest in Eternal Peace!
Everyone from the Northeast who is based in Delhi and other Indian metro cities faces discrimination. I wrote the above letter on Facebook last year to honour a victim of a particularly violent kind of persecution. Since I come from the Northeastern part of India myself and belong to a minority race, I too, have suffered from racism, at least in its milder forms. I’ve been called “chinky”, “momo”, “chowmein”, and more. If I am thought to be from South Korea, China or Japan, I’m treated very well, but once I am identified as a Northeasterner, the problems begin.
Stereotyping of Northeastern Indians is common. If you are a young man from the Northeast who wears tattoos and sports a certain hairstyle, then you are tagged as an alcoholic or a drug addict. If you are a woman from the Northeast wearing shorts and a half-sleeve shirt, then you are considered “cheap”, which provokes unwanted advances. Even polite smiles from such women are often misunderstood. All sorts of people from the Northeast are also typecast as some sort of insurgent. It is not possible for Northeasterners to stand up to discrimination if it means risking their livelihoods; economic opportunity is what has brought them to Delhi in the first place.
In 2007, I responded by helping to start the North East Support Centre & Helpline (NESCH), an initiative run by human rights activists, social workers, students, journalists, and lawyers. Ouraimisto prevent the harassment, discrimination, and molestation of people from the Northeast living in Indian metros. Since this helpline was launched, I have intervened in numerous physical assaults, hate crimes, rapes and murders. I face lots of challenges trying to protect human rights. Members of the NESCH support us with money from their own pockets. We do not have pro bono lawyers, but most victims are from poor families and have no money to pay for legal fees. Court procedures are long and tedious, victims frequently have no faith in the system or get discouraged in the process. That’s the reason why 90% victims never get justice. Dealing with the police in Delhi often requires our team staying awake all night, sometimes without food, to coordinate between officials and victims.
As I write, I recall many cases I handled in the past. There was Reingamphi, a young woman from Manipur who was suspected to have been raped and murdered at her rented accommodation in Chirag Delhi in 2013. She was the main breadwinner of the family. Then there was Mary Ezung from Nagaland, who was found dead in Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave. Her post-mortem report clearly stated that she was brutally assaulted and murdered. Julie, a young woman from Mizoram, was murdered in her rented flat nearby in Munirka. One 19-year-old girl from Assam was raped at a guest house where she was working.
It has almost become a daily affair to hear of Northeastern women being subjected to such abuse in Delhi and the rest of the National Capital Region. Other women suffer similarly, but these women from the Northeast, hundreds of miles away from home, often face the extra burden of fighting their cases alone. Most of the women are hard working, the backbones of their families both financially and emotionally. Losing their daughters shatters a family’s dreams: it means life will never be the same again.
Stereotyping of Northeastern women continues even after their deaths. Every year, approximately 10 to 15 women from Northeast India are found dead in their rented rooms in Delhi-NCR. Unfortunately, for all these cases there is not even a single genuine and proper investigation. Most of these women are not well known and they are not from influential backgrounds, so what does it matter to anyone? Police reports tend to conclude with causes of death like alcohol consumption, suicide, and natural causes. Hate crimes against Northeastern people are treated as isolated cases by law enforcement agencies and are being ignored by most Indians, but what I’m recounting here is only the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of incidents, many of them unreported. The list goes on and on. (Dr Golmei started Pann Nu Foundation in 2013 to fight against all forms of discrimination)