In B’lore for not speaking Kannada
Attackers abused him saying ‘this is India, not China’; three arrested
BANGALORE: In a suspected case of hate crime, Bangalore police arrested three men on Wednesday who reportedly assaulted a Manipuri student with rocks for not speaking the local language.
T Michael Lamjathang Haokip was attacked a little after midnight in a part of the city mostly inhabited by migrants, particularly students from the northeast states and Africa.
The 26-year-old received wounds to his head and back but doctors said he was out of danger.
People from India’s seven northeast states are frequently singled out for abuse in other parts of the country because they look different and often dress different, say social scientists.
More than 30,000 people from the Northeast fled Bangalore in August 2012 after a handful of such attacks sparked rumours of a larger conspiracy.
“They kept asking me to speak in Kannada. They said, ‘If you outsiders know how to eat food that is produced in Karnataka, you must also know to speak Kannada. This is India not China.’ I tried to reason with them but they were hysterical,” a profusely bleeding Michael told Hindustan Times at the Kothanur police station.
Two of Michael’s friends – Ngamkholen Haokip, 28 and Rocky Kipgen, 25 — who were with him when he was assaulted on Wednesday escaped with minor wounds.
Ngamkholen faced a similar attack in another part of the city in September but police are yet to make any arrests in that case.
The people who gathered
because of the commotion immediately sided with the attackers and even chased them to the police station, Michael said.
Obed Haokip, 46, a friend of Michael who arrived with a police patrol team, said some associates of a local politician helped a few of the attackers escape.
“Three persons have been arrested and investigations are on to ascertain if this was a hate crime,” said additional commissioner of police Alok Kumar.