Violence against North-Eastern youngsters in the Capital has shown a disturbing trend By Kunal Doley
According to the Delhi-based North-East Support Centre & Helpline, almost half the women sexually harassed in the capital city and its neighbourhood are from the North-East. It’s indeed true that cases of misbehaviour and molestation against people from the region have become so commonplace that these incidents don’t come as a shocker to the people anymore.
Take the recent case of two Manipuri sisters being molested and manhandled by a group of about 25 men in North Campus. The two girls run a cyber café in the Gandhi Vihar area of north Delhi. The girls alleged that a crowd of about 25 men came to their shop on January 5 and started showering abuses and even physically attacked them and their brother when he tried to intervene. The mob also reportedly said that women from the North-East were spreading “immorality” in the city and asked them to leave the place.
However, what was more shocking was the fact that the police refused to lodge an FIR even when the two girls went to the police station. It was only after the incident was highlighted in the media that the police finally registered a complaint from the girls two days later. The incident is only the tip of the iceberg. Incidents of violence against people from the Northeast are showing a disturbing upward trend. Last year in September, three girls from the North-East who were studying in IP College were molested by some aspiring cops who had incidentally taken the recruitment exam of the Delhi Police minutes before the incident. When the girls went to the Mukherjee Nagar police station, the police allegedly refused to entertain their complaint and in turn asked them unnecessary questions.
More recently, four men, allegedly in an inebriated state, barged into a house of a 21-year-old woman from Manipur and molested her in south Delhi’s posh South Extension area on February 15. Although one of them was later arrested, the incident had left the woman in a state of trauma and shock.
The irony is that many incidents go unreported. “These are not isolated cases. Most of the time, the victims prefer not to complain for fear of the trauma and harassment that they have to undergo after the incident. First of all, it takes hours and even days to register a complaint at the police station. And even after that, there is hardly any action that we get to see,” said Lansinglu Rongmei, a Supreme Court lawyer and the legal secretary of the All India Christian Council.
“North-East people in Delhi are not safe at all. The ordeal starts the moment we step out of our homes. We have to prepare ourselves for any kind of consequences that we may have to face when we are moving around the city. Every day, it’s like a challenge for us,” said Dr. Achan Mungleng, who's working with a city-based NGO. Mungleng has been in the city for the past 10 years and hails from Ukhrul district in Manipur. And it’s the mentality of the people in Delhi that is to blame, felt many North-Easterners. “There is always a kind of discrimination towards the people of the North-East. And it’s not just girls but even boys that are at the receiving end of their attitude,” said Rongmei.
So, the only way out is to sensitise the people, felt Rev. Madhu Chandra, the man behind the North-East Support Centre & Helpline. “For one, if the police perform their duty properly and on time, a lot of these cases can be prevented. Any delay in taking action will only encourage the offender to repeat the crime. So, the need of the hour is to sensitise the police and the government. It’s their duty to ensure the safety of each and every individual irrespective of his/her regional or cultural background.”
The centre is a joint initiative of human rights activists, social workers, students, journalists and lawyers seeking to prevent harassment and abuses meted out to North-East people and tribal communities of other states. Since its inception in October last year, the centre has received uncountable number of cases. The central helpline numbers at the centre are: 9868184939, 981831416 and 9810554901.
kunal.doley@mailtoday.in
Recent cases of harassment
February 15, 2008: Four drunk men allegedly barged into the house of a 21-year-old woman from Manipur and molested her in south Delhi’s posh South Extension-I area. A man, identified as 24-year-old Ravinder, was held.
February 15, 2008: Eleven shopkeepers were arrested after they assaulted a group of students from Arunachal Pradesh in Chanakyapuri. The argument reportedly broke out after a telephone booth owner delayed returning the change after the students paid the bill.
January 5, 2008: Two sisters from Manipur were molested by 25 men in north Delhi, where they run a cyber cafe. Their younger brother was also beaten up when he tried to intervene. The police lodged an FIR only after media highlighted the matter two days later.
November 4, 2007: A girl from Manipur was sexually assaulted by a resident of Safdarjung Enclave. The girl was reportedly coming out of her rented house when a drunk man came in front of her and sexually assaulted her.
October 27, 2007: A manager of a call centre made sexual advances to two young women from Nagaland, and then stopped their salary and suspended them from work when they resisted his overtures.
October 21, 2007: A Manipuri girl, 21, was sexually assaulted by a tenant. In spite of protecting the victim, the landlord forced the victim’s cousin and other students from the North-East living in the rented house to vacate the rooms without any notice.
September 16, 2007: Four Manipuri students were dragged out of their rickshaws and molested by some youngsters who had come for an entrance test at North campus
Success stories
ratan thiyam: Writer, director, designer, musician, painter and actor, Ratan Thiyam is a household name in the international performance scene. A son of Manipuri dancer parents, Thiyam published his first of six novels in 1961 at the age of 22. Writing led him to theatre. He passed out of the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi in 1974. He was also the director of NSD for a while in 1987. Now based out of Imphal in Manipur, he runs his own professional theatre company, Chorus Repertoire Theatre which he established in 1976. He describes his stay in the city as a great experience, especially working under his guru, noted theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi.
robin hibu: One of the few IPS officers from Arunachal Pradesh. Presently posted as the deputy commissioner of police in Delhi’s west district, Robin Hibu has also worked as a superintendent of police in Itanagar and has been a part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia for two years. A Kirorimal College and JNU alumnus,
Hibu feels Delhi has a lot to offer in terms of career opportunities.
They are all smiles behind the counter
Nengtithong Pichong, a student of history honours at St Stephen’s College, has braved many difficult situations during her two-year stay in the city. Be it the biased attitude of the local people or the general issue of security, the 20-year-old native of Nagaland has experienced it all. However, she doesn’t regret her decision of coming to Delhi from far-off North-East for the simple reason that the quality of education and the kind of exposure in terms of career opportunities that the city offers are immense.
“I feel like an alien in my own country. There is always a looming threat that somebody will take you for a ride when you are out of your house. However, when I come to think of the quality of education here, I tend to forget everything else. I’m happy that I came here,” she says.
Pichong is just one of the thousands of youngsters from the North-Eastern region who move to big cities like Delhi in search of better education and good career opportunities. Just like any other migrant in the city, they have to bear the tag of an alien. But at the end of a testing day, they say it’s worth the stay.
For most of these youngsters, coming to a city like Delhi is sometimes a means to escape the unrest that’s prevailing in some of the states.
“Militancy is a big problem in some of the North-Eastern states and the situation is not going to improve in the near future. This is one reason why more and more people are forced to come out of the region,” said Jeremiah Duomai, 28. Duomai, a native of Manipur, has been living in city for the past 11 years and is currently working with an NGO.
What upsets most North-Easterners is the fact that people treat them as guests and foreigners in their own country. Yanam Takam, 24, who’s studying arts and aesthetics in JNU, says, “The sense of insecurity can’t be avoided. We have to take care of what we wear, whom we speak to and how we speak. But if I had stayed back in my native state, Arunachal Pradesh, it would have left me with no or very few options of getting a job.”
When it comes to some select professions, nothing can beat the hardworking nature of the North-Easterners and employers in the city swear by it. Take for instance the hospitality services industry. Go for a walk round any mall, shopping centre or restaurant/pub in the city, chances are that you will bump into a polite, extremely friendly and English-speaking salesperson from Manipur or a front desk staff from Mizoram.
Who hasn’t noticed the smiling North-East girl who comes to take your order at the neighbourhood coffee shop or the salesman with his pleasing persona from Nagaland helping you find the right Tee at the multi-brand apparel showroom?
Hardwork, sincerity and politeness, clubbed with the fact that a global language like English comes easily to them, these youngsters from the far-flung Northeast of India have often been preferred over their north Indian counterparts.
“They are diligent and hardworking and can handle all kinds of customers with equal ease. They are ready to work late hours and never complain about any kind of additional responsibilities that they are entrusted with. Such qualities make them stand out in the crowd,” said Manav Sharma, restaurateur and restaurant consultant who owns some popular eateries in the city like Ploof, Saltz and Blanco.
Youngsters from North-East are a preferred lot in the BPO industry too. Last year, the ministry for development of the northeastern region (DoNER) in association with Nasscom had taken special steps to recruit youngsters from the North-East in the BPO and IT industry. Tests were conducted across the eight northeastern states to tap as high as 20,000 students from the area.
“They have one advantage over others and that is their strong dialect and a good command over the English language. Also, they have few social obligations because of which they can focus more on their jobs,” said Sam Chopra, president, Business Process Industry Association of India (BPIAI).
swati.sharma@mailtoday.in
Source: http://mailtoday.in/epapermain.aspx?queryed=9&eddate=2/24/2008
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