COVID-19 affecting Northeasterners

Through this column of your esteemed daily I would like to bring notice to the heinous crimes of racism taking place across the country in this time of global pandemic. Racism has always been faced by the Northeastern people. India's Mongoloid looking people have always been targeted and treated as outcasts. They are labelled as 'Chinese, 'Chinki', 'Nepali' and other racial slurs. Now due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Northeastern people are being targeted as 'Corona' which is pathetic and disgusting. The people of Northeast living in mainland India are increasingly facing racial discrimination, especially in places like Kolkata, Delhi, Banglore, Pune and in many parts of India only because of their race, ethnicity and the way they look. The acts of racial discrimination and racism recently took place in Pune on a Manipuri girl. Another incident took place in Delhi where a girl from Shillong, Meghalaya was made to leave a restaurant in Delhi. Another Manipuri girl was spat in Delhi by two men on bike calling her 'corona'. In Gujarat, a few girls from Northeast were even accused of spreading the coronavirus.

Is this what we called secular India? "All for one, one for all".

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on March 21 issued an advisory to all states to act against such racial discrimination but it should pay more attention as there is no law against racism in the country.

If we look at the number of infected people in the different States of the country, the Northeast has less coronavirus infection. According to the sources, the total number of coronavirus cases has risen above 63 cases in the Northeast. Assam-43 death-1, Arunachal Pradesh-1, Manipur-2, Mizorom-1, Meghalaya-12 ,Tripura – 4, according to the latest data.

The reason why there is less infection in the Northeast is because they maintained cleanliness and ensured adequate sanitization and social distancing at the same time. They also obeyed the rules and regulations and cooperated with the Government and local police. Every village and community is locked and guarded by the local volunteers. The villagers are very cooperative and disciplined and follow the laws and protocols. The religious places churches, temples and mosques are being closed with immediate effect as per the directive of the government. Churches and head of the villages, NGOs are doing a humanitarian job by providing food and essential items to needy, poor and migrant workers. Local government fixed specific time for public to go out and buy groceries.

To tackle this situation the people should cooperate with the government. Though the lockdown has extended it has become frustrated and stressful for all including students, teachers, employees and everyone in the country but we have to bear it as the steps has taken by the government for the betterment of our country. The medical workers are tirelessly fighting this outbreak at the forefront against coronavirus and we should salute and applaud them instead of discriminating and indulging in acts of racism. They are sacrificing their daily life leaving behind family as patients are first priority to them. This virus does not see any caste, religion, poor, and rich. If you are not careful you are susceptible to carry the virus.

We should avoid social gathering as much as possible, stay at home, obey rules and regulations of the government. Another most vital part is that there are a lot of fake messages circulating regarding COVID-19. It's very important to verify the messages before forwarding them to anyone. This quarantine has been putting everyone at test - socially, economically, psychologically and politically so we should stay strong and courageous enough to fight this virus. Researchers and scientists are doing their best on their part. We can also do contribute a little by staying at home, respecting one another and being compassionate to one another.

Akali Sema

Dimapur