Lok Sabha Debates
Regarding Incidents Of Racial Discrimination. on 25 July, 2017
Sixteenth Loksabha an> Title: Regarding incidents of racial discrimination.
SHRI NINONG ERING (ARUNACHAL EAST): I would like to apprise the Government of the recent incident of Tailin Lyngdoh, a Meghalaya woman dressed in her traditional Khasi attire being denied entry to Delhi’s golf club.
Earlier also there have been similar cases wherein people from South India have been mocked because of their dark skin, minorities being mocked for practicing their traditional customs and beliefs and also people from Northeast have been discriminated against. These are not the only incidents, in fact the issue of discrimination against skin colour and special facial makeup is deep rooted and occasionally these incidents turn violent as was seen in the Bangalore case in which a mob thrashed an African couple and torched their vehicle.
The curious trend with these incidents is that they are mostly against the people from North-eastern states of India being encountered in North Indian states, Delhi being the most notorious (according to MP Bezbaruah report 2014). These incidents of racial splurge can largely be attributed to the fact that even after 70 years of Independence, discrimination is still felt by them. The aloofness of NE from the mainland India has brought about a cultural distance among people as a whole, which in certain circumstances get manifested as racial slurs against each other. Sometimes these exchanges turn violent and in each case disrupting the unique fabric of homogeneous and heterogeneous India.
Hence the solution should not only encompass the removal of alienation of this sort but also should embark upon the larger issue of national integration of the people of India with its amazing diversity.
I, therefore, urge the Government to take further steps with the help of NGOs and private sector and strengthen our preventative system to ensure that these unfortunate incidents do not happen again.