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‘Discrimination against people from North-East rising in Delhi'

NEW DELHI: Seventy-eight out of hundred people from North-East India living in Delhi face racial discrimination, with crime against women, human trafficking and violence against people from the community emerging as major concerns, reveals a new research study by North-East Support Centre and Helpline (NESCH).

“The problem of discrimination has increased since the past five or six years, which necessitated a formal study on the subject,” says NESCH spokesperson Madhu Chandra.

The study was carried out through field interviews, questionnaires and literature research this past January and February. The respondents included 107 people from field interviews and questionnaires, and 96 victims who reported to the NESCH between 2005 and 2011.

Of the 96 criminal case studies involving people from the North-East based here, 58 per cent were crimes against women (including molestation, human trafficking, beating, rape and attempt to rape), 26 per cent crimes against men, 5 per cent murders, 6 per cent non-payment of salary, 3 per cent related to non-refund of rent deposit and missing persons and 1 per cent media bias.

“Challenges faced by these people here have seen a paradigm shift from racial attacks to sexual violence, and sexual violence to human trafficking,” said Mr. Chandra.

The report examines the reasons for large number of people migrating from the North-East into cities like Delhi.

The main “push factor” was found to be the lack of educational infrastructure in the North-East, followed by lack of employment opportunities due to socio-political unrest and communal conflict. With its many educational and job opportunities, Delhi was a preferred choice.

With the increase in the number of people from the North-East, the discrimination in Delhi has also increased. The root cause of this discrimination was found to be social profiling or “the opinion formed upon one's appearance, culture and levelling everyone with opinions formed upon some experiences”.

Social profiling “is a reflection of India's caste practices and social system as majority of North-East Indians come from Scheduled Castes and Tribes and ethnically Mongoloid race, which falls out of caste hierarchy,” he said. Lack of political will of law enforcement agencies and biased attitude of investigating police officers were also identified as challenges to be overcome.

The report called for quick steps to improve the present scenario based on its findings.

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