From Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, March 24: In a rare gesture the entire Rajya Sabha led by Chairman, C.P. Radhakrishnan, expressed serious concern over rising instances of racial discrimination against students from the Northeast.
During Zero Hour on Monday, BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh Nabam Rebia raised the issue of racial slurs hurled at three female students in Malviya Nagar in Delhi last month.
“The entire House is sharing your concern. There is a lot of sympathy and concern,” Radhakrishnan, who is also the Vice President, said.
Rebia said in 2014, Nido Tania, a bright student from Arunachal Pradesh studying in Delhi University, was beaten to death in Lajpat Nagar while Anjel Chakma, a student from Tripura, was killed in Dehradun in December.
“In Malviya Nagar, three girls from Arunachal Pradesh were preparing for the UPSC exams. They were racially discriminated against and accused of working in a beauty parlour. Even if we assume that a girl works in a beauty parlour, what is wrong? Why should only a wrong motive be attributed to it?” Rebia asked.
Rebia demanded stringent laws to curb racially motivated attacks. Racial discrimination cases should be tried on a time-bound basis,” he said.
He also suggested that the NCERT and CBSE textbooks should include lessons about the Northeast. “There should be a special recruitment drive for the northeastern youths,” he added.
