Another incident of racial discrimination in Delhi, what people can learn from KBC ad

Monday morning I woke up to another shocking news of the death of 30 year-old Shaloni from Manipur which reminds us of one of the many incidents of racial discrimination against North-East youths in the national capital.

Even after Government's effort to set up committee to address concerns of the people belonging from North-East India, little has been done to curb such crimes in the capital.

In the past few years, Delhi has also earned the dubious tag of being unsafe for people from North-East. Almost every individual from North-East staying in Delhi has faced a derogatory comment or been teased at least once for his/her ethnicity. Talking about police apathy and their preconceived notion about people from North-East only compounds the situation.

This incident of the death of 30-year old Shaloni only reminds us of the Nido Taniam's death in January this year when he was mercilessly beaten to death with rods by a group of mob. This latest incident is also an example of blatant discrimination against North-East Indians.

What people can learn from KBC ad

The latest advertisement of popular game show Kaun Banega Crorepati has a deep social message which makes us think how we really treat North-East India.

The ad begins with host Amitabh Bachchan asking a question to young contestant from North-East. "Kohima city is part of which country? A. China, B. Nepal, C. India, D. Bhutan". The young contestant opts for a life-line as an audience poll where 100% of the respondants say India. It's India, everyone knows this answer, says Amitabh Bachchan to which young contestant responds: "Everyone knows the answer sir but how many people actually acknowledges it?"

The ad went so viral on social media that it has 1.3 lakh viewers on Youtube in just 3 days.

The first thing which came to my mind when I heard of today's incident is this ad. How relevant is this advertisement today? Do Delhiites have something really to learn from this ad? And How many people in Delhi actually acknowledges that Kohima or Manipur is actually part of India.

The Government have already encouraged to include history of North-East in school curriculum which can be a way to bring North-east closer to the main stream.

Reacting to Shaloni's death, Nitisha Subba from Darjeeling who is a Delhi University student said,"This incident is of the many such incidents like Nido Taniam or Richard Loitam in Bangalore. We are as much Indians as rest. We deserve equal treatment, nobody has right to discriminate against us just because we look different. Inspite of setting up of committee for North-East in Delhi, the cases of racial abuse in on rise in the national capital, may be because we don't have stringent laws against racial discrimination."

KBC ad went so viral on social media that it has 1.3 lakh viewers on youtube

The Delhi Police is yet to confirm whether this incident was of hate crime but soon protest may erupt at AIIMs or at Jantar Mantar and slowly this movement will die like any other movement. But when we will be ever able to understand that racism is subtle and deeply rooted in the modern society of India.

It starts from home as even parents differentiate knowingly or unknowingly to the issues which are deeply seated. For example people with oriental features are looked down upon. North-East has always been segregated since the British created an inner line circle and little has been done to senitise the mainland Indians with North-East.