On Thursday morning, many students hailing from the Northeast had received an SMS informing them about a man from their region being found dead at his Kotla Mubarakpur residence in South Delhi. He was one of the many such victims from his community in the Capital.
Young people across the city, however, were cautious about terming it a hate/racial crime. “Although we have been receiving phone calls from worried people, we are not sure of what exactly happened. We need to wait for the police report before we term it a hate crime,” said Northeast Union president Saveio Khole.
His sentiments were echoed by student union leaders across the city.
“There are many people who have come to the Capital for work or study who are worried and it is only natural in light of previous incidences. But every time there is a crime and the victim is from the Northeast, it is dangerous to term it racist. We have formed several committees to raise awareness to bring down this discrimination and we will continue doing this. But we are not going to carry out any action before we get the police report about the murder,” said Taba Doni, a leader from the Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union.
“A murder like this could have several angles. There could be personal rivalry or some other thing. I have asked people not to tag this as a racial crime without the police finishing its investigation,” said Debangana, a student from Delhi University.
Many chose to remain calm and advocate the same to their friends. “Yes, we are discriminated against because we are different and there have been many hate crimes in the Capital. But we just wish that people would not run to the same conclusion every time the victim is from the Northeast,” added Debangana.
