Following the recent murder of a Manipur teen in Munirka area of South Delhi,Members of Parliament (MPs) of the Northeastern states and members of the Northeast Student Union met AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday to urge him to take note of the increasing incidents of crime targeting women from the Northeast in the city. In a media briefing,the MPs highlighted that racial discrimination against people from the Northeast is a reality that needs to be checked by putting firm measures in place. A huge number of people from the Northeast come to Delhi to avail the same kinds of opportunities that are available to the rest of India. But,for availing the opportunities that is their birthright,they have to face assault,eve-teasing and violence, Takam Sanjay,MP from Arunachal Pradesh,said. The representatives also said that apart from molestation and humiliation,people from the Northeast are cheated regularly and usually treated as foreigners. The student organisation also wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding round-the-clock special police service in all vulnerable areas where students and people from the Northeast reside. The other demands include setting up a 24X7 helpline and the appointment of a nodal officer under the rank of the Deputy Commissioner of Police for people from the Northeast residing in Delhi. Other political leaders present at the meeting were Rishang Keishing,former CM of Manipur,Thokchom Meinya,Manipur MP and C L Ruala,MP from Mizoram. Keishing,who was an MP in the first Lok Sabha,said that while he has paid numerous visits to the Capital in the last 58 years,the gap between people of the mainland and the people from the Northeast hasnt lessened. The Northeast joined mainland India after Independence; we have to guard the relationship against harm. India has many groups. We have to learn how to adjust, he said.
