Don’t call us foreigners,we are Indians,NE residents tell city

Tania Kippa,an LLM student from Arunachal,says: “There is a controversy going on between India and China. So we feel hurt when people calls us Chinese. We expect that it should be taught at school level here that NE people may have different facial features,but they are very much Indians and should not be called foreigners. We felt hurt to know that Arunachal Pradesh had been excluded from India’s map in a school text book in Maharashtra.”

Yamak Kipa,a resident of Arunachal Pradesh and is studying law here,says: “People calling us Chinese has become a routine. Many students from our college do not know where my state is located on the map of India.”

According to students,they are always overcharged by shopkeepers and vendors,and cheated too. An autorickshaw driver allegedly charged Rs 120 for ferrying an NE girl student from FC Road to Gokhale Nagar a few days ago.

Some NE residents express the need for affordable housing and hostel facilities in Pune. Says Thoudam Kirankumar Singh of Manipuri Students’ Union in Pune: “Some property owners charge more rent from NE students. There is a huge rise in the rents in Pune. We expect the governments of Maharashtra and Manipur to come together to provide us with better and affordable hostels in the city.”

Rock Lungleng of Nagaland,who heads the North East Community of Pune that was formed after the attacks on NE students last year,says: “We have started a hostel in Gokhale Nagar for NE students. The idea is to have some more hostels not only for residing but also to provide a homely atmosphere to the NE students here.”

Salesa Sangma,a student from Meghalaya,says: “The interaction between people from Pune and NE students should be increased for creating awareness about NE residents. We find people of Pune very supportive. Some of them consider us foreigners due to ignorance. We have to explain and convince them that we are Indians.”

Purbag Sarkar of Tripura,who works in the BPO sector and intends to pursue his MBA in Pune,says: “There have been cases where there is discrimination. This is unfortunate. But at the same time there is also very good support from the local people. When there were attacks on the NE residents last year,our neighbours in the residential society in NIBM area had put up posters supporting us. So,I felt safe and decided not to go back home.”

It may be recalled that in August 2012,when Assam was witnessing riots between Bodos and migrant Muslims,there was a series of attacks on Northeast students and working professionals in Pune. Thousands of NE citizens had then fled to their native places.

Investigation had revealed that circulation of a provocative doctored video showing atrocities on Muslims led to these attacks. The Pune police had arrested several local youths in connection with the attacks. Also,the Cyber Cell of Pune police had arrested a Mumbai-based teacher for allegedly circulating the doctored video through his mobile phone.