Delhi airport immigration officer to Manipuri girl: ‘Pakka Indian Ho’?

Monika Khangembam with anti-AFSPA activist Irom Sharmila. (Facebook photo)

A recent case of racism against a north-eastern woman in New Delhi has surfaced after a July 9 Facebook post by Monika Khangembam. In her post, Monika alleged that the immigration officer at Delhi officer ‘humiliated’ her by repeatedly asking questions about her nationality.

“The officer looked at my passport and said you don’t look like an Indian,” wrote Monika on Facebook. The officer also asked her other inappropriate questions like number of states in the country and the number of states bordering Manipur.

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A day later, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj apologised saying she would soon ask Home Minister Rajnath Singh to ensure immigration officials undergo a sensitisation programme.

Monika Khangembam – I am sorry to know this. Immigration is not with me./1

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2016

I will speak to my senior colleague Shri @rajnathsingh ji to sensitise Immigration officials at the airport./2

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 10, 2016

Here is her original Facebook post:

Monika, a resident of Imphal in Manipur, took to Facebook again on July 10 and informed that she is currently in Seoul for some work and would take the issue forward by filing a complaint after she is back in 15 days.

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Several commented on her post and shared that they too had faced similar situations in the past.

Monika’s post has already been shared more than 600 times at the time of writing this piece. This incident again puts light on the difficulties and humiliation faced by people from the north-east who live in different parts of the country.

According to an estimate, more than 11 lakh north-east people live in Delhi for work or studies purpose. Around 36 Delhi hospitals had recently agreed upon providing a subsidised treatment to them as part of a reach-out program. The Delhi Police, too, has a special cell  and a helpline number – 1093 – that looks at complaints of racism and attacks.