Discrimination In Its Modern Form

By Nandita Sengupta

In her acclaimed work Silent Racism, sociologist Barbar Trepagnier talks about racism in its modern form - hidden, almost unintentional, where most people sit smugly in the 'not racist' category.

We only need to look at Delhi to understand her point. North-easterners and the media have cried themselves hoarse that the repeated nature and range of attacks on northeasterners in the capital qualify as racist.

But it captures little public imagination - no candle-light vigils here -because most of us can't imagine that we are racist. And in the silence of Delhi's civil society, the aggressive racist continues to heap abuse on the 'outsider' from India's northeast India.

The discrimination north-easterners face includes verbal and sexual assaults, beating up, difficulty renting accommodation, non-return of hefty amounts of rent advance, and also stereotyping for purposes of employment - girls find jobs mostly in beauty salons, restaurants and as shop assistants.

The verbal profiling focuses on physical features while girls bear the brunt of sexual aggression - supposed to possess a 'different' morality;the dubious perception reflective of the deeply patriarchal Delhi mindset.

Despite the evidence, the city of 'outsiders' lives in denial that one type of people do receive a raw deal when they come to Delhi to study or work. And it is only in Delhi that the anti-bias is so acute. Racial attitudes are a part of Delhi's "deeply-ingrained casteist way of thinking, " says Dalit activist Chandrabhan Prasad, adding that "racist feelings against north-easterners is a terrible Delhi phenomenon. "

A survey of north-easterners by a support center in Delhi showed how discrimination was targeted and widespread. It found that areas where the problems were particularly acute were the urban villages of Delhi: formerly known as 'lal dora' areas.

Among the unsafe areas were Munirka, Mahipalpur, Mohammadpur and Nanakpura, all in south Delhi, and areas near Delhi University, though things weren't as bad around DU as in the south especially in terms of the physical and sexual attacks. The cluster of villages in Munirka, says activist Madhu Chandra, is rapidly becoming the most notorious for racial attacks.

Chandra, who conducted the first-of-its-kind survey, points to the clash of two very different societies in Delhi's urban villages. "The landlords are mostly the original Delhiites of one community, there are no UP or Bihar or other-state owners here, " he says adding that north-easterners coming to Delhi in the last decade are compelled to stay in "ghettoised areas as that is all they can afford. "

Further, Doumin Tungdim, of the Kuki Students' Association, says discrimination was less noticeable earlier because north-easterners in Delhi were barely in thousands till the '90s. "Now they are in lakhs, and they have to live in places where there's money, but no education. " No education also means near-total ignorance of where states such as Manipur or Nagaland are a fact that north-easterners are resigned to. "It's easier to say either near Bengal or that you're from Thailand, " says Matang, on a visit to Delhi.

Interestingly, Munirka and most of south Delhi's villages fall under the Palam 360 khap, the village councils of Jats, though in Delhi it is claimed they have little influence.

Talking about the tenant-landlord relationship in Munirka, Palam 360's chief Kishen Chand Solanki says that Munirka is seeing a spike in tenancy. "Many outsiders are coming and it is not possible to verify all tenants. Kya pata kaun aa raha hai, student ya aatankwadi?" (Who knows whether the tenant is a student or terrorist). There are too many outsiders today. "

This 'outsider' has features different from mainstream India. The hate crime may be a result of what Sanjib Baruah, professor of political studies in New York's Bard College, calls an 'oppositional gaze'. He says in India & its Northeast: A New Politics of Race, "While many northeasterners travel to the mainland, thousands of Indian soldiers make the reverse journey to the region.

Security forces stop and interrogate northeasterners every day. The soldier himself faces an unenviable position: surroundings can quickly turn hostile.

As soldiers return home, their stories of 'treacherous' rebels spread. . . (There's ) the danger of this faultline becoming racialised. " Baruah says there's need to understand that the "counter-insurgent gaze" may be "framing our way of seeing northeasterners". "The gaze of the Indian army gives meaning to what is becoming a racial divide. "

The racial divide is felt by both sides. Anthropologist Sohini Ray says, "The early 1990s saw the word 'race' reappear in a new context where it was not caste but the inter-relationship between race and nationhood that came into question. " Thus, when north-easterners incur hostility as passers-by due to their appearance, they immediately question their relationship with the Indian population.

She points out that the idea of race and ethnicity never appeared in the minority discourse when the Indian Constitution was formulated. "Ethnicity of people from Northeast India never found place in the Indian political/developmental discourse, " she writes.

Race still does not form part of the discourse. While Delhi comfortably talks of caste, race is not an issue. India keeps caste separate from race, evident when it succeeded in keeping caste out of the UN resolution on racism.

The Delhi Police echoes the same reluctance. Though police commissioner B K Gupta reportedly said in a meeting that crimes against the community will be treated with 'zero-tolerance', says advocate Lamsinglu, there's little idea of how these crimes are being tackled.

A diffident senior police officer suggested the reporter speak to Delhi Police's public relations officer for an answer on what steps are taken to ensure zero-tolerance. It's a long road ahead.