Report of Community Dialogue for Better Understanding Issues Facing Citizens from North East India

Community Dialogue for Better Understanding Issues Facing Citizens from North East India


12 May 2014, Safdarjung Enclave, NCC Building

By Agrima Bhasin

“Our facial features may be different but that does not give anyone the right to call us ‘chinki’, ‘chowmein’ or ‘momo’. It hurts us,” said Binalakshmi Nepram at the first of its kind, community dialogue for better understanding issues facing citizens from North East India residing in urban villages of Safdarjung Enclave, Delhi. The dialogue, jointly organised by the North East India Forum Against Racism (NEIFAR) and Aman Biradari, saw the participation of locals from Humayunpur, an urban cluster popular among Indians from North East India for relatively cheaper tenancy rentals. At the NCC Building, Safdarjung Enclave, a mixed gathering comprising of village elders, members of the Resident Welfare Association, police personnel, working professionals and students, set about to openly discuss their everyday concerns about residing in the area. Mr. Harsh Mander, a social activist and former civil servant, moderated the dialogue.

At the outset, it was stressed that the accumulated experiences of discrimination faced by individuals from the North East in India preceded the death of Nido Tania, the 20-year-old college student from Arunachal Pradesh, whose death, after he was brutally beaten up in a South Delhi market earlier this year, sparked a national debate on discrimination and violence against people from North East (NE) India. “It is unfortunate that Nido had to die for us to openly discuss issues troubling us,” – In their introductory remarks, members of NEIFAR asserted their constitutionally guaranteed right to travel and reside anywhere in the country, proceeding to sensitise the gathering about the aspirations and hopes for better education and opportunities that motivate (if not compel in the face of conflict) youth from the NE India to migrate to metropolises across India. Facing harsh landlords and property dealers upon migration can be an unsettling experience for the youth. “Tenants, property dealers, landlords – we need each other. So how can we understand each other better?” asked Binalakshmi, a member of NEIFAR.

A reporter working in Delhi (with roots in NE) noted that prejudiced perceptions about people from NE held by others discomforted her the most. “No parties, no boys”, is the first set of instructions landlords give to a potential woman tenant from the NE. This triggered heated complaints from the locals about the “culture of parties, loud music and alcohol consumption” among the NE youth. The moderator, Mr. Harsh Mander, suggested that all, not just the NE community, enjoy such a culture. The locals persisted: “But what about the short dresses they wear?” voicing disapproval at the distinct style of dressing among women from NE. This was strongly protested by individual voices from the NE, who asserted the freedom to dress. “ Not wearing a saree or suit should not make us any less Indian!” a woman declared. She also highlighted that many localite women dressed in the same way and therefore it was not a problem of different cultures but one of generation gap. Building on her point, Mr. Mander emphasised that no one culture was dominant and urged people to cultivate respect for each other, in addition to acknowledging a generational change in thinking, dressing and lifestyles.

The locals chiefly complained about the loud music at odd hours and the resultant lack of sleep, “They start partying only after midnight,” one said. “They don’t listen if we ask them to lower the volume,” said another. “They should respect their neighbours,” yet another one said, before a resident concluded, “I have a CCTV footage of their parties, which sometimes spill over the streets.” In response, a Manipuri tenant, living in Delhi since 1998, reminded the gathering that it was not as if the localites themselves did not indulge in similar activities and festivities, including wedding celebrations. “We all make mistakes. There should be more tolerance and acceptance,” he urged.

The same tenant expressed that while he was content and enjoyed living in Humayunpur, his experience was that most landlords were fickle in their rental behaviour. “The landlords often ask tenants to vacate the flat to make room for their relatives. But the next thing you know, they’ve repainted the house and sold it to another tenant!” He agreed that the same treatment was meted out to most people and not just tenants of NE. He continued, “Landlords also object to our food habits. Don’t eat non-veg, don’t cook your Manipuri fish!” Another youth, CP, who is also a member of NEIFAR, agreed with the Manipuri tenant’s observations about landlords. Seasoned after his experiences of living in several corners of Delhi (Mayur Vihar, Savitri Nagar, Saket, Rajinder Nagar) in the past 9-10 years, CP said he learnt to make demands from the landlords. “Now, before renting, I tell them I will pay the rent on time every month, but I request you not to intrude in my life. Don’t come yourself or send your daughter/son to my room to snoop around and inspect what I am cooking, eating or doing.” While the landlords in the gathering denied this, CP felt that such everyday suspicion and prying manifests into real, concrete bias and he recounted an experience in which, while he was cordially conversing with the local police, the passerby locals poured in and demanded that ‘people like him’ be arrested. A chorus of voices in the room claimed that Biharis and Hariyanvis too faced similar stereotyping.

CP further said that the idea was not to suggest that youth from NE did not party. “Surely there are a few who don’t listen,” he said, and that he too had requested a few in the past to lower the volume and respect their neighbours, but they disobeyed him as well. At this point, the moderator, Mr. Mander, encouraged the gathering to not view all the youth from NE in a bad light based on the actions of a few. A landlord in the room interjected and pointed towards his NE tenant (who was overcharged -Rs. 20,000- for a dysfunctional air conditioner) and said: “He is from Manipur and does not know Hindi. Ask him – did I not send five of my men with him to the shop that overcharged him? I even threatened the shopkeeper over the phone to get him an AC replacement! Ask him!” the landlord reiterated, evidently hurt by the complaints against ill-behaviour of landlords in general. His anecdote precipitated smiles and a round of applause in acknowledgment of his care for the tenant.

Mr. David Boyes, Convener of NEIFAR, added that landlords and tenants have to solve their problems based on shared humanity. He, himself being a landlord, faced different issues with tenants from West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan etc. but deals with the respective issue unaffected by the race of the tenant or any regional stereotypes about them. In the same breath, Mr. Boyes urged individuals from North east India to recognise that since they are easily distinguishable, there is a larger onus on them to live responsibly lest the whole northeast community is perceived in a poor light.

A professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University, residing in North Delhi for over four decades, cited her personal experience of co-operation between NE and local citizens until the recent times when problems started cropping up. It was most important, she said, to educate children with good moral values. “What matters is not how you dress or how long your dress but whether you know how to respect others,” she concluded. Dr. Alana Golmei from NEIFAR strengthened this argument by stating that, “If a ten-year-old calls me ‘chinki’, I don’t blame her, but I blame the parents, who should be teaching the child right from wrong.” Dr. Alana, who runs the North East Support Centre and Helpline (NESCH), expressed that Nido’s death marked the outburst of protest against frequent acts of discrimination and violence against the community that she and her team have been tracking for months. She also discussed the institutional bias and police apathy with regard to registering FIRs in several cases of atrocities concerning people from NE India. “The police have been insensitive. They even mocked us when we started this helpline but we persisted, with the gaze of the media on them,” noted Dr. Alana.

Dr. Alana and other members of NEIFAR and Aman Biradari did however welcome the genuine cooperation and support of the local police in organising the community dialogue. The police felt that the solution lay in the NE people regarding their rented homes as their own homes. “Call this your own village. Own it. Feel at home and you won’t feel discriminated,” they said. The police further requested landlords and tenants to resolve their problem like guardian and children instead of exaggerating the issue. Also present at the gathering was Mrs. Barkha Singh, Chairperson Delhi Women Commission, who, in her concluding comments, underscored the significance of not dividing the country based on native identities. She recommended the setting up of a committee with mixed participation from locals, NE residents, police and activists alike to monitor grievances and bridge the gap. “We need to create a common culture, where we sit, eat and learn from each other and visit each other’s homes,” she said.

The words of another NE resident struck the right chord with everyone when he said: “What’s the point in fighting? In fact, there’s no fight at all. We respect your culture; you respect ours. If the youth from NE make a mistake, talk to them politely, with dignity, as if they are your own children, and they will listen. But don’t point at them and label them as ‘others’.” To this, the young NEIFAR member, CP, added: “When we can be friends, why hate?” The moderator, Mr. Mander, chose this moment to amicably close the dialogue by emphasising the importance of meeting and receiving people open-heartedly and striving towards mutual respect for different cultures. NEIFAR and Aman Biradari endeavour to organise similar dialogues in other areas of Delhi, which have significant concentration of individuals from the Northeast.