Facing racial jibes, Nagaland girl seeks refuge in TISS hostel

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Feb. 20 (EMN): A student from Nagaland has decided to stay put in the campus of the prestigious Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) fearing racial jibes at her suburban Mumbai home.

The student has written to the TISS SC/ST Cell with copies to the Director, Dean of Students Affairs and the Students’ Union, highlighting her plight and seeking their urgent assistance in the matter.

The student’s problems began when she hosted a friend from Nagaland – on a business trip to Mumbai – at her Chembur flat.

Some neighbourhood miscreants allegedly shot a video of the visitor and made it viral claiming she had come from China and a potential coronavirus health hazard. Despite proving the visitor’s Indian credentials, several neighbours threatened to lodge a police complaint and seek a health test, and hurled personal slander racist abuses at them demanding that the visitor should vacate the premises.

Though the matter apparently ended with the friend leaving the premises immediately, racial jibes and slurs continued on the TISS student, which has caused her great mental trauma and agony.

“This sequence of incidents have had a traumatising impact on me and made me greatly conscious of my vulnerability as a tribal woman from Nagaland susceptible to racial discrimination. It has also created a sense of insecurity within, which is also affecting my academic and other everyday activities,” the student wrote.

Feeling vulnerable at her Chembur society residence, she has sought refuge inside the TISS campus with a plea to the authorities to provide her with temporary hostel accommodation till the current semester-end.

She has also urged the TISS to treat her letter as a formal complaint and take due cognizance of the discrimination and harassment she encounters, with proper remedial actions.

Richard Kamei, a student at TISS, told Eastern Mirror that the Naga woman who sought refuge at TISS was vulnerable to stay at her Chembur residence alone ‘as the situation had gotten worse’.

“The administration of TISS reached out to her to ensure that she is safe and can attend her classes regularly,” said Kamei.

“Racial subjugation has been happening from time to time as we are seen as potential carriers of the disease (coronavirus),” he said.

Another student of TISS, Albert Povah said that people were trying to associate coronavirus with the Northeast people, adding he had also faced similar racial subjugation.

“We are not free from racial profiling in one of the safest cities in India (Mumbai), so I can’t even imagine in other places how Northeast people are treated,” said Povah.