AdvertisementThe truth is the discrimination that people from the Northeast face on a daily basis is much higher than is covered in newspaper reports and on primetime news. The recent attack on Anjel Chakma began as racial slurs and when resisted, escalated to a brutal stabbing that led to his death. The racism underlying such attacks is not a recent phenomenon — it has been evident for decades now.Also Read | Derek O’Brien writes: Unseeing the NortheastWhen I landed in Delhi as a 12-year-old in 2004, I didn’t anticipate being treated as the “other” — someone who doesn’t belong in this country. Every day, I heard racial slurs like “chinky”, “chinese”, “chowmein”, “momo”, “nepali”, etc., whether on the streets, in the classroom, in buses, or even in normal conversations between friends. These slurs were normalised, as they continue to be.People from India’s northeastern region travel to major cities in search of better education and job opportunities, and enduring racism becomes the costliest price we pay, sometimes even leading to death. In 2012, thousands of northeastern people living in Bengaluru and Pune were forced to leave, and the central government had to provide special trains to ferry them back home. This was the result of multiple factors — incidents of violence on people from the Northeast and threatening SMSes which were mass forwarded, causing widespread panic. Employers fired northeastern employees, landlords evicted them without notice, and the government failed to instill confidence about security. It shows the extent of hatred that has been prevalent in society.AdvertisementAlthough India is a signatory of the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination which was adopted in 1965, we still do not have an anti-racial discrimination law. Over the last two decades, civil-society organisations have been demanding the enactment of such a law. The IPC does have provisions for hate crimes committed against an SC/ST individual, but there is no safeguard in place for people bracketed in other categories. It ignores the diverse population of the Northeast. More often than not when crimes are reported, police authorities openly say that they have no remedy due to the lack of an anti-racism law. Therefore, racial crimes remain under-reported.During Covid-19, many northeastern people faced racial discrimination across the country. We were called “Chinese” and “Corona” and denied access to basic services. During this period, when I faced severe racist online abuse and reached out to Delhi Police, I was informed of their inability to act due to the absence of an anti-racial discrimination law. I had to seek refuge in the IT Act, but it led nowhere.most readLet’s not forget that in the aftermath of the horrific Nido Taniam murder in New Delhi in early 2014, the UPA government had formed the Bezbaruah Committee seeking a report on how to curb such crimes. The committee travelled extensively across the country and interacted with students and youth from the Northeast in different cities. In July 2014, the committee submitted its final report to the Ministry of Home Affairs which included various legal measures, social awareness, police sensitisation, and reforms of existing structures, including school textbooks. The NDA government had assured action on “priority basis”. Eleven years hence, the report still lies forgotten.In the absence of comprehensive legal remedies, there is no justice. In the past, the authorities have woken up for a brief period after high-profile racial crimes, and then fallen back into slumber. Governments change while our struggles remain the same. What we need is an anti-racial discrimination law that can serve as a strong deterrent. It is high time the government wakes up and gives us what is rightfully ours — the basic protection that is guaranteed to every citizen of this country.The writer is the founder of Femme First Foundation and the lead author of The Fifteen: The Lives and Times of the Women in India’s Constituent Assembly