Bikers from Bangalore hold placards at a rally to protest Racial Discrimination against the people of the North East of India on Sunday, February 16, after racial attacks have come into the limelight in India after Nido Tania’s death in New Delhi.
BANGALORE, February 16 (NNN): A massive bike rally was held today in Bengaluru city (Bangalore) against racial discrimination of people from the North East.
More than 200 riders of several bike-riding clubs and individual riders, numbering about 150 bikes cutting through the heart of Bangalore, unequivocally condemned racial discrimination, as part of the ‘Bikers Against Racial Discrimination’ (BARD) ride under the aegis of Brotherhood of Bulleeters Motorcycling Consortium (BOBMC) on Sunday.
More than 200 riders of several bike-riding clubs and individual riders, numbering about 150 bikes cutting through the heart of Bangalore, unequivocally condemned racial discrimination, as part of the ‘Bikers Against Racial Discrimination’ (BARD) ride under the aegis of Brotherhood of Bulleeters Motorcycling Consortium (BOBMC) on Sunday.
The rally had a long contingent of bikes from Royal Enfield, Honda, Duke and others. Thousands of pamphlets were distributed throughout the route of the rally to educate people about the event and the cause.
Placards read messages like ‘Racism is Wrong’, ‘Racism has no place in a democratic country’, ‘Friends Are Made by Heart, Not by Skin Colour’, ‘We, the riding family, won’t stand racial discrimination’, ‘Stop All Violence Against Northeast’ and ‘We All Have Eyes, But to See Right, We Should Use Our Brains’. A diverse set of people in terms of race, religion, region, age, gender and language participated in the rally. Large number of people from the North East states and Caucasians took part in the event.
The bike rally, led by senior bikers Prem Menon and Ajit Lakshmiratan, was flagged off from the Town Hall at 8:40 am and passed through Hudson Circle, Mission Road, Lalbagh Road, RV Road, Nanda Theatre Road, JP Nagar, BTM Layout, Silk Board, Outer Ring Road and culminated at the BDA Complex in HSR Layout at 10 am.
Ajit Lakshmiratan, a Biker from 50+ Bulleteers said: “We are very much concerned about the racial discrimination prevalent. It is a blot on our society and we condemn it. We as a responsible biking community and express our solidarity with North East brothers and sisters.”
Professor Rini Ralte from Mizoram, who has made the Garden City her home, addressed the bikers and said: “Racial Discrimination is violence faced by us every day in Bangalore and in other cities. The recent exodus of thousands of North East people from Bangalore indicates the kind of constant fear we live under. Ours is a struggle against discrimination, ours is a struggle for justice and peace.”
Human Rights activist Manohar Elavarthi from Praja Rajakiya Vedike appreciated the efforts of the biking community in fighting racism. He demanded that Police be sensitized on the issues of North East people and to recruit people from the region into Karnataka police force to make it racially diverse. He appealed to the bikers to continue this long struggle to change people’s attitudes and to bring lasting changes against racism.
Bishwajit Singh Rajkumar, a biker from Manipur, said, “As a biker, I have never faced any racial discrimination inside the biking community. I am proud to be part of this community and want the larger society to emulate our biking community and learn to accept the people who are different from you. If you want to understand people, you should visit their places and meet them; spend time with them. Then only one will start to understand that they are as beautiful as you.”
Ringo Pebam, who also works in Bengaluru the city, said, “North East people face insults, harassment, sexual harassment, physical violence and humiliation on a daily basis. People here know very little about North East people, our history, culture, food habits, languages; people don’t know that India is home to people of different races. We demand changes in school and college curricula to include information about North East so that all Indians are aware about us. The government should conduct a large scale public education about North East people through mass media and it is their responsibility.”
Delhi Police unveils safety measures for NE people
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 (PTI): Under fire over the repeated attacks in the city on people from the Northeast, Delhi Police today announced a slew of steps including setting up of a new unit and a helpline number to address any grievance faced by them. “We have decided to start a helpline for those hailing from the Northeast and this number will be 1093, there will be five lines of this number in the control room,” said Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi.
NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 16 (PTI): Under fire over the repeated attacks in the city on people from the Northeast, Delhi Police today announced a slew of steps including setting up of a new unit and a helpline number to address any grievance faced by them. “We have decided to start a helpline for those hailing from the Northeast and this number will be 1093, there will be five lines of this number in the control room,” said Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi.
Bassi said that these measures were taken after the unfortunate incident in which Nido Tania died. The Delhi High Court had also directed police in this regard. “Apart from this we have also constituted a Special Cell to address policing issues, this cell will operate from Nanakpura and an official of the rank of DCP will supervise it.”
Police have also identified certain pockets like Munirka parts of Dwarka where people from Northeast mostly reside. Bassi said that special preventive policing will be ensured in these areas from now on.
