Kotso Medo
Dimapur
An American medical anthropologist once said,” the idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that’s wrong with the world.” Racism may be defined as the hatred of one person by another – or the belief that another person is less than human – because of skin colour, language, customs, and place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has existed throughout human history. Over the century and decades, it has influenced wars, slavery, formation of nations and legal codes. Perhaps, racism is man’s greatest threat, the reason being, a total hatred over no reason. And our question is why? Why do we hate? Yes, we hate because we hate to talk. We hate because we are ignorant. Someone rightly said that we are the product of ignorant people called human. Had we acknowledge our differences, it would have been our greatest strength yet our failure to embrace it, becomes our weakness.
Now, my point is when the whole world is battling for their lives from a virus called ‘Covid-19’ or so call ‘Corona Virus’, the people of North East struggle with another virus called ‘Racism’. A disease which have been subjugating the North East people, just for the simple reason that they have a different appearance than the rest of the country. Ill-treated and judged for years as victims of racism. A discrimination that have hurt the soul rather than physical pain. A simple question, why? What’s colour got to do? Why appearance does matter? All this years, North East people have tolerated racial slurs like “Chinki”,”Chowmein”,”Momo”,”Chinese” and ”Nepali” but now comes “Corona”. Don’t you know that Corona virus is incapable of ‘Racism’. Yes, Corona virus has not created health disparities. It does not discriminate along racial or ethnic lines. In the name of Corona virus, a Manipuri girl is spat in Delhi, a Mizo girl faces racism in Pune or the nine Naga girls chased out from their apartment in Gujarat. In Kolkata, some Naga students were also chased out and again in Karnataka and Hyderabad; students from the region were not allowed inside stores. All these are happening almost every day in every nook corner of our country. And there have been many instances where many such cases gone into thin air. And what all these incidents have in common is that they were all from a certain part of the country, had a ‘Particular’ appearance and were seen as outsiders and aliens in the places they lived. These incidents have been read as a symptom of the pervasive racial discrimination that people from the region face in metropolitan India.
Over the years, the issue of racism and discrimination is taken poorly by the government and legislation is poorly implemented though India is a signatory of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, said Martin Luther. And thus, North-eastern people continue to suffer appalling forms of discrimination. The ethics of our country are being violated, so people from the North East continue to face ill-treatment due to Covid-19 pandemic. Yet many minds of Indians are rooted in oppressive systems that were designed to hurt and disenfranchise North Eastern folks. Most Indians think racism exists only in the west and see themselves as victims. Its time they examined their own attitudes towards people from the country’s North-East. Perhaps it’s time for them to stop the ideology of blaming the religion, when a Muslim is convicted for murder, to stop the blame on the race when a black harassed someone, to stop blaming the whites for the slavery. Rapper Michael Franti quotes “No life’s worth more than any other, no sister worth less than any brother”. Yes, no human race is superior to other and no religion is inferior. No one is born racist. So, there is no point of treating any one with discrimination on the basis of physical traits. This is an insult to the humanity and our whole existence. All races are born equal and all individuals deserve to be dealt with equality. Nelson Mandela also says,” No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Let us remember that, we come from the same place, live in the same planet, breathe the same air, and will go to the same place. We are also the sons and daughters of the same soil that gives birth to this great country. Celebrate the same Independence Day; sings the same National Anthem, died for the same country and we are as patriotic as anybody else. Why be racist when we all bleed the same colour? Why judge when we haven’t even got to really know each other? But? Why should I Iook down at other mainstream or mainland Indians because some treat us on the basis of our appearance. That mentality has to be stopped. I say again, it has to be stopped. Why? Because there are people that promote equality. Because I have friends from other caste/religion and we celebrate their festivals with them.
Looking around, perhaps my country need an education system that teaches one community to trust another; where the weak will not live in terror of the strong, nor the poor suffer insult and injury from the rich; a nation in which different cultures may flourish side by side. My country will progress when justice is blind to appearance, education doesn’t seek class, and opportunity is unconcerned with status. Mahatma Gandhi truly said,” you must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty”. Discrimination does nothing but set us back. The world is more colourful when it’s only white and black. And that diversity makes us as a rich tapestry. And if we learn to love one another regardless of differences, then we will learn the beauty of peace. If a country or a state wants to evolve to a higher level of good, it must surrender the path of greed. We must appreciate and live each day with passion and not let go for a moment of gratitude, thankfulness for another day. Awaken tomorrow and live like you were born to be here. And just stop for a while, and think. Equality doesn’t end and begins on religion and caste. It goes way beyond, and covers all mankind. And to me, embracing our differences means that we accept each other for who the person is on the inside. Do not base your opinion on race, gender, sexual orientation, or anything else for that matter. You cannot change your future, but you can change your habits. And surely your habits will change your future.
