India No Stranger to Racism

India No Stranger to Racism by David Buhril.

KanglaOnline-http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=kshow&kid=796

As a person from the North East of India, bearing Mongoloid stature, feature and colour I cannot help but say that my personal experiences in Delhi, the capital city of India, have witnessed numerous slurs of racist fork. They were not soft ones. I am not alone to be subjected to such indignities.
Everyone from the region has his or her own stories and experiences, which have been rather silently buried. I know such vocal attacks have, on many occasions, resulted in violent anger, arguments and fights between the so-called “mainstream” people and the people from the North East. Mother, they are racist lot. Unfortunately, I have actually accepted the inhumane practice as a part of the culture of the “mainstream” people. A culture cultivated by the “sink of localism and den of ignorance”. But that doesn’t mean I accept racism.
The outrage explosion over the “racist attacks” on one Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty by her white housemates on British reality TV show are an exaggerated one, even when racism ought to be condemned everywhere. The drama that has been unfolding for about two weeks made it obvious that Indians are ready to talk about Indians being racially discriminated outside India. But what about the equally serious condemnable racial discrimination within India?
Did we ever care to raise the issue and put a question to ourselves? Are we blind to it because we practise it indignantly? If Shilpa Shetty was called a “Paki” by her white’s housemates, the Indian citizens from the North East states are still called “Chinese”, “Chinky”, “Japanese”, “Koreans” or “Nepalese.” If Shilpa Shetty was poked for her poor chicken cooking style, the North Easterners are poked for their “dirty”, “foul smell”, “stinking”, and “junglee” food habits. There were times when North East students living in the Capital city of India had to actually ask their landlords or hostel warden, “What smell is allowed to cook and what is not?”
Through all these years, it was not an easy ride. I realised that it resulted out of the much-celebrated diversity of India, which is quenched by ignorance and chauvinism. As culture clash, the ride demanded tolerance and understanding, which was not an easy one. I have accepted the discrimination that is, otherwise, getting negatively popular in the ancient city. Day in and day out, friends, acquaintances or people who are new to the city would narrate their experiences, which are more than enough to put the nation to shame. I was lately wishing there was some sort of reactive internal ministry, like the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that reacted immediately for Shilpa Shetty, to look into the disturbing situation of racial discrimination in India.
I wonder if the media, general public who overflow with sympathy and empathy for Shilpa Shetty, or the authorities in the government are aware about the pubs, restaurants and discotheques in Delhi showing no entry to people from the North East of India? The grim situation does not care even if you have money. They care about your colour. That’s how they made the judgement and decision. You bear the Mongoloid look and the door is closed before you. So don’t be surprised when those bouncers did not let you in. India’s democracy has too big a space that it grows racism too.
When I was first told about these public places and their sick practise in Delhi some four years back, I was taken aback. Shocked actually. But I said to myself who cares when I will never be seeking comfort or chilling out at these places even if I have money for the purpose. On the other hand, my second thought resulted in anger, desperation and helplessness over such harsh inhumane practice. It is still alive and going strong. For me it is not about these places, but the racial discrimination practised in these places, which is getting more popular than before. It affects me as I also bear the same colour, feature and stature, which are used to judge a person. If you don’t fit into their scheme of colour, you cannot be a customer. In the growing urban Indian market the password is defined by the colour of your skin. I thought it would be colourblind. I thought it would be race-blind.
So I asked how they made their options. They told me that they have to find a place that accept and admit them despite the colour of their skin. Even then, how can we enter, eat, sit, and dance away as if we never care? As if it is nothing. Is this a surrender to racial discrimination? When we learn to accept that one cannot enter that place, eat there, dance there, or sit there because the colour of one’s skin is different, we realized that the other Indian is much alive. The others in the village.
The situation is grimmer for the girls and women from the North East. Due to the colour of their skin, they were popularly believed and supposed to be an “easy” and “cheap” sex prey. They were victimized lot. Delhi is a living witness to that. Asked them? Everyone has a story. A story untold. A story filled with shame and anger. They represent the silent untold stories. My cousin’s white husband was shocked and surprised when he found that his wife and her friends, all from the North East of India, were not allowed to enter to eat and dance in one of the city’s public places during one of their visit to Delhi recently. The reason was out of a judgement where the colour of their skin was already used to decide them to be a customer or not. Delhi never seems to care as places like these multiply with inhumane norms and rules defined by race and colour.
I am not talking about stray or isolated incident. This is about everyday life and struggle in Delhi. Shilpa Shetty’s experiences and the feelings and sympathy that we have, as concerned citizens, exported to England should be immediately imported back to Delhi to understand and redress the racial bruises of the other Indians. They are being discriminated more than what Shilpa Shetty could imagine. Worst, they are not paid for it. It is beyond the MEA’s jurisdiction to talk about the racial discrimination that is seriously taking place in India. But on moral and humanitarian ground, it could if it is so concerned about racial discrimination and not just Shilpa Shetty. If not, authorities of the several internal ministries, media, NGO’s and concerned activists should immediately step in to kill the colourful game that has already become shamelessly popular and dirty. The celebration of diversity has no meaning if the nation remains silent to the domestic realities of racial abuse and discrimination. India is no stranger to racism.

Racism in India

Aparna Pallavi (2006), "Racism in India", 10 September2006.

Online web-http://www.boloji.com/wfs5/wfs677.htm

As an undergraduate student at Delhi University in the early 1990s, Dr Renu (Gupta) Naidu took little notice when her friends routinely referred to students from the Northeast as 'Chinkies' or hurled obscenities or racial insults at them.
"Any Northeastern student entering a college campus earns the epithet 'Chinky' on day one, and has to live with being looked at as, at the very least, an oddity, for the rest of her or his stay," says Naidu. "Students told me about being asked questions like whether they eat rats." This racial hostility comes unbidden from the non-Northeastern student community.

Naidu had herself faced discrimination as a "non-Marathi" student during her post-graduation at Nagpur, and it dawned on her that Northeastern students, with their distinctive 'non-plainspeople' epicanthic features, behavior and dress habits, were in all likelihood confronting far more discrimination than she had. In June 2006, Naidu was awarded a PhD for her work on the lives of Northeastern tribal girl students in Delhi, with her research based on interviews with 200 students from 10 colleges in Delhi University's North Campus.

The first disturbing fact - statistics compiled from official records of various colleges in the city - that Naidu's study has uncovered is that the dropout rates of Northeastern students touches 50 per cent, with more girls dropping out than boys. The reasons for this trend, according to Naidu, lie in the intense socio-cultural conflict, and the resultant stress, that impact all aspects of the lives of students from the Northeast.

"For a student from the Northeast, irrespective of whether she or he is from an urban or tribal background, Delhi is like an alien land," says Naidu. "The language is unfamiliar, the cultural and social terrain is unknown. Even getting a letter of introduction to open a bank account is a mammoth task. What is more, their distinctive physical features immediately mark them out as outsiders among the local populace."

Being cheated as a matter of course is one direct fallout of this situation. Angom*, a Manipuri student at Miranda House told Naidu, "Even rickshaw-pullers, auto-drivers, vegetable vendors and bus conductors cheat us because they know that we are not aware of the price of things here, and are not in a position to drive hard bargains."

For girl students, the situation is worse still: in the conservative Delhi milieu, their Westernized style of dressing and easy camaraderie with the opposite sex - owing in large part to their liberal tribal culture - they are seen as 'fast' or 'of easy virtue'. This imperception exposes girls from the Northeast to the worst sorts of sexual harassment, both within campuses and without. Diana, a Mizo student at Indraprastha college, said, "Delhi men believe that north-eastern girls are easily available. They look at us with only one thing in mind: sex. If we protest, they warn us to clam up, because we are alone and there is no one we can turn to for protection."

The attitude of college authorities and the local police to incidences of sexual harassment and teasing is usually nonchalant. "Incidents of this nature are treated as routine, and often the girls are blamed for them." Furthermore, she says, "Police stations refuse to provide data on the sexual harassment of Northeastern girls." One police official, in fact, told Naidu: "Yeh to in ladkiyon ka roz ka naatak hai, kahan tak complaint darj karien? Aur waise bhi bina chingari ke aag nahi lagti (This is a daily drama these girls play out; how many complaints do we register? Anyway, there's no smoke without a fire)."

The vulnerability of the girls is underscored by the fact that most Northeastern girl students live in rented accommodation. Nine colleges of the 13 (three are women's only colleges) in the North Campus have hostels; only four of these have girls' hostels.

"Rented accommodation exposes girls to different kinds of harassment," says Naidu, "They are subjected to sudden and arbitrary hikes in rent, and threatened with immediate eviction if they don't comply."

Here, too, sexual harassment is omnipresent. During their conversations with Naidu, many Northeastern girls confided to being harassed for sexual favors by landlords and their families. "The son of one landlord's family even offered a rent waiver in return for sexual favors!" exclaims Naidu.

Apart from sexual harassment, Northeastern girl students have to face discrimination at other levels too, and this impacts their education adversely "The general impression is that these students are not good at studies and are [here] just for a good time. The stamp of 'reservation' sticks to them, and the resentment that comes with it has to be faced," says Naidu.

According to her data, of the 200 students interviewed, only 10 per cent said that their classroom participation is high, while around three-quarters registered below average classroom participation. A sizeable proportion felt that teachers' attitude to their classroom participation was either neutral or discouraging. Of the 200 students, 111 said their participation in co-curricular activities was 'minimal'; 107 felt discrimination during co-curricular activities; 58 felt 'isolated'; 167 students registered feelings like helplessness, discouragement, irritation and stress in academic activities.

This overall pressure drives many students to drop out, Naidu feels. Those who stay on find it difficult to meet academic goals burdened with so much stress.
Consequently, most Northeastern tribal girl students are not particularly keen on getting jobs in Delhi after completing their education. "Coming to study in Delhi, for most Northeastern students, is a matter of prestige," says Naidu. "The unstable political situation in the Northeast has caused educational standards to drop, which makes it very easy for Delhi-educated students to get the best jobs once they return. This, coupled with the fact that the atmosphere does not offer much by way of encouragement to reach out and mingle, causes most students to see their student days here as just a stopover."

Students told Naidu that social work interventions, such as the presence of social workers in colleges in enabling and facilitating roles, and steps to fight discrimination and enhance socio-cultural exchange between communities of students, could help alleviate the problems. But the single-most important step that Naidu feels needs to be taken with a sense of urgency is arranging sufficient hostel facilities for Northeastern girl students. "This one step will go a long way in providing stability and security to their lives and help them concentrate on their academic goals," she says.

This is why Naidu is currently working on a policy paper to call attention to the issue of this manner of student discrimination, which she wants to send to the ministries of tribal welfare and social justice. "The problem of Northeastern girl students needs recognition in the right places," she says. "At present, the different kinds of stress that these students have to put up with is impacting their studies seriously, and every effort should be made to ease the situation."

(* Names of all students changed.)

By arrangement with Women's Feature Service.

Climate Change in Northeast India with special reference to Arunachal Pradesh

Mukhim, Patricia (2009) “Climate Change and N-E”, The Arunachal Times, 3 May 2009.

Scientists predict that by the end of this century most of Bangladesh will be under water. The country’s 130 million people who have learnt to survive in a country that has more water than land will spill over into the Northeast with a vengeance. This would make the present migration pattern look quite insignificant in terms of what that major exodus would do to the demographic profile of the region.

Talking about this at a recent conference of women from SAARC countries in New Delhi, Mohammad Yunus said in the inaugural speech, “We know this is happening but we have not worked out any solution to the man-climate confrontation.”

Climate change is an issue that threatens people the world over, but more so the indigenous inhabitants of the polar regions, the tropical rainforests and people living in the mountain areas. Debates on the issue of climate change have gained ground in the last 10 years particularly after Al Gore brought out his book, Earth in the Balance. So serious has the issue become that an indigenous peoples’ global summit on climate change was called in Alaska, USA, from April 20-25, where at least four participants from the Northeast attended, including Meghalaya’s youngest MP Agatha Sangma.

This summit is a preparation for the major climate change conference at Copenhagen scheduled for December this year. The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples, headed by Victoria Taoli Corpuz, has held different regional consultations, to ensure that indigenous people/tribals have a voice to decide how the ill effects of climate change must be reversed or mitigated by some definite action plans which would involve powerful countries taking responsibility for the hundreds of years of irresponsible mining and industrial activities such as power generation and exploitation of resources which have all been commodified and given a value to.

The mechanisms

Developed nations have come up with different mechanisms to offset climate change. One of them is carbon credit rating or carbon sequestration whereby countries which conserve forests would be monetarily compensated for allowing those forests to become the carbon sinks of the developed world.

While such proposals seem attractive at the outset and states like Arunachal Pradesh, which claim to have 81 per cent of their land under forests, have already made plans for claiming green bonuses, the consequences of such mitigating factors are yet not fully known or understood. First of all, the question is who will measure the quantum of carbon that can be dumped. Secondly and most important, who gets the money and how will it be used to create/regenerate deforested areas?

Arunachal claim

Arunachal Pradesh’s claims seem a little out of sync with the realities in that state. This last frontier is one that India looks at as its reservoir for hydel power. Arunachal Pradesh has the capacity to generate 50,000MW of hydro-electricity which would, of course, be pumped into the national grid for use by the country and even for evacuation to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh which are power starved. Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu has already signed several power project agreements with the private and public sector.

While public sector units (PSUs) like NEEPCO are being put through very stringent environmental impact assessment (EIA) benchmarks, one is not so sure if similar stringency is adopted for the private sector, which is willing to pay money upfront for quick clearance of the projects. We know how every arm of the government can be made to hasten the process of decision-making when palms are greased. So while the PSUs will have to abide by and adhere to strict environmental guidelines during project implementation, the private sector may not be so circumspect. Ironically, the former can be held accountable for any adverse outcome but the latter may not be around to take responsibility. Moreover, the memoranda of agreement between private parties and the Arunachal Pradesh government are shrouded in secrecy.

While there are demands from various NGOs and anti-dam activists that such MOAs be put in the public domain, those demands very often fizzle out in the absence of a strong network of environmental activists within the region. Very often, NGOs have had to depend on the support of groups like the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi, which have the capacity to provide alternative views which could counter government claims. How much of forestland would have to go under to make way for the big dams? Arunachal is a fragile eco-system located as it is along the lower reaches of the Himalayas. It is one of those regions which determine the rainfall patterns of the entire North Eastern Indian alpines right down to the Arakan mountains of Southeast Asia.

The effect

The decisions taken by the Dorjee Khandu government will affect generations of indigenous peoples/tribals not just in Arunachal Pradesh but the entire region. Eco-systems have no boundaries. They extend from one region into another and one state to the next without any clear-cut demarcation. A heavy cloudburst in a mountainous state like Arunachal could result in major catastrophic floods in downstream areas of Assam. This is a regular phenomenon as rivers breach their banks and change their courses leaving a trail of devastation. Hence it is not a happy situation when individual states sign power production agreements without any concern about the cataclysmic effects on neighbouring states.

Whose benefit

We have always imagined that the role of the North Eastern Council is to create a convergence between state governments so that decisions taken by one can benefit others or at least cause no harm. But such is not the case today. Large tracts of forests in Arunachal Pradesh, including those areas which are a catchment for the Ranganadi and Dikrong projects of Neepco, have been rapidly deforested. It is not that the forests have been cleared only for jhum cultivation because there is no evidence of farming activities. But tract after tract of forestland is seen being burnt. The remains are black bald patches, which suggest very rapid devastation of the environment. It would be a good idea for chief minister Khandu to take the Doimukh trail to Yajuli and see for himself this trail of devastation before making further claims for a “green bonus fund”.

But Arunachal Pradesh is not the only state whose forests are fast depleting. Meghalaya, with its smoke-stacked industries, is using charcoal in unimaginable proportions. This has resulted in rapid depletion of forests, particularly in West Khasi Hills. In the Jaintia Hills, the problem is a more severe one. Irresponsible mining has led to the death of the Lukha river which once was a pristine water body, providing clean drinking water to people living around it. More and more forests are cleared for coal and limestone mining without even a plan for reclaiming and regenerating abandoned mines. These are alarming signs. But politicians of all the seven states seem totally unconcerned about the environment and the climate change impacts which are manifested in delayed monsoons, unseasonal rains and rising temperatures and which have created havoc for the farmers. Politicians can no longer get away with their wealth creation programmes at the cost of the environment. It is time to cry “halt” now or suffer the consequences.

(The writer can be contacted at patricia17@rediffmail.com)

Democracy that is more a monarchy

Narasiah, K.R.A(2009), “Democracy that is more a monarchy: Indian political scene and the American Constitution”, The Hindu, 31 May 2009, p.12.

Once again, the world’s largest democratic exercise is over and the pangs of coalition politics can be seen, where every politician is worried about his/her next generation. Apart from the fact that the spoliation of the democracy is firmly in place, with the coming into play of money and muscle power in spite of the Election Commission’s strict enforcement of the code of conduct, the dangerous trend of dynastic politics is raising its head.

I happened to be in America last year, when the Presidential election was on and had the opportunity to see the process in close quarters. It was true democracy by the best of standards and, when I was wondering how the Americans were avoiding dynastic politics, I came across an erudite description of the American Constitution by an eminent lawyer, Akhil Reed Amir.

True republicanism

What caught my attention was the passage dealing with “America’s First Officer”, which describes the need to have introduced 35 years as the eligible age and the strict adherence to the terms of office for the elected president’s candidature.

“The more likely scenario underlying the age clause involved favourite sons – young men who sprang from famous fathers but had yet to show their own true colours. Instead of being evaluated based on their individual merits and vices, as revealed by a long track record of personal accomplishment and failure, such favourite sons would unfairly benefit from their high birth status and distinguished family name, thus retarding the growth of a truly republican society equally open to meritorious men of humble and middling origin.”

The term of office was necessary as anti-federalist critics then thought that by choosing the dynastic route future American presidents would resemble British Kings, which unfortunately is the case in India! It was pointed out by the critics of that time in America, that, when a man gets the gaddi or gets re-elected from time to time, for life, his greatest object will be to keep it; that is at any cost! Later he would associate his favourite son to take office after him!

President-elect Washington had understood the problem of dynastic power and had drafted for his first Inaugural address: Divine Providence hath not seen fit, that my blood should be transmitted or my name perpetuated by the endearing, though sometimes seducing channel of immediate offspring. I have no child for whom I could wish to make a provision — no family to build in greatness upon my country’s ruins...[No] earthly consideration beyond the hope of rendering some little service to our parent Country...could have persuaded me to accept this appointment.”

Striking contrast

How our political leaders differ from this man’s lofty ideal! No Indian political leader would leave the office, sticking to the principle, ‘till death do us part’ and ensure in the process that his/her offspring do get established in their lifetime into positions that will guarantee them the top post in future. Had our founding fathers of the Constitution thought of this, they would also have invoked such clauses as terms of office for the high political posts.

But, unfortunately, we have inherited a democracy that is no lesser than a monarchy, where the sons automatically become the next power in the event of the incumbent ceasing to be so due to natural causes! It is also worth noting that none of the first seven presidents of America wanted to stand even for re-election! They also had no biological heir. Rutherford B. Hayes had a son, but declined to stand for re-election and simply walked away after finishing his term! Can this happen in India? Our politicians are seeking cabinet posts for their offspring in the name of democracy and want to establish a dynastic rule. So how can we call our election a true democratic affair?

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu

India-China face-off worsens over ADB loan for Arunachal

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New Delhi: India and China are headed for a major confrontation in the Asian Development Bank with Beijing digging its heels in and not giving its consent to the $2.9-billion India development plan unless the mention of Arunachal Pradesh is removed from the document.

A sum of $60 million is marked for a watershed development project, including flood management, for Arunachal Pradesh.

China considers the state “disputed territory” and wants it to be removed from the document.

The Bank has asked India to resolve the matter bilaterally provoking a strong reaction from New Delhi. While a board meeting has been scheduled for June 2, India has let it be known that it would rather withdraw the entire plan than remove Arunachal Pradesh for the sake of financial approval.

In March, as first reported by The Indian Express, China successfully obtained a postponement of a decision on the plan at the ADB Board meeting but India had hoped that the ADB would resolve the matter in due course. However, New Delhi was taken by surprise when the ADB wrote to the government recently that it should use bilateral channels to find a way out.

It’s learnt that India has asked the ADB not to indulge China on bilateral issues. In the run-up to the June 2 meeting, India will look to lobby hard with other board members to ensure that the Chinese objection is overruled. If the conflict isn’t resolved, official sources said, the government may look for alternative funding.

Part of the problem emerges from the fact that ADB does not have a policy for projects in disputed areas. Being the largest donor after US and Japan to the Bank, China is clearly using its clout. India, which is only next to China, will have to lean on the US and Japan along with South Korea to get its way.

By Pranab Dhal Samanta (2009) “India-China face-off worsens over ADB loan for Arunachal”, Express India, 15 May 2009. Link-http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/IndiaChina-faceoff-worsens-over-ADB-loan-for-Arunachal/459910/

Genocide in Sri Lanka

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) is not a Terrorist Organisation. Equating it with terrorist organisations like the Al Queda cannot be justified. It is rather a struggle for freedom from discrimination and oppression of the Sinhalese majority. What is going on in the Northeast of Sri Lanka is nothing less than a Genocide of the Tamils. It is an act towards making Sri Lanka "Tamil Free".

The Sri Lankan security establishment which compose of "mono-ethnic Sinhalese" is given the duty to wipe out the Tamils from Sri Lanka under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka, the Sri Lankan Army commander. Fonseka in an interview to the Sri Lankan National Newspaper Daily News on 19 July 2009 said "I don't think the people in the North and East are subjected to any injustice...In any democratic country the majority should rule the country. This country will be ruled by the Sinhalese community which is the majority representing 74 percent of the population". This shows the mentality of the Sinhalese majority who have discriminated the Tamils as Second Class Citizens for long time.

Thus, the Tamils have every right to determine their destiny. Equating the LTTE as a terrorist organisation is undigestible for me. It is rather fighting for the dignity of the Tamils to live as human beings, as other humans live elsewhere in the world. The International Committe of the Red Cross has called the situation "nothing short of catastrophic", for me, it is "nothing short of Genocide".

For further details check out-
International Crisis Group-
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=6070&l=1

May Day: Its Relevance in India

"The worker becomes poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and extent. The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more commodities he produces. The devaluation of the human world grows in direct proportion to the increase in value of the world of things".-Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts, 1844.

On May Day, we commemorate not only the achievements of the workers movement but also its many struggles and sacrifices. The facts are well known: In 1886, the police fired on demonstrators in Hay market square where workers had gathered during a general strike raising the demand for an eight-hour work day. The first Congress of the Second International meeting decided to mark this day with international demonstrations and protests. So widespread was the responses to this call that ever since Ist May i.e. May Day has been recognized as the International Workers' Day.

Relevance in India

In the face of this historical legacy, is the silence that pervades the ruling establishment on the occasion of this day. This is particularly the case in India where we have been following a policy that emphasizes development at the costs of people's rights. The new age cities that are developing around us bear the neo-liberal impress of further marginalizing the poor from our gleaming cities. Away from the cities, the narratives are those of displacement: of workers faced with unemployment, tribal’s evicted from their lands, farmers struggling with debt and confronting the prospect of suicide.

Resistance is met with repression. This is nowhere more evident than in the Special Economic Zones mushrooming across the country which have become the nightmares where labour regulations do not employ. The state has long forgotten its responsibility towards the rights of workers.

The Way Forward

The current financial crises have hit hardest on the working class. Yet governments seem more concerned at providing sops to flagging corporates. As the neoliberal ideology continues to rear its head, we need to reassert the importance of May Day in the history of the workers struggle. To do so would be to jar memory, to shake the establishment from its platitudes, to reassert the international spirit of the movement, uniting workers everywhere. As we know, this is a process beset by difficulties.

THE WORKER'S UNITED WILL ALWAYS BE VICTORIOUS