Itanagar: Legislative Assembly Speakers of all the eight Northeastern states have unanimously resolved to meet the political heads of the country and submit a joint memorandum seeking a comprehensive action plan to put an end to the repeated instances of racist attacks and discrimination against people from the region.
The decision was taken following a virtual meeting of the Speakers held under the chairmanship of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Pasang D Sona on Friday.
The meeting was called in the wake of the recent racial remarks made by YouTuber Paras Singh and other social media influencers against sitting Arunachal MLA Ninong Ering.
Chairing the meet, Sona expressed grave concern over the sharp increase in racial discrimination and hatred faced by the people of the north east is several parts of the country.
Citing examples of the recent racial remarks made by a few content creators including Paras on MLA Ering, Sona said “this was not the first time such an incident had taken place.”
Social media influencer Paras who goes by the name ‘Paras Official’ on YouTube had in one of his videos posted in his channel last month had termed “Ering as a non-Indian and Arunachal Pradesh, a part of China”.
Paras had made the comments while reacting to a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Ering recently wherein he had appealed to the latter to ban the relaunch of PUBG Mobile India’s new avatar Battlegrounds Mobile India.
Ering, also a former Lok Sabha member, had reasoned that the game was aimed at deceiving the government and citizens and should be banned in the country.
Paras, while commenting on the development in his video was heard saying that Ering does not look like an Indian and Arunachal was a part of China.
The YouTuber who was facing a jail term was granted bail on Friday.
Sona said “people from the northeast always face racial discrimination in various forms because of their appearance.”
The need of the hour is that the leaders of the region stand united and demand for a comprehensive action plan to put into motion so as to end the prejudice against one’s race, he said.
In this regard, Sona, who is also the chairman of CPA India Region Zone III, suggested the inclusion of an exclusive chapter on the north east region – its geography, culture, ethnicity and lifestyle of people in the NCERT and other text books of all educational institutions.
Meghalaya Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh said the issue of racial discrimination is very serious and the leaders of all the northeast states are equally concerned.
Stating that racial discrimination against the people of northeast is not a new but an age-old topic, Mizoram Speaker Lalrinliana Sailo said it was high time for all to stand together against racialism.
Nagaland Speaker Sharingain Longkumer also echoed a similar concern and stated that people of northeast are part and parcel of the Union of India and should not be treated like second class citizens.
Members from Assam and Tripura also expressed serious concerned over the repeated racial discrimination against the people of the region.
“The northeastern community are physically and mentally abused every now and then because of their facial appearance and this should stop once and forever,” they stated.
