With the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic across the world, racism has found a platform too. There have been several incidents where people from across the world are calling names to the Chinese people and even termed the coronavirus as the ※Chinese virus§.
People hailing from the northeast have been the usual targets of xenophobic and racist attacks in the wake of the novel virus, which has climed thousands of lives across the world.
In the most recent incident, a Manipuri girl from Delhi＊s Vijay Nagar area was spat on by a middle-aged man and shouted at ※Corona§ before fleeing on his white scooty.?
The spread of coronavirus has certainly opened a pandora's box. A wave of bigotry has engulfed some Indians who believe people hailing from the northeast have something to do with the coronavirus, just because they have Mongoloid features.
The Delhi police has registered a case against an unknown person for outraging the modesty of the woman. An FIR has been registered under IPC Section 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) at Mukherjee Nagar police station.
The Chinese community members are aso a target of locals who are calling them names. Respnding to such racist remarks, a Chinese man in Kolkata wore a t-shit which read:?"No I am not Corona Virus. I was born in Kolkata, never been to China."
From professionals to students, families and more hailing from the northeastern states do not only have coronavirus to worry about but racial remarks as well.
Just last week, northeast students in Punjab released a video on Facebook explaining how after the virus outbreak, people have been calling them with names such as coronavirus.
The video was shared on a Facebook page called Dimapur 24/7 with the caption, "Stop calling us corona, ch***i, Chinese ... North East students of Punjab. #Govt_Of_India #say #No #to #Racism #Students #Northeast #India."
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also took to Twitter to call out the incidents of racial attacks that have been faced by citizens of northeastern states.
"Some incidents of racial remarks against North-East people have emerged in some parts of India in the wake of #Coronavirus due to cultural ignorance, prejudice mindset & lack of understanding," Rijiju wrote. He added that the matter had also been discussed in the Ministry of Home Affairs' North East Division and that a "strict advisory" had been issued to all States.
The announcement comes after reports of two college students from Darjeeling studying in Kolkata's Presidency College in West Bengal being racially abused and called "coronavirus".