Discrimination Against Northeast Indians: This Man Is Using Musical Weapon To Combat Racism

How people look is not a matter of shame. It is who they truly are. But there are many who would disagree with this, and unarguably they are called racists.

Racial discrimination against the people of Northeast in Delhi and other parts of North India is not a new thing. Use of contextually disgraceful terms such as, ¡®chinky¡¯, ¡®chilly chicken¡¯ and ¡®chinese¡¯, have been reported by many northeast Indians, who get to hear these words especially targeted on them in Delhi NCR and other parts of north.

¡®Bobby Hano¡¯ in his own unique way is changing the course of racial discrimination against northeast Indians living in North India. Hano hails from a town named Ziro in the state of Arunachal Pradesh and has lived in Delhi for nearly 5 years until 2004.

During his stay in Delhi, he has been a close observer of instances of racial discrimination against his friends and people from northeast.

¡°Personally I didn¡¯t have to hear any racist comments when I was in Delhi, possibly because my facial features are not that of a typical northeast native. However, I know of multiple instances of racial discrimination against my friends and the harshness northeast people face from some north Indians. This is only because they look different and how they speak Hindi. It saddened me¡± says Hano

To combat this grubby disease of racism with love, harmony and interculturalism, Hano with his co-founder ¡®Anup Kutty¡¯ founded ¡®Ziro Music Festival¡¯ (ZMF) in 2012. Kutty is also the guitarist of a notable rock band based in Delhi called 'Menwhopause'. ZMF has featured distinguished artists such as, Steve Shelley, Shye Ben Tzur, Damo Suzuki, Lee Ranaldo Indus Creed and many more.

The festival is held in the month of September every year and spans out for four days. Members of the Apatani tribe that¡¯s indigenous to Ziro, hosts the festival.

¡°I belong to the Apatani tribe. We are known for our colourful culture, celebrations and living in perfect harmony with the environment. ZMF invites people from all over the country. When people from North and other parts visit here, they get to understand our culture through music. It helps us connect on a deeper level. This is exactly what¡¯s required to mitigate racism. It¡¯s about communicating with each other,¡± said Hano.

Hano is of a strong opinion that the racial discrimination against the people of northeast is because of grave communication gap between northeast and north Indians.

He says, when north Indians visit northeast, there are hardly any instances of racial discrimination against north Indians he has heard of. But natives of the northeast living in Delhi and other parts of north India are often subject to racist comments and cultural prejudices.

Hano also added, ¡°I have witnessed north Indians who have visited northeast never discriminate against northeast people. It¡¯s because they understand and respect that we are different in our own way. Just like everyone else, our language is different, our cultural is different, our Hindi is different, and that¡¯s absolutely ok.¡±

Hano with his illustrious character of challenging the biases and societal norms got an opportunity to participate in a recent campaign launched by a popular brand Absolut, called ¡®Born Colorless¡¯ on August 9, 2019.

The objective of the campaign is in line with how people of all colour deserve equal honour and respect, and that the world needs to unite and look beyond superficial bodily differences. The famous quote from the campaign highlights, ¡°For the world to become a happy and colourful place, it must first become colourless.¡±

The author is a Haryana-based freelance contributor.