Kiren Rijiju condemns killing of Tripura student in Uttarakhand; calls racism a ‘disease’

NEW DELHI: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday expressed "dismay and anger" over the killing of a Tripura student in an alleged racial attack in Uttarakhand and called upon the people to fight against this "mindset" together, saying any such incident is "very shameful" and harms the country. Racism is a very big disease. It does not have any place in our country, he asserted. Rijiju said that the Uttarakhand government is taking "tough actions" against the culprits and hit out at the opposition parties, saying they should be "ashamed of playing politics" over such a sad incident.

"We are all very sad and angry over the death of a student from the Northeast in Uttarakhand in such an incident. This should not be seen as one isolated incident. Not just in the Northeast, the entire country should be sad over the incident," the minister said. "Be it the Northeast or in any other part of the country, why should anyone from any other region be subjected to such discrimination on the lines of race, religion, caste and looks, mocked at and attacked," he said.

Calls for unity nationwide

"Such kind of incidents are very shameful for the country. It causes harm to society and the country as well just because of some people's mindset," he told reporters here. The minister said that such discrimination is a "disease" and called upon people to fight against it together to end it. Asked about Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders holding the BJP responsible for the incident, Rijiju said, "Shame on them." "Be it a youngster or anyone else hailing from the Northeast, Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Bengal or from any of the states in the country, we are Indians after all," he said.

"Everyone should be sad with any such incident happening with anyone from any part of the country. This is not a matter on which politics should be played. There is no point in playing politics over such incidents," he added. Rijiju suggested that a special unit of police should be set up across all states to deal with such incidents of attacks and harassment of people, including students coming from the Northeast.

"People visiting the Northeast from other parts of the country should also be given protection. In the Northeastern states also, such incidents happen. It is a disease and a mindset that very few people carry. It should be ended. People must come together to fight against it," the minister said. Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi came at the helm, Rijiju said, Delhi used to witness such incidents often.

Rijiju cites past Delhi data

"About 20 to 40 such cases used to be registered in Delhi every month. Many such incidents remained unreported because cases were not registered. People from the Northeast faced many such incidents in Delhi," he said. After a special unit of police to deal with such cases against people from the Northeast was created, there has been a drastic decline in such incidents, he said. The minister said people should come forward together to spread awareness around the issue so that no one is discriminated against and troubled on the basis of "religion, caste, race or looks".

Anjel Chakma, a final-year MBA student at a private university here, was seriously injured when he was allegedly attacked by some youngsters with a knife and a bracelet on December 9. He died on December 26, after being hospitalised for 17 days. His father, a BSF jawan currently posted in Tangjeng in Manipur, had alleged that his son was "brutally attacked" when he tried to defend his brother, who faced racial slurs and was called "Chinese" by the attackers.

The assailants called his sons "Chinese momo" and hurled other racial abuses, the father of the victim told PTI over the phone. Anjel told them that he "was also Indian, not Chinese" but they attacked him with knives and blunt objects, the devastated father said. Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders targeted the BJP, alleging that the murder was a fallout of the ruling dispensation "normalising" hate and encouraging a "divisive mindset". Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav demanded that the Supreme Court step in and ensure justice.