Manipur CM Urges State Govts to Take Care of Northeast Indians in the Wake of Increasing Racial Attacks

Imphal, April 11, 2020:

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Saturday raised the issue of increasing racial attacks on people from Northeast India while video conferencing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Singh brought the matter of racial discrimination and harassment faced by the Northeast people amidst the spread of coronavirus in different parts of the country.

The Chief Minister said that around 30,000 people from Manipur alone were stranded in different parts of the country due to the current lockdown. He continued that many people from the region were facing different kinds of harassment.

Manipur Chief Minister has forwarded a list of stranded Manipuri students and people with the addresses where they are staying to the States concerned and urged his counterparts to take care of them.

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Singh added that Manipur Government was also taking care of the safety and other requirements for people of other States stranded in Manipur. He requested the Prime Minister to make an arrangement to bring all the stranded people of Manipur to their homes.

Regarding the State's preparedness to deal with the pandemic, the Chief Minister said that facilities of 3200 beds were ready for quarantine. One dedicated block each in JNIMS and RIMS of 50 beds each is earmarked for Covid-19 patients. More ventilators have been installed in both the hospitals, he informed. To increase the number of testing facilities, he said, permission is being sought from ICMR to allow testing for Covid-19 in some selected private diagnostic centres.

Stating that Manipur shares 398 km long porous border with Myanmar, the Chief Minister said that the State Government had erected temporary fencing along the border to block illegal entry of foreigners.

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It needs mention here that many incidents of racial attacks against Northeast Indians have surfaced from the metropolitan cities, where they are staying for either education or employment. From being called 'coronavirus' to extreme humiliation of being spat on, the ones living outside the region have faced it all.

Manipur CM's appeal to the Prime Minister and the State Chief Ministers has come in the wake of increasing attacks. Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued directions to the States to take action against the ones engaged in discrimination against Northeast Indians.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also decried acts of racism against those from the Northeast Indian States and demanded action against the perpetrators of these discriminatory acts. PM Modi underlined that such cases of racism need to be dealt with firmly.

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