For the first time, a north-east students' gathering informed the police about their annual social meet.
We may turn a deaf ear to being called 'chinki', but physical assaults must stop, insist students.
For the first time in 10 years, north-east students in the city informed the cops about their annual gathering held on Saturday. Pune, which drew them because of its titles of 'Oxford of the East' and 'College Hub', no longer seems as attractive an option as it used to. Two attacks on students in the last one week have ensured that. Some of the students are shocked, some are putting on a brave front, and all are urging people to stop these unprovoked attacks.
On Saturday, the Hmar Students' Association, Pune Branch, conducted its tenth Fresher's Social cum Annual Meet and invited all students from the five north-east states. "For the first time, we informed the cops before such a gathering just to let them know we were conducting it. We did not want to take any chance," says Elizabeth, the spokesperson of the association. The recent assaults have shaken them, but they insist that they will continue to focus on academics here. "It just proves how a few members can malign the entire name of a city. Pune, otherwise, is an extremely friendly city. It's surprising that such incidents are occurring here," Elizabeth adds.
The gathering had a lower turn-out than the previous years but all members are urging each other not to be scared, says Judy Joute, a member. Different associations, student unions and even the cops are doing their bit to ensure their safety. Some students are missing college, but others like Sushma Sharma, a first year MCom student at Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, who hails from Sikkim, say they feel safer in college than in other areas in the city. "A few people cannot attack us just for the heck of it. We have informed students to move in groups and help fellow north-east people," says Narendra Singh, general secretary of Association of Manipuri Diaspora (AMAN).
The north-east racism issue is not new. In June, the Ministry of Home Affairs came up with the law to imprison offenders who refer to north-east people as 'chinki'. Even if people have continued using the racist term, the students haven't complained. Their logic: it's better to turn a deaf ear to these remarks. "People who call us chinki have a problem, not us," says Elizabeth, while Joseph Lalruotsang of Hmar Students' Association stresses, "We are not foreigners, so how can they call us Chinese or Nepali?" However, in view of the assaults, some students feel it's okay to be attacked with words than physically, if there is a choice to it at all.
Sushma shares, "Earlier I used to roam about in Gokhalenagar but now I don't want to take a chance. I might fall in trouble for just being from the north-east." As for the remarks, "I turn a deaf ear to these phrases. I doubt many are following the law," she adds. Another student, Elizabeth Pangamte from Abeda Inamdar college further says, "I have been called chinki several times; I am used to it. But it is better than attacking people for no reason." It's an appeal, they say, to feel safe in the place they call second home.
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