Title: Racial discrimination against northeast Indians in times of Covid-19

Authors: Benchilo Odyuo

Addresses: Lotha Baptist Church, Mokokchung, near New Town Hall, Sangtemla ward, Mokokchung, 798601 Nagaland, India

Abstract: Corona is a slander (Mazumda, 2020) against northeastern India. Northeasterners are being targeted because of their racial features and this issue is happening for a very long time. There are many incidents of racial discrimination against the people from northeast during the period of corona virus pandemic. Terms like 'chini-mini', 'chinki', 'momo', 'corona', 'Chinese', etc., are often used against the northeasterners in these places. This paper is an attempt to look into the recent incidents of racial discrimination and humiliation against the people from northeast India. It discusses various laws related to humiliation, harassment and illegal treatment. It argues that the failure on the part of the Indian government to enact specific law against racial discrimination is only taken advantage by racist elements, and therefore, the paper sought to suggest various measures to be undertaken by the government in order to eradicate the menace of racial discrimination against people from northeast India.

Keywords: corona; northeast Indians; racial discrimination; legal provision; international instruments.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRCS.2021.116570

International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 2021 Vol.8 No.3, pp.168 - 181

Received: 11 Jul 2020
Accepted: 17 Jul 2020
Published online: 28 Jul 2021 *

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