Nido Tania- the guy with slanting eyes and a flat nose, features so very different from the northern big eyed, sharp nosed neighbours. Laughed at because he had dyed his hair blonde and had a funny accent. Apparently, these were reasons enough to kill. And then the not so fresh stories of discrimination- the hue and cry about the Richard Loitam and the suicide of Dana Sangma. All because their eyes were not large enough. Heres a story that not many people are aware of, the north east, separated by the chicken neck of India, so vulnerably beautiful, has had its own history of separating people by the size of their eyes. Not one mainstream media channel highlighted the case of Vikas Nandwal, the man who was burnt alive by slant eyed people as they protested for Inner Line Permit in Meghalaya. Its just one tiny example of the discrimination that goes on in these parts everyday. The riots of the late 80s and the early 90s, when my own father had burnt his hand trying to protect his family from being doused alive. My own cousin beaten black and blue because his nose was not flat enough. Being pointed out as outsiders, even though our family has parked itself here for three generations, giving back as much as it has received. And then there are people like me, big eyed and flat nosed (it has grown over the years, when i was born my mother was looking for my nostrils), a cross cultural mixed breed, a true child of the north east, born in assam, brought up in meghalaya, studying in tripura, seeing the political changes and wondering how can racism be one sided? Panels are being set up, stop racial discrimination, stop calling people chinky etc etc. Nothing can justify Nido Tanias death, not Richard Loitam or Dana Sangma. But at the same time, nothing can justify the death of Vikas Nandwal either. My eyes are big and round. My nose is flat. And I am lucky because no one is sure about discriminating me. ~ recived in our inbox and presented without any editing
Posted on: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 07:11:40 +0000
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