Coronavirus: Dear India, Spitting on a Manipuri Woman Shows How Horribly Racist We Are
On 22 March, India witnessed over 80 new cases of coronavirus COVID-19, and the total number of positive cases crossed 400. With an increased level of awareness, there has also been a rise in unsavoury incidents of xenophobia, especially toward Indians hailing from the country’s North-Eastern region.
The ugliness is real. In Delhi’s Vijay Nagar last night, a man spat at a Manipuri woman and called her “corona”, which is quickly becoming a racial slur used toward those with an East Asian appearance.
Dumb Trump insists on referring to COVID19 as the “Chinese Virus”.
His fans in India do the same.
This is just one of the consequences of that stupidity 👇👇https://t.co/qMjt4qGFyz
— Jumla Buster (@FekuBuster) March 23, 2020
However, Delhi Police were quick to act to file a case against the man.
Delhi Police has registered a case under section 509 of the Indian Penal Code against a man who allegedly spat on a woman belonging to Manipur and called her “Corona” in Vijay Nagar area of north Delhi last night. pic.twitter.com/lBk88QGr8U
— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2020
More steps like this need to be taken to stamp out the spread of ignorance surrounding the virus. Despite the fact that those from the North-East are just as Indian as those from the Hindi heartland, or indeed any other part of India, there exists a bias toward them that casts them as “outsiders”. “Corona” is a new slur; the vulgar have long been calling them “chinki” and other epithets.
Now that the coronavirus, which originated in China, is spreading in India, this underlying racism has manifested in intolerance toward North-Easterners. A video on Twitter showed how a Gujarat Police officer had to comfort a group of female students from the North-East, who were being pressured by residents of the housing society in which they stayed to vacate their flat due to paranoia over the virus.
i want to say lots of things but…..😠😠
thank you #Gujratpolice 🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/TqWZTNCNRj
— Anupama (@anujironi) March 22, 2020
Despite the fact that the North-East has produced some eminent personalities that have brought India global renown, like Mary Kom and Bhaichung Bhutia, the region remains an afterthought for many Indians. Even when a North-Easterner achieves a level of celebrity, they remain exposed to this brand of bigotry. Actor and singer Meiyang Chang shared another incident of how the coronavirus pandemic is just another opportunity for racists to have a laugh.
View this post on Instagram
If Chang, a renowned singer and public figure, cannot escape the intolerance while out for his morning jog in cosmopolitan Mumbai, regular citizens don’t have a much better chance. Reports have emerged from major metros across the country, from Kolkata to Delhi, of Indian citizens being teased for their “Chinese” appearance, and taunted with chants of “corona”.Indians who can’t seem to understand that not all their countrymen look alike would do well to listen to a message from the North-East.
Since we’re already practising social distancing, maybe some distancing from bigotry is also in order.
Related Content
Coronavirus Thanks to the Pandemic, Socialising Again may be Our Toughest Challenge Yet
The pandemic has introduced such lethargy into our systems that we struggle to even do bare minimum of modern day socializing – text each other. To re-enter the world, I realised would take gargantuan effort, for this pandemic has turned even formal socializing into a ‘project’.
Add to listCoronavirus Battling COVID-19 At Home? These Self-Medication Techniques Are Not Going to Help
Immunity boosters are all the rage these days. So is Remdesivir. But will it help you beat the coronavirus all by yourself? It’s unlikely.
Add to listCoronavirus Can You Double Up as a Volunteer With Your Full-Time Job? Citizens’ Covid War-Room Shows You How
There’s a sense of helplessness that has taken over all of us as the country struggles to cope with the devastating second wave of the coronavirus. While many of us continue to feel defeated, there are some among us who decided to do something about it. Meet the good folks at Citizens’ Covid War-Room, a group of millennials and zoomers, who have been working round the clock to verify leads and provide resources to patients in need.
Add to listCoronavirus Yes to Proning, No to Hoarding: A Handy Guide for COVID-19 Care at Home
If you are tending to a COVID-19 patient at home and don’t know where to begin, here are some useful tips. But before that, breathe in and breathe out.
Add to listCoronavirus Why the Weight of 2021 Feels More than 2020
Lockdown 2.0 has opened the floodgates to remnant anxiety from last year. The past year, in spite of the challenges that we were confronted with, we revelled in the novelty of the work-from-home life and the liberty it donned on us to pursue other interests. This time around, it feels like there is no imminent end to misery.
Add to list
English
Hindi
Comments