Hospitals and coma: The real face of racism in Bengaluru

The New Year began with a Kammanahalli molestation video in which the victim was a north-eastern girl. Then another video appeared in which a 23-year-old man from Mizoram is beaten up with iron rods by three people. This is followed by the incident in a popular pub on Brigade road in which a drink of a north-eastern girl was allegedly spiked by two men, who forced into their car, assaulted her and then abandoned her in a Kammanahalli Road. 

Another youth from Arunachal Pradesh is battling for his life at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans) who was assaulted early this month at Koramangala.  Currently, he is in semi-coma state, and doctors have said that his treatment is over and he can be either shifted to another hospital or can be taken back to his native place. The only problem is that his family has no money left to avail any of these options. 

Racism is rampant in India, and everyone condemns it. But, apparently a large part of India’s population is racist without realising it. A snide comment on someone’s appearance on the basis of the region they belong to, commenting on an individual’s food habit in relation to the community come from, making irresponsible remarks on someone’s ethnicity are common incidents of racism that everyone fails to acknowledge. 

In short, refusing to accept someone’s individuality and seeing them as part of a community, race, or ethnicity and having preconceived notion about others is racism. Expression these prejudices through any act, be it spoken words, differential treating, or in many cases, being physically violent is criminal. 

When it comes to racism, the north-east Indians are often subjected to acts of physical violence. Girls from this region are often sexually assaulted, and men are brutally beaten up almost everywhere in India. 

Many people from the northeast are often forced to go back to their native place, and some have even lost their lives due to racial attacks. In 2014, Nido Tania a 20-year-old from Arunachal Pradesh died after being brutally beaten in New Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar is a famous example of the same. 

Recently, Bengaluru has earned the title of being the most dynamic city in the world. However, this city still needs to learn how to treat non-natives better. 

• Racism
• North-east