Participants from Northeast at the National Youth Festival held in Noida went on a protest demonstration for alleged discrimination. The festival is hosted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of Indian Government in collaboration with UP State Government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the festival on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The festival was held at the Gautam Buddha University, Gautam Budh nagar, Greater Noida.
Sanatomba Takhellambam, Team Leader of Manipur State, said they were given a step-motherly attitude in the festival by the organizers and other fellow Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) participants from other states of India.
Another Team Leader from Nagaland, Asin Tep said one of the woman officials of the organizing committee allegedly called the participants from North Eastern states as “fool” and “untalented”. The organizers also ridiculed the participants as foreigners for not knowing Hindi.
Taking the issue to the higher authority, the participants also made a written complaint to the Director General of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, New Delhi intimidating about their dissatisfaction, grievances and against the mismanagement of the national youth festival.
In the complaint, it was said that the participants of North East were mistreated, and the Nagaland team was made to wait 17 hours for accommodation, besides the team was not allowed to take part in sports activities during the festival.