The Northeast Students Forum (NESF) of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai on Monday said the outbreak of coronavirus has resulted in a disturbing trend of discrimination and racial profiling of people from China and the Northeast.
The forum said it is a grim reminder of ‘inherent racial prejudices’ and ‘stereotyping’ particular people with certain physical features and perceived cultural inferiority.
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It also said this has manifested by subjecting these people to various forms of hostilities, slurs and suspicions which has now being played out in the context of health concerns.
The NESF through a memorandum has condemned this form of discriminatory behaviour and called for a sensitive approach for addressing the outbreak without racial profiling of people.
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The forum has cited certain examples where a student of TISS, Mumbai her visiting friend, both hailing from Nagaland has been subjected to racial discrimination.
The duo was allegedly filmed without their consent and the video was circulated in social media raising an alarm of these suspected to be carriers of coronoavirus from China.
The forum further alleged that other TISS students from the Northeast have been receiving name-calling such as ‘corona’ and ‘coronavirus’.
The students’ forum has urged the TISS authorities to take note of the seriousness of the situation and act promptly.
It has also urged the concerned government bodies to take appropriate measure to ensure the safety of people from the north-eastern states in Mumbai and to ‘deter cases of harassment and racial discrimination’.