WHAT DO PEOPLE IN INDIA ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE ??? - Cdt. Pirthidao Purusa India is a land of diversity and is home to several communities who live in harmony with each other while preserving and upholding their own distinct culture and traditions. That’s what Google says. In India, people took social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter to show their support. However, the irony here is that people, just because of the social pressure, became a part of the protest called ‘ BLACK LIVES MATTER ‘and showered their support for George Floyd. Racial discrimination against the north-east Indians is deeply rooted in our Indian Society. Are we really proud of how diverse our country is ? Indians have a very basic and stereotypical notion about the north-east parts of India. The north-eastern people are most of the time addressed as “Chinki” due to the structure of their eyes which is very common among all the people of Northeast and that particular feature differentiates them from the rest of the Indians. Below are some of the cases that have been highlighted in the mainstream media. There are thousands of cases that have happened and are happening right now in modern India. ● A young guy named Nido Taniam was beaten to death in the Lajpat Nagar area of Delhi Just because he looked different than others. ● Two Students form Mizoram were beaten up in Bangalore, allegedly for not Speaking Kannada. ● Two students from Nagaland were brutally tortured for hours by local men in Gurgaon to teach them a lesson that you don’t belong here. They said, “if you Northeast people come here we will kill you.” ● Another case happened recently this year where a YouTuber named Paras Singh made a racial remark against the Arunachal Pradesh MLA Ninong Ering. He not only insulted the MLA but he insulted the whole Northeast India as a whole. There are too many cases in which people from Northeast are harassed just because they don’t look Indian enough. They are told to prove their nationality. These people are not given jobs, houses on the basis of their ethnicity or race.These are small things that will create a big issue in upcoming years. Alana Golmei who is the founder of the Northeast helpline and security, recently wrote to the ministry of home affairs regarding the concern of the growing racial discrimination since the rise of the pandemic.She was herself called as “corona” at the NCERT office in Delhi, so she had a clear idea of how the rest of the migrants are treated. Indians are so conscious and mainstream about their looks that if a person does not fit into the stereotype of custom appearance, he/she should be hated upon. Racial slurs have become extremely common in north east states. Should people of northeast demand for a different country because they are not considered as Indians by most of the ‘so called Indians’ ? They also have the same love and affection like everyone in the country does. In Fact if you stand in front of a mirror most of the people look very similar to people from Pakistan, Bangladesh.People do not call a Sikh, a Pakistani nor do they call a Bengali, a Bangladeshi but why is it so easy for them to call a Northeastern, a Chinese. This is pure irony. Should we consider the people of India as Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, just like you considered people from northeast as Chinese.This is how we represent India to the world by showing hatred to our own people. Similarly, there are several such instances where discrimination against people based on colour, race and ethnicity has been seen. Racism does exist in India, we can’t deny that. However, we Indians never thought of it as a serious issue. Therefore, it’s time that we look into our mind-set and try bringing changes on an individual level. Name :- Cdt. Pirthidao Purusa Reg. No. :- OD/20/SD/A/304632 KIIT University, Bhubaneswar Unit :- 6(O) Bn NCC, Puri Group Hq. :- Berhampur Odisha Dte..