From all accounts Nido Tania Died at the hands of racists in Delhi. It is a fact acknowledged by most Indians that there is lots of racism in Delhi against people from the North East of India. If there is racism in Delhi there is racism in India, period. Delhi is the capital of India. People from all over the country have the right to be there. Making that statement without extending the same right to all Indians to be anywhere all over India one may be implying Indians do not have equal rights to be in places other than Delhi. In fact every inch of India belongs to all Indians. Every Indian has the right to travel, live, work and study anywhere in India he/she may choose. If that is not the case the Republic of India is not living up to the promise its founders made to the future generation of Indians.
India is the country of my birth and my ancestors one of whom was hanged by the British in the Lahore conspiracy case while another spent many years in British Indian jails; all of it in the pursuit of freedom for the country. I love India and travel to it any chance I get. As an immigrant to Britain in 1964 I knew racism first hand. It was shortly after Enoch Powell's "Rivers of blood "speech in 1968 that I left for Canada and made my home there. No country is perfect, nor is Canada. It has had its periods of racist darkness. Chinese were made to pay a head tax for entry to the country. Indians on the now tragically famous ship Komagata Maru were turned back en mass under the shadow of guns and were subsequently fired at by the British police when they reached Baj Baj Ghaat in Calcutta. Canada still has not completely dealt with the damage of the racism inflicted upon its original inhabitants that Columbus out in search of India wrongly called Indians. Canada has made huge strides though in its fight for equality in the last several decades including gender, racial and LGBT equality. It has much more to do still.
The Indian immigrants to western countries in particular become acutely aware of the racism in the host countries. Many of us forget that before we left the shores of India some of us were perpetrators of discrimination based on caste, religion, language, wealth and power. But any inequality faced abroad does make us better informed about the need for equality both in the host countries and India.
I am Indian by heritage of which I am infinitely proud. In my experience India's is perhaps the most colour conscious culture in the world. If I am not wrong the term "varuna" originally used for caste means colour. The original caste formation had a significant element of colour imposed by the lighter skinned Aryans. Colour played a role in stratification of castes thousands of years ago making us Indians the original racists. I am not surprised that matrimonial ads in India and of Indians abroad are filled with references to skin colour. The lighter/whiter skin being called 'fair' by many Indians is insulting to the concept of fairness itself.
The evil of caste continues to bedevil the country. Rampant regionalism and demands for smaller and smaller states to separate on the basis of linguistic, ethnic or other differences will further fuel the "us and them" divide among people. Racial features as in the case of people from the North East make them easy targets in a population not being provided any moral leadership on culture and ethics. The fact that in their own country the North Easterners are derided as 'Chinkies' is a matter of national shame. I can't think of one leader of national stature in the country providing leadership on the culture and values front. Even the good Man Anna Hazzare has only talked about changing laws not people's values. Even the agitators or Dharnaites for want of a better term are mainly talking about needing new laws. Yes new laws if they would help. But laws alone can't make up for lack of moral and ethical leadership, a leadership of values. I do not see that In India today. I have just returned from there a bare nine days ago.
Nido's death mustn't go in vain. More laws yes if they are needed. More urgent though is the need for moral and ethical leaders who can lead the values revolution India so desperately needs. Any volunteers!
