Category: Article

By Ratna Huirem and Kathiresan Loganathan

Racism is a word not often featured in academic discourses in India. Ignored, deflected, defied, or denied by intellectuals and the common man alike, it is like a damp squib. This article aims to point out that racism is not a farcical phenomenon; but is instead deeply embedded in our society. It therefore traces the narratives of racial discrimination that people from Northeast India have been facing. Ogling, mocking, shaming, name-calling, discrimination at work places have been the relatively softer practices of racism, which can be termed as ‘footnote racism’. However, violent attacks and physical intimidation have been not rare either. These are termed as ‘headline racism’. The 2012 exodus of the NE people from various cities of ‘mainland’ India, their racial profiling, and selective targeting during COVID-19 are testimonies of racism against them within India, their own country. The media relegates stories of and from the NE to near insignificance. The NER is perceived by most outside the region as a hotbed of violence. This further adds to the foreboding and misconceived imagination and perceptions.  Hence, public knowledge about the NER is marred often by falsities, stemming from poor or wrong narratives. This is often manifested in the form of racist practices. Distinct bio-physical markers make the NE person stand out and this ‘different’ appearance creates a lot of complexities. Being an ethnic and racial minority in India, their ‘otherness’ is made palpable through various overt and covert hierarchical social positioning and practices of racial supremacy by the dominant majority. Neo-capitalistic practices towards employment in typical sectors also have a foreboding of colonisation. Arguments that the SC/ST Act provides protective cover is untenable as every person residing in the NER is not all SC/ST. It is the lurking covert but embedded racist pathology that must be tackled.

Keywords: Denial, Discrimination, Ethnicity, Hierarchy, Northeast India, Phenotype, Racial Formation

Introduction

The opening lines in the Government of India (GOI) portal of the North East Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs describes Northeast India as comprising of eight states namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. It further describes the region as culturally and ethnically diverse with a range of ethnic groups with distinct languages, dialects, and identities rooted in their multiple ethnicities. It is spread over an expanse of 7.9% of the country’s geography, and shares its international borders with Bangladesh (1,880 km), Myanmar (1,643 km), China (1,346 km), Bhutan (516 km) and Nepal (99 km). The portal also talks about how this complex amalgam of tribes, languages, ethnicities, coupled with its difficult terrain; the “state of socio-economic development”; migration and issues over local resources; the threat of porous international borders, can be attributed for the delicate security situation in the region. Likewise, these complexities are held accountable for the insurgencies and the related violence and extortion (GoI, n.d.).

These states being mountainous in nature, except for Assam and Tripura (where the plain areas are larger in proportion than the hill areas), the population densities are a far cry from the national average.  According to the 2011 Census, the population density in India is 382 people per square kilometre. In Arunachal, it is 17, Assam 398, Manipur 115, Meghalaya 132, Mizoram 52, Nagaland 119, Sikkim 86, and Tripura 350. The site also highlights its vision as, “Insurgency free, peaceful and prosperous North East” (GoI, n.d., para 3). Major initiatives and peace processes in the Northeast Region (NER) are also enlisted, wherein peace accords have been entered into by the GOI with the various militant outfits in the region. A list of major banned organisations in the NER under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 is also presented on the site. It is however alarming to note that Manipur has the largest numbers of such banned outfits (eight) while even a state as large as Assam has just 3 of them. Likewise, other states have only a couple of them. It needs no further reiteration that the May 3, 2023, incident that shook Manipur has brought in a tumultuous aftermath not only in the state but in the adjoining states too. It is with such a shaky and infirm background of the Northeast that an attempt is made to rationalize the spate of young people from the region continuously out-migrating to the mainland in search of a more peaceful environment, and definitely a better life.  

The North East People

Thounaojam (2012) notes that people from the Northeast are often referred to as northeast persons or northeast people and rarely as northeast Indians. This acquires significance as somewhere there seems to be a void. Contrastingly, people hailing from the northern belt are referred to as North Indians and those from the South are referred to as South Indians. He also cites instances of reports of the northeast people facing racist attacks in the form of oral expletives, molestation, or assault. It is also mentioned that the Government specifies that any offence against people from this region will be charged against Sec 3 of the SC/ST Act. Thounaojam therefore questions very rightly the ‘social categorisation’ of the people from this region and viewing any offensive incident as chargeable under the SC/ST Act as inconsistent and ambiguous. Such categorisation fails to cover the vital aspect of racist pathology that is looming large, yet not accounted for. Indian scholars have mostly shied away from studies on racism in India to the point of total denial about its existence. Only those hailing from the northeast have dabbled with it as “we can feel it”. This was the exact expression used by a friend from this region, when she came to know that we were working on racism. It is concurred that the absence of clear penalisation against racist practices in India acted as a fertile impetus towards the provocative abuses that escalated during challenging times like the COVID-19 pandemic (Haokip, 2021; Niumai & Rajesh, 2024).

People from the NER have distinct bio-physical markers which is centrally owed to biology. It is however considered redundant in contemporary racism studies. It has been noted and documented that there are stereotyped opinions of people from the NER in terms of their appearances, conduct, and general lifestyle. Most of these migrant NE workers also belong to the lower middle class, who seek rentals in less expensive areas. Racial slurs are commonly used especially against the women, who are typecast based upon their fashion sense and the sectors where they mostly work. These range from spas, beauty parlours, the hospitality and tourism industry, and apparel retail outlets where there is maximum close-level interface with the customers. Naturally, appearance is accorded a very high premium. The gendering of these occupations add to the vulnerability of the young Northeast female employee in these sectors. Misutilisation of their services under the garb of spas and massage parlours, and upon being raided and arrested, none to bail them out have been their many woes. These border on the lines of sex trafficking. The NE migrant workers in these sectors are a “depoliticized and docile labour force” in the era of increasing globalisation. Their work efficiency and non-engagement in trade unionism adds to their aura of being a preferred work partner. Such racialised discrimination is more rampant against the women from the NE, thus highlighting the gender concern (Niumai & Rajesh, 2024).

‘Chinky’ is a racial slur used by the mainlanders to refer to people from the Northeast. It is used to refer to the northeast phenotype with the epicanthic fold of the eyes; hence immediately detaching the people from the region as those that do not belong to the majority. As it is rooted in the appearance of the person, and attributed to othering the northeast people based upon that very appearance, any denial of the term ‘chinky’ or ‘chinki’ as derogatory does not hold any merit. The random usage of the word has however been on the wane and moreover, many people from the region do not hesitate to appropriate it themselves, as a counter-challenge to the erstwhile propagators. This can be interpreted along the lines of how the Blacks finally prided themselves in being referred to thus, as a counter to the derogatory aspect attributed to being labelled as Blacks.

The name-calling has been resorted to often with the intention to humiliate, taunt, or offend. To account for it as a neutral word and intended for mere identification is a farce. What is pertinent to note is that all those who are not natives of India but who have the east Asian physical structure are also quickly categorised based upon these markers. Contrastingly, those who are natives but who do not have such structures, escape from the pitfalls of being labelled a ‘chinky’. Thus, the Northeast people seem to have been accorded a racial minority status in their own country. What worsens the scenario is a lack of acceptance or even recognition about its practice. In day-to-day conversations too, many people opine that gender-discrimination, religious discrimination, or caste-based discrimination are what are rampant in Indian society. Niumai and Rajesh (2024) expound that some scholars have attributed racism as a residual effect of the caste system in India. It is partially true as the process of othering the NE people is an outcome of such a mindset of non-accommodation of the different-looking Asian phenotype. Discourse on racism in India barely exists, so how would awareness be generated at all? Moreover, the various types of discrimination often intersect with language, religion, region, and caste; thus, adding chaos and complicating an attempt at understanding racism (Downing & Husband, 2005). In such a backdrop, it has been difficult to advocate anti-racial practices in India against the northeast people.

Racism in India, Really

Today several may opine and argue that things have improved and the mainland is more aware of the northeast, thanks to popular cinema, sports, and several initiatives by the Government to showcase its rich and diverse cultural traditions. However, it is undeniable that it is still looming large, lurking in the minds, to lunge itself when opportunity strikes. This was seen during the recent outbreak of COVID, where instances abounded of the attacks on the Northeast people where they were referred to as the virus itself. Sayan Dey (2020) reports about a lady from Mizoram being attacked because of her Chinese-like appearance. A woman from Manipur was spat upon after being name called as “Corona”. Likewise, several people from the NER had different harrowing and demeaning experiences during COVID-19. Such a kind of xenophobia was already prevalent which lurched forward, further compounded by ineffective policing, non-compliance to register complaints against racist offences, and poor law making to prevent and protect such atrocities against the NE people. Their distinct appearance, culture, and sense of self-conduct sets them apart and hence the ‘otherness’ is magnified (Niumai & Rajesh, 2024).

Downing and Husband (2005) highlight the lack of racial discourse in India and points out that the Indian population as well the social sciences have yet to comprehend the full complexity of racism in India. It certainly must not be written off as an individual aberrance or an off-hand pathological stance against a significant racial community of people belonging to the same country. They further argue that racism is perceived in India as a western-oriented concept and has no relevance in the country. Article 15 of the Indian Constitution promulgates that there should be no discrimination based on religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. It is an extension of the general principle of equality in Article 14. The applicability of such provisions seems to have eluded the NE people in terms of race, especially. Duncan McDuie-Ra (2016) adds that racism in India is “classed and gendered”. He adopts the intersectionality perspective and argues that racial discrimination particularly against females intersect with the experiences of Dalit women in terms of oppression and discrimination (as cited in Niumai & Rajesh, 2024).

Ashley Tellis (2012) and Thounaojam (2012) however point out that people from the NER are racist themselves. Kumar (2025) also talks about “internal self-racialization” by the NE people and “external racialization” by the mainstream people. This highlights how racism is a cyclical and complex concept as well as a process. However, the idea here is not to reduce the racism discourse to a binary of victim and perpetrator. It will serve no purpose at all. It originates from a hierarchy created by a majoritarian group, where those who feel that they are socially and culturally superior, resort to name calling and labelling of other minority communities. The retaliation creates the binary effect. However, in all contexts, power lies with the majority, who become the dominant community, hence depriving the minority community of a sense of equality. When the very appearance of a person is cast as the bone of contention for identification, it becomes extremely difficult to shake it off. Protests have erupted in times of any racial attack on a person from the northeast in either Delhi, Bangalore, or any of the Indian metropolises. They have always garnered the support of the northeast community living in the immediate affected city, as well as in other places too. Thus, racial phenotypes have often acted as a binding factor. In the predominantly tribal societies of the NE, kinship ties are very strong where clan relations were significant markers of resilience and belongingness (Niumai & Rajesh, 2024; Kumar, 2025).  

Such binding based on racial phenotypes have often acted as bail-outs for the NE worker in exploitative situations such as spas, hotels, or retail outlets, where their ‘different looks’ are preferred by the employer. However, in terms of remuneration, many times they are exploited either through delayed salaries or just underpaid and overworked. They are also many times evicted from their rented accommodations without fair notifications. Their docility is taken advantage of, considering that these workers are depoliticised. In such instances, the NE network based upon kinship, ethnicity, language, culture, and religion come out as saviours (Niumai & Rajesh, 2024). Kumar (2025) also cites how online campaigns to include suitable chapters on the Northeast in school text books by Northeast student unions to combat the purported ignorance, have played a critical role. He further highlights the active presence of tribal student unions in the Indian metropolises right from the 1960s and 1970s.

Another loaded comment about people from the NER is that they confine amongst themselves. There is truth as well as falsity to it from two perspectives. The truth is that owing to racial features, culture, and very often food habits, indeed people from the region tend to bind within themselves. But who wouldn’t when one is far away from home? Even the hospitality sector sells themselves saying they provide ‘A home away from home’. And who is not ethnocentric to a certain extent? In fact, it is due to this ethnocentrism where dominant cultural norms are wielded by the dominant majoritarian community as well; and hence have a disproportionate control over what can be termed normal or abnormal. It empowers them to view the world from their own cultural and social perspective (Yamada & Marsella, 2013). In this complex process of socialisation, a pseudo-rationalisation, as advocated by Karl Popper appears to overtake the minds of the dominant majority. Thus, the traditions and practices of people outside a particular culture group tend to view the others as inferior or abnormal. In the Indian context, the insignificance, marginalisation, and feelings of alienation of people from the NER continue to be entrenched in the minds of both the dominant majority as well as the minority northeast people.

Owing to the acute lack of scholarship on racism in India, springing from denial, misconstruction, and overall lack of acknowledgement of such a practice, there are yet no strong redressal mechanisms or specific legal provisions that can protect one against racism. However, the kind of racial beliefs that has got entrenched cannot be subverted easily. The experiences range from verbal hoots to jibes, mocking stares, jocular remarks, shunning from inclusivity, relegating to stereotyped imaginations etc. There is no standard or formal channel that can take up the issue of racism amongst its own citizens as Government mandates do not yet propagate very strongly against racism as an offence. However, sec. 153A of the India Code does point out that whoever promotes enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and engages in acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. It is certainly a small beginning.

Additionally, the North East Support Centre and Helpline, a voluntary organisation, has also been established in 2007 in New Delhi. It aspires to prevent racial discrimination and violence against NE women residing in Delhi and other metropolises. It also provides legal assistance, advocacy, counselling and sensitization campaigns. SPUNER (Special Police Unit for North Eastern Region) was also set up by the Delhi Police to help people from North East India who come to study and work in Delhi (Niumai & Rajesh, 2024). The Bezbaruah Committee also recommended to give more teeth to SPUNER. NE students have also formed their own societies or Associations in Universities and Colleges and are heavily invested in organising a range of events that enhance networks aimed at building social and political capital (Kumar, 2025).

Covert and Overt Racism and their Manifestation

Ngaihte (2015) describes the concept of “footnote racism” (p. 15) as racial prejudices presented in subtle forms in everyday life. This type of racism happens during everyday interactions with random people in the streets, at neighbourhood markets, and other mundane but essential interactions. Unwelcome remarks, stares, and stereotyped observations about clothing, sexuality, and food encompass this. Such racism is mostly felt rather than experienced directly, but disconcerting, nonetheless. This is a kind of covert racism. The ill-conceived ideas about the NER and Indianness as a homogeneous monolith have worked against the favour of the NE people. On the other hand, “headline racism” (p. 15) or overt racism refers to full-fledged physical, racist attacks which may be totally violent in nature. Such racist attacks are usually perpetrated by mischief-mongers operating alone or in groups. They latch on to the deeply hostile attitude of the majority and unleash potent violence against those that do not identify with the majority. Ngaihte thus adds that prevalence of footnote racism creates a fertile ground for headline racism. When violence takes over as a manifestation of the prejudices that lurked inside, it necessitates a recognition of systemic and institutional racism and the availability of legal recourse. People from the NER face overwhelming footnote racism, when they step out of the region. It is prevalent deep within, although the manifestation may be getting more subtle, especially among the better educated class.

The attacks on, and deaths of the young lives of several students from the NER in the earlier decade had raised a lot of alarm about racism in India; thereby shaking the country from outright denial to some degree of acceptance, followed by a kind of sedentary action. The death of Richard Loitam in a Bangalore hostel in 2012; the suicide of Dana Sangma from Meghalaya at Amity University also in 2012; and the murder of 20 year old Nido Tania from Arunachal at the Lajpat Nagar market in Delhi, are just a few of the intense outcomes of racist attacks in India by Indians to another ‘category’ of Indians. They were all over the media at that time. These however have almost been erased from public memory except amongst close family and friends. By raking up these events the intention is to ensure that the awakening and admittance of racism in India does not get buried only to be exhumed with a new crisis that the people from the region have to deal with, just as it happened during the COVID pandemic.

Typologies of Racist Practices

There are a range of ways in which racism can be practiced. Covert and overt are just one way of classifying them. Besides that, racism can be understood in terms of footnote and headline racism too. These have been detailed above. However, along with such typologies, there are varying ways in which racism can prevail. It can be by the very denial of the prevalence of racism, not encouraging any scholastic debate on its prevalence, othering the victim and accusing them of false perceptivity about their ‘selves’. Moreover, especially in the case of the people from the Northeast, the question about their nationality erupts often, as the region is troubled with ethnic volatility and sub-national uprisings. All these perspectives of racism are discussed in the ensuing paragraphs.

A Missing NE Narrative

The Hindustan Times reported how a racist comment on YouTube about Arunachal Pradesh had triggered a storm, wherein several students’ associations across India participated, to counter it. It was spearheaded by the NE students across the country and they rightfully demanded the inclusion of the “history, ethnicity, culture, lifestyle, personalities, natural resources, and patriotism” of the northeastern states of India in the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) books (Malavika, 2021). After the death of Nido Tania in 2014, the Bezbaruah Committee was constituted in the same year to look at the issues and welfare of the NE people living in different parts of the country. Highlighting the poor representation of the NER in the overall educational system of the country, and the reports of prejudices and discrimination faced by the people from the region, the committee recommended that the NCERT must ensure that it includes discussions on its history, culture, and traditions of the NER in its textbooks. The recommendations however remain short of being implemented as the NCERT merely published a supplementary textbook titled “Northeast India – People, History, and Culture’ in 2017. This does not entail the core syllabus and hence is relegated to the periphery (Pratha, 2024). Yet this suggestion is easier made than implemented. Ngaihte (2015) points out that the NER is fraught with contesting narratives, multiple ethnic rivalries, and political demands, which do not synchronize with the larger nationhood. Hence, it remains ignored.

It was reported by the ReachOut Foundation and Policy Research that 54% of NE people feel the stark discrimination in Delhi, the national capital. The survey also highlights places where discrimination is most rampantly experienced. Around 27% of respondents reported restaurants, sporting events, or public places as vulnerable places; while 24% singled out educational institutions. 23% shared that it mostly occurred in the marketplace or while renting houses. 63% of the respondents attributed the discrimination to their ethnic origin, which brings into focus the distinctly different appearances of people from the region. This data reiterates the need for greater awareness generation, inclusivity in educational syllabi, and corrective and well charted policy interventions to cater to such misconstrued imaginations and mitigate discriminatory attitudes (Pratha, 2024).

Military Excesses on the Civilian Population

Another significant fact that McDuie-Ra (2015) points out is that of racism perpetrated by the Indian state in the form of brutalities and excesses in dealing with law and order. Militarising the troubled areas of the NE has become a first resort without much concern as to how it affects day-to-day lives and the psyche of the people, especially young children. Armed revolutions seeking independence from the Indian state and various internal strife amongst different ethnic groups had been characterising the political climate of major parts of the NER. Under such circumstances, the military and the para-military have been exerting excesses on the civilian population, as they are shielded by the Armed Forces Special Powers’ Act, 1958. This Act permits any member of the armed forces to fire ‘even to the causing of death’ of individuals upon mere suspicion, or any presumed defiance of law and order, carrying weapons or assembling in groups of five or more. The Indian government looks at the entire NER as trouble-torn owing to the multiple ethnic violence that erupts sporadically. It however, has come to acknowledge it as a significantly strategic region too, and hence it has moved from “Look East” to “Act East”. Recent national policy making is thus geared towards greater integration of the Northeast into mainstream India. Sports and culture, as well as education have proven to be significant pathways in this process. However, it remains to be seen how an inherent racial perception will be tackled, especially in times of crises. The current ethnic violence and its consequences have left Manipur in near shambles and has taken the state’s socio-economic development backward by ages. In this instance too, a strategy of heavy militarisation of the state has been adopted to counter the situation. Unfortunately, dilly-dallying with responsible intervention and sound decision making appears to have racial overtones as such a kind of prolonged civil war-like situation would perhaps never have been allowed to thrive by the Indian state for near perpetuity in mainland India.

Lack of Scholastic Representation in Race Studies

Racism is palpable in the context of the Indian nation in the opinion of the people from the Northeast. Yet Indian scholastic pursuits appear oblivious to it and it is relegated to off-hand media reports based upon sporadic instances, which many times are quickly covered up, misrepresented, or blatantly ignored. The people from the NER have been facing undue unkind interface in the public space but owing to a lack of a systematic, coherent, and academic theorisation, the practice of racism in India as a scholastic pursuit remain untapped and considered bereft of potential. Studies on racism by Indians have mostly been focussed on the western concept of colour, where Indians in other countries have been at the receiving end of racist attacks. The racism prevalent in India on Indians from the NER remain least perceived, largely ignored, and hopelessly denied.

Disparaging the Race Debate

Indians have always tended to equate or confuse racism with casteism and communalism. They also perceived racism as something that happened outside India, to Indians, owing to skin colour, which is a very western concept. Racism as it exists across the world is indeed based more on skin tone. At least this is what is more noticeably debated or disseminated by the media and scholars alike. In this kind of a social construct, racism within India against the minority ethnic group from the NER tends to escape the Indian mainland peoples’ imagination. McDuie-Ra (2015) yet again highlights the aftermath of the 2012 debacle, wherein there was mass exodus of the NE migrants back to their home states. The gripping fear for their lives was juxtaposed with Mary Kom’s crowning glory in the Olympics. He cites how during a talk show, Sagarika Ghose expounds upon the barren point to discuss racism when it does not exist, by showcasing the success stories of Mary Kom, the boxer from Manipur; and Bhaichung Bhutia, the footballer from Sikkim. Both are of international repute, and hail from the NER. She cites their successes to deny the racism debate. She almost condescendingly opines that the feeling of victimhood is to be discarded, and the NE people should take charge of their lives. Such patronising attitudes have been the general trend towards discussions on racism against the NE people.

The ‘Chinky’ Non-Indian

Racism may be perceived by other communities in India in the form of casteism or communalism. Many individuals and scholars alike argue that these are more deep-seated discriminatory practices unlike a few odd cases of attacks on the Northeast people. It is stated that discrimination exists based upon region and languages as well. However, McDuie-Ra (2012) rightly points out that the case of the Northeast people is rather unique as the Northeastern people are often questioned about their sense of nationhood, attributing to their ‘un-Indian’ looks. The Mongoloid or ‘chinky’ appearance comes first before everything else about them. At least one is made to feel so in many ways, covert as well as overt. Furthermore, there is the connotation of a connection to China, a connotation that protestors used to punctuate their outrage in 2014.

Ngaihte (2014) poignantly argues that people of the NER by virtue of belonging to a different racial stock that stands out, coupled with languages that comes nowhere close to what is spoken in the mainstream, have to work very hard to make the mainlanders accept them as total native Indians. He adds that the stark cultural differences, and the ‘difficult-sounding’ names of the people and the places, add to the complex dilemma. He also points out that casteism is a completely different argument because the nationality question does not arise there. NE India shares more than 90 percent of its borders with other countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, and Nepal. McDuie-Ra (2015) clarifies that the NE indigenous population comprises mostly of the Mon-Khmer and Tibeto-Burman lineage classified as ‘Scheduled Tribes’, many of whom are Christians. There are other groups not classified as tribes, but sharing ethnic lineage with groups in East and Southeast Asia (principally the Tai-Ahom of Assam and Meiteis of Manipur). There are migrant communities from other parts of India and the surrounding countries too.

McDuie-Ra (2015) argues his case further through the voice of Mary Kom, the boxing champion from Manipur. During the 2012 Olympics, she had highlighted how people from other nations of the Orient found it difficult to accept her as representing India. Likewise, she reiterates the racial slurs used within our country such as ‘chinky’, ‘ching-chong’, etc. However, many of these similar escapades that could happen to any Northeasterner are more in the past. Things have evolved. Name calling and mocking has relatively declined to a large extent. Majority of the Indians know where is Manipur, and the various other states that comprise the NER.

However, the lackadaisical attitude of the media and the failure of the political system to accord due significance and attention to the violence must be recognised and emphasized. It reflects a racist apathetic attitude as a strong political will seems to be missing in making all-out efforts to subdue it and restore normalcy. It is indeed another manifestation of racism. Manipur is too far away from the imagination as a part of the Indian nation; and hence it does not belong to prime-time discussion. Thus, it is a sheer contrast that the place from where a celebrated and adored person is hailed as a pride of the nation at one point of time, can be easily forgotten. It therefore appears that the political turmoil in the NE is the problem of the NE, to deal with, and to live with. This fuels the alleged “anti-India” feeling which is hurled against the NE people owing to the various insurgency factions and ethnic ‘wars’ that continue to thrive in the region.

Owing Allegiance to India

The media and the Indian Government alike deployed Mary and her iconic success as the strongest ammunition to quell any feelings of fear amongst the NE people. She was represented as expressing that she would have no qualms to relocate to Bangalore, the city from where the 2012 NE peoples’ exodus began due to racist attacks. Projecting her as the figure that should soothe the frightened nerves appeared more to be a ploy to get the economy in order as several business houses suddenly did not have workers, many of whom hailed from the NER. The ‘idea of India’ was played out so that any sense of sub-nationalism or separatist notions could be countered. Given that the Indian national polity looks at the NER as thoroughly disturbed and insurgencies fuelling and nurturing a sense of Independence from the Indian nation, the moment was seized as one most opportune to crush any anti-India sentiment or any sense of anti-nationalism. Yet again the issue of racism was lost in this din. The misplaced sense of belongingness or rather the questionable sense of it, where one was forced to flee back home to escape the impending wrath of the majority in one’s own country of birth and residence certainly go against all provisions of the Constitution.

More intensive debates on racism, critical thinking, sociological research, and extensive societal interactions over time will serve to severe racist feelings. The Indian state has to take several steps in terms of developing an open view towards the prevalence of racism. Thounaojam (2012) says that the perception about people from the NER as sportspersons, and as entertainers, must change. He advocates social networking sites, blogs, and other such networks where multiple issues ranging from politics, economics, sports, society, and culture can be discussed. Today in the context of a highly networked world where everyone can discuss and share their ideas easily, things have begun to certainly improve. Yet, the lurking fear of a racialized society and its imminent outbreak remain as racial formations are systemic, and are charged by sociological, political, and ideological formations.

Theorising Denial of Racism

Racism as a concept draws from the western enlightenment era of the 17^th and 18^th centuries, wherein the concept was introduced to help classify diverse populations into hierarchies, based upon biological and socio-cultural traits. Although these hierarchies have been contested and disputed, yet these notions and attitudes have remained rooted in society (Kumar, 2025). Nelson (2013) notes that the major problem with racism is denial of its prevalence. This assumes huge relevance in this discussion. He had conducted qualitative research in New South Wales and in South Australia. He discusses how the participants employed four kinds of denial. They are: a) temporal deflections; b) spatial deflections; c) deflections from the mainstream; and d) absence discourses. ‘Place-defending’ by natives, government attempts and preferences to project harmony rather than take up anti-racism initiatives, and ensure there is public denial rather than public acknowledgement are the usual denial stances adopted. Denial thus occurs at an individual level, at the institutional, as well as political spheres. Any form of public acknowledgement will enhance the scope of anti-racism. Thus, modern racism thrives on denial. To bring racism in India in public discourses will therefore necessitate tracking denial discourses, and examining how and why they are used. To compare with caste-based discrimination, one’s descent is the root of both kinds of discrimination, but prevalence of casteism in India is widely acknowledged whereas racism is not. Moreover, casteism doesn’t question nationality while racism does.

Basic denial starts with individual day-to-day conversations and personal deflections. Racist practices are defended through statements such as “I didn’t say that at all”; “I didn’t do that on purpose”, “I didn’t mean that”, etc. (Van Djik, 1992, p. 92, as quoted in Nelson, 2013). Providing justifications, excuses, and victim blaming are resorted to. The extent of racism is always downplayed and one’s views are presented as rational and balanced. Nelson (2013) further states that the denial of racism is a strong social psychological phenomenon. Such denial permeates into institutions and the system too. It thus serves to negate any need for discussion or debates and hence the existing public opinion and hierarchy remain unchallenged. Denial and mitigation thus remain the weapon of elite racism.

Nelson (2013) also cites Kobayashi’s analysis of dividing the public into broadly three groups; namely, “those who expressed outright denial; those who saw a small minority of individuals as responsible for racism; and those who acknowledged racism was a significant issue needing attention” (p. 92). Denial of everyday acts of racism also reduces the scope of anti-racism. If racism is presented as harboured only by a select section of people belonging to a community, where very often it is attributed to those belonging to the lower socio-economic strata, it perpetuates a “myth of tolerance” (Essed, 1991, p. 92, as quoted in Nelson 2013). Another denial tactic is that of the claim of high levels of racism in other nations and not in one’s own. The most superimposing discourse however is that of denial; the complete absence of racism.

Temporal deflection is adopted where the denial takes form by stating that minorities today experience less racism than in the past. Spatial deflection occurs where it is stated that racism is worse in other countries, or other places. A more localised deflection is where people pretend that racism is not a problem ‘around here’. There is also deflection from the mainstream, where it is conveyed that racism is not an overwhelming problem, but prevails amongst just a small cohort of individuals. Then there is the defiant absence discourse, where there is complete denial of racism. Racism scholars and those facing it allege that there is underreporting due to lack of vigilance and certain inherent biases. Systemic or strategic racism is not acknowledged usually in several circles. Racism is sought to be minimised by using a range of such deflection strategies by employing one or a mix of them (Nelson, 2013).

Oftentimes, racism discourses are relegated to the margins to prove that the dominant groups are not prejudiced. People at the top prefer to look at racism as an individual phenomenon rather than an institutional one. However sociological approaches highlight the importance of acknowledging that racism can be structural and systemic. Anti-racism must entail various initiatives which will range from celebratory to preventative, to educative, as well as regulatory anti-racism. Acknowledgement of racism by leaders at every level, from community and local governance leaders right up to national political parties, is vital to mark a beginning towards anti-racist approaches. Writing off racism as a mere ideological problem and not trying to theorise it or contextually conceptualise it within the Indian setting could silently exacerbate the situation and prove suddenly explosive.

In India, the racialisation of the NE people in the mainland brings to the fore the power relationships between the dominant mainland and the marginalized NE. Bereft of adequate opportunities in all sectors in an increasingly capitalized and globalized world, the NE people with emergent middle-class aspirations, seek to overcome challenges and join the forces of economic liberalization. With a disturbed history of incessant counter-insurgency operations and unsettled socio-political uprisings in the region, the NE people increasingly migrate to the rather more peaceful and promising mainland. This places them at risk of racialization (Kumar, 2025).   

Tackling Racism at Ground-Zero

The NE has all along felt excluded territorially, culturally, and racially. Benedict (1945, cited in Bonilla-Silva, 1997) first defined racism as a dogmatic belief held by people that one ethnic group is congenitally inferior to another. Meanwhile, Schaefer (1990, as cited in Bonilla-Silva, 1997) simplistically and concisely put it as a doctrine of racial supremacy. Such a false perception has confined the race discourse to social psychology. The social sciences consider racism as a set of ideas or beliefs that potentially leads to prejudice and negative opinions about an entire group of people, who are always the marginalised and the minority. The dominant majority continue to reinstate their hierarchical social positioning through practices that are exploitative and controlling; and pin down a group of people categorized in racial and ethnic terms. Thus, understanding racially stratified societies is a very complex phenomenon. Kumar (2025) highlights the increasing need and trend to understand racism as an ideology, and the intricate process of racialisation. He further elaborates upon how racism operationalises itself at three interactional or intersectional levels. Ideological underpinnings work towards creating a hierarchy of ‘us’ and ‘them’, the latter being the inferior lot; which then gets manifested in practice via discriminatory attitudes and other oppressive tactics; and this gets operationalised in various formats such as incitement, rebuke, provocation, and other systemic injustices. He places in suitable perspectives how these three levels intersect in the racialisation of the NE people.

Omi and Winant (1994, as quoted in Bonilla-Silva) discuss the racial formation perspective as “the socio-historical process by which racial categories are created, inhabited, transformed, and destroyed” (p. 55). They opine that such perspectives shape the identity of individuals at the micro level and all spheres of social life at the macro level and hence influence social relationships. Bonilla-Silva however argues that such an ideological based perspective misses out on the social and general character of racialized societies. Racism and racist ideology are the manifestations of a larger racialised society and its social system. Pretending that it is merely an ideological issue undermines the truth that there are other forces in society that create and nurture racism. The mapping of racism usually uses constructs that fail to go to the depths of social systems and social structures, and hence falsely assume that it is on a decline. Thus, attributing racism only to the individual level construes it as a mere psychological phenomenon and delegitimizes its scope as a systemic problem. Furthermore, there is a perception that racist ideology prevails only amongst the working class.  

In critical race theories, scholars also challenge the hierarchy of race as biologically ordained. They attribute the origin to state power and society that accords meanings based upon one’s physical appearances, or even geographic origins. Thus, race embeds hierarchies into distinct populations and ascribes meanings further cemented by society. Society and history therefore interact together to define and confine race to hierarchies. These theories also talk about racialisation created by the colonizers, which went on to create hierarchies that were deeply dehumanizing (Kumar, 2025).

Neo-Racism and Racial Formation in India

Saldanha (2011) notes that if race as a concept is argued by some as irrelevant, why do feelings of being racialized still prevail? Why do institutions exhibit characteristics of racism? Or for that matter, in economic distribution? She therefore points out that the biological dimension of race cannot be yet overwritten by other dimensions such as social, political, or ideological. Many educators and policy makers, she notes are espousing the belief that racism is redundant to the extent it was during colonial imperialism and the practice of eugenics. Socio-economic inequalities that abound across racial phenotypes are often overlooked and presumed as inconsequential. Such avoidance strategies, would further deepen the inequalities. Although migrants from the NER in India have in many ways learnt to assimilate with the food habits and culture of the mainlanders by learning Hindi, wearing the Salwar Kameez, or the Sari, they still stand out due to their biological markers. The cosmopolitanism of the NE people owing to their English language skills and their sense of style and taste in music however continue to add on to their distinct markers. They are still confined to certain stereotyped occupations and are also perceived to be suitable thus by the superordinate race. Thus, there is a creeping in of racial division of labour in a racist society. Saldanha’s additional observation about the uneven distribution of transport and communication as a manifestation of racialisation holds much merit. The NER is severely deprived on such accounts with difficult geographical terrain being the pretext for such deprivation. Motorable roads are scarce in many hinterlands of the NER. The airfare wars that prevail for flights across various megacities in India are irrelevant to the NE as shuttling between one location to another within the NER, of much shorter airtime and space costs tremendously much more than shuttling between these megacities. Hence, all these point towards an element of racialised ethnic marginalisation and classism.

Kumar (2025) notes that in the 20^th century, racialisation and racism took a different turn. Owing to increased globalisation and migration, a new form of racism took shape where cultural differences were targeted. Ethnic minorities and immigrants bore the main brunt as their marginalised cultures stood apart from the dominant cultures. This form of racism further marginalizes the minority ethnic groups. Such an understanding places in perspective the racialisation of the NE people whose cultures and ethnicities remain contrasted to the mainstream. This continues to shape their exclusions from the dominant socio-cultural and political processes. Colonial race studies that perpetuated a stereotype of Aryan supremacy and ethno-nationalist uprisings also further complicated the race equations. Moreover, the NE was perceived by the colonisers as inhabited by primitive, savage barbaric tribes, which was culturally in contrast to the rest of India. The geographical proximity as well as the racial similarities to China and Southeast Asia furthers the anxieties. Rai (2022) as cited in Kumar (2025) talks about how increasing migration and the evolving market dynamics have added thrust to the racialisation process. The cultural contrast that mainstream society puts them into owing to migration, is mired with diverse caste, religion, and ideological practices. The NE culture is hence viewed as deviant or as aberrant and this adds to their racialisation. Kumar (2025) further adds that race analysis in India remains too little. Racism in India has a unique positioning as it is targeted against migrants from NE India which present a very contemporary internal problem in India.

Need for a Scholastic Approach to Racism

Bonilla-Silva (1997) therefore argues that until a strong theoretical framework is established, racism studies will continue to be caught up in unstructured ideological underpinnings. She adds that a racialized society grows in such a way that it gives birth to entrenched vertical hierarchies of subordination and superordination among the races. Education as a curative measure to rid society of racism is a Marxist viewpoint which is founded on the belief that racism is purely based upon one’s beliefs. It undermines how social systems help embed racism in society. Thus, without undoing racism from the roots itself either through a revolution or through social participation, racism will continue to transform and evolve based upon the society in which it operates. 

Racial or ethnic perceptions about any group may tend to go away gradually as the perceived subordinate group starts acquiring those qualities that the superordinate group values or exhibits. However, this is not a given, especially since racialisation also has biological markers associated with it. The case of the NE people is unique in the Indian setting as the phenotype is completely different from those of mainland India. The Inner Line Regulation further worked towards keeping the NER in isolation and near oblivion. It remained outside various political reforms as well right through the pre and post-colonial periods. The Sixth schedule of the Indian Constitution, which provides for treating the hills differently, to help preserve indigeneity, has also worked backwards to promote racist attitudes. However, the tribes of the NER have ethnic and racial affinities that bind them very closely. Marred by militancy, instability, and violent ethnic conflicts, the NE is mostly volatile and this has fuelled a relatively partisan attitude towards the political and administrative control of the region. Post-independence too, the colonial legacy was continued by the Indian state and various political measures were taken by the Indian state to control the region protracted as security measures. These unequal attitudes of the Indian Government have also fuelled the angst amongst various ethnic groups, thus propelling them to fight for greater autonomy or even total secession (Kumar, 2025). Prioritizing political stability more than economic development in the region is a reflection of the Indian state’s fear of instability and security in the region (Baruah, 2005; Paliwal, 2024, as cited in Kumar, 2025).

Bonilla-Silva and Lewis (1997, as cited in Bonilla-Silva, 1997) make a very pertinent observation that racial practices and racialisation today are more covert in nature and enmeshed with the normal institutional operations, refrain from racist terminologies, and are mostly unnoticed by the majoritarian superordinate race. Thus, theorizing race would require comparative research studies on racialization in various societies and examine the prevalence of a racial structure that reinvigorates racial inequality at different levels.

Dispelling the Falsities Around North East Folks

The stereotyping of the NE people and more so, their women, can be due to a genuine lack of information about the NE people and distorted views about their social, cultural, and moral practices and values that contribute to such stereotyping. The NE people have also been assumed to be of lesser intelligence where beliefs about Mongolian idiocy prevailed. Children with Down syndrome, who usually suffer from mental deficiency, were also referred to as Mongolism, up till the 1970s, until a team of geneticists proposed that such a labelling be dropped as it carries misleading racial connotations.

People from the NER are perceived as extremely athletic, easy-going, and happy with their music. For instance, anyone familiar with the residential areas around the North campus of Delhi University, where several students from the NE reside, would get such a feeling. Moreover, the hot climate and the hustle and bustle in the metropolises are not preferred by the NE people who are from the cool and silent hills. Hence a certain amount of preference is justifiable for the cool working environment in the hospitality and personal care industry. However, it must be highlighted that not everyone from the NE is working in such air-conditioned confines. There are also several others working in run-down restaurants, or gig jobs, where neither the ambience, nor the remuneration is lucrative. Furthermore, as migration of the NE people had been increasing steadily for several decades into the mainland, education and upward social mobility has also contributed to a changing job profile amongst the NE community. Several of them are now absorbed in white collar well-paid jobs both in the government, non-government, and private sectors as well. Niumai and Rajesh (2014) also highlight that besides the majority of the Northeasterners belonging to the student community, several of them are engaged in the government sector including defence and educational, medical and scientific institutions, both private as well as public.

Adopting a humanist approach that all human beings are equal, does not serve much purpose when racism is systemic (Saldanha, 2011). Moreover, the changing geopolitical landscape converges upon various existing systems to give rise to new and overt racist practices, where the nuances may easily be missed. She cites capitalism and patriarchy as major factors that serve to patronise racism. Haokip (2012) notably tries to put to rest several pertinent prejudices and misconceptions about the NER. The false general opinion that the region is almost completely tribal and that it is completely hilly are countered. As per the 2011 Census, the percentage of tribal population in Arunachal Pradesh is 68.79%, Assam 12.45%, Manipur 35.14%, Meghalaya 86.15%, Mizoram 94.44%, Nagaland 86.46%, Sikkim 33.72%, Tripura 31.76%. Moreover, the Brahmaputra and Cachar valley in Assam, and the Imphal valley in Manipur, and Agartala in Tripura are vast expanses of land mass. He also highlights that painting the entire NER as troubled is misleading as only Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland are relatively troubled owing to ethnic strife. The other states in the region are rather at peace.

Haokip (2012) also cites Hussain (2004) that clubbing all the 8 distinct states with a range of sub-tribes and sub-ethnicities amongst them as plainly the ‘Northeast’ is a myopic approach and quashes their individual identities and unique set of problems pertaining to their geo-spatial locations and their political aspirations. Sharma (2004, cited in Haokip, 2012) talks about how at no point in history has the NE ever been a combined political unit on any account. It is to be noted that the mainland Indian states were re-organised along linguistic lines based upon the recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission constituted in 1953. The NER was reorganised on ethnic lines, which remains to this day a very complex process.  The different historical evolution of each state is emphasized. The NE is almost like an internal colony of the mainland where there is a practice of racialized labour in the context of increased capitalism. As industrialisation and economic development is focussed in the mainland which forms the core, the periphery, i.e., the NE are left to seek employment in the core. Thus, economic development is also racialized.  

Northeast India: A Forgotten Borderland

The positioning of the entire NER can be likened to a mere frontier at the eastern borderlands and its gradual political and geographical colonisation into the Indian territory without much understanding about its unique layout and topography. The fact that it is inhabited by a variety of ethnicities that are starkly different from the mainland is conveniently cast aside for political mileage as can be seen from the “Act East Policy”, which itself is questionable as the gains are mostly going to be appropriated by the mainlanders. The NER is going to get a trickle-down effect, at best. Baruah (1999, as cited in Dey. 2020) states that the British had classified the entire NER as “excluded and partially excluded areas”, where except for Christian missionaries, the northeastern indigenous people were kept completely aloof from other communities. Dey thus advocates that counter-resistance by the north-easterners to such ethno-politics and racism in the form of a barrage of counter questions, research, curriculum reforms, seminars and workshops, cultural exchange programmes will certainly help reduce racist practices. He however also adds that in the chaos of trying to get deracialized and mainstreamed, the uniqueness of the indigeneity of the people from the NER must not get all mashed up but rather be allowed to thrive though multiple collaborative projects. McDuie-Ra (2017, as cited in Kumar, 2025) elaborates how the NE people are trying to tackle the mainstream opinion of NE culture as deviant by spreading it through their vast diaspora across the nation. Moreover, NE festivals lined with special performances fill the campus lives of educational institutions to popularise and demystify the NE. It has thus helped in according some recognition and dispelling wrong notions about NE India.

McDuie-Ra (2012) acknowledges the discrimination that takes place in India based upon religion, caste, and ethnicity too. However, he is precise in his observation that such discriminations do not involve questioning their nationalities, as they can easily blend in. He notes how physical features denoting Tai, Tibeto-Burman, and Mon-Khmer lineages distinguish the NE people from the mainlanders. An important aspect McDuie-Ra notes is that majority of the NE people are very keen to acknowledge their difference from the mainstream and how race binds them all amongst the NE. Despite ethnic strife that troubles the various groups and sub-groups in the NER after coming to the mainland, they embrace their racial commonalities and strive towards solidarity amongst themselves. It can also be noted that people from the other side of the NE frontier that outline the bordering nations such as Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and even China have often been at the receiving end of derogatory name-calling. He cites Jahoda (1999) to drive home the point about how race has historically been used to categorise people and use these markers to oppress them.

Northeast migrants are often seen through the same racialised lens owing to their distinctive appearances. These biological markers act as a strong point of separation from the Indian milieu, where owing to these distinct differences in appearances, the feeling of being different remains unshakeable. McDuie-Ra (2012) further quotes one participant from his field study who said thus, “It is like they have spotted a rare animal in the national park” (p. 90). Whether it was their sense of style, or about their accent, or just about nothing, their distinct appearances foreshadowed everything else and would be subjected to intense stares, mocking, mimicry, and even hostility. He also notes four specific stereotypes that are attributed to the NE people, namely, “backward and exotic, anti-national, anti-assimilationist, and loose and immoral” (p. 91).

Racial Profiling

Another very significant aspect is profiling, based upon race. Dey (2020) narrates how during COVID, there were racialized attacks on people from the NER. A lady from Mizoram was attacked assuming her to be a potential virus carrier owing to her appearance and there were misconceptions about it being a Chinese virus. Another woman from Manipur was spat upon in New Delhi. He thus argues how COVID-19 helped unleash a potent and looming racist mindset upon natives of India who hail from the NE. Bodies were perceived in a hierarchical manner and were racialised and politicised. The “ideal Indian face”, Dey (2020) rues, still does not include the Mongoloid phenotype. Though some amount of information has gradually seeped in about the distinct racial appearances of the people from the NER, the acceptance of such a distinct phenotype as a part of the Indian imagination is still in a state of flux. Dey also reiterates that the physical and racial stigmatisation of the NE people has deeper and larger connotations of body-politics. The NE people are marked, profiled, and racialised and their negotiation powers against the majoritarian group is always at a disadvantage. Thus a kind of xenophobia prevails.

The post-pandemic dip in the economy largely also contributed to targeting the NE person as the “other”. This othering is attributed to the intersection of caste, race, gender, and geography. The regional and cultural kaleidoscope that is NE India, can be seen starkly from the physical features, food habits, language, and the range of traditional wear. Such distinct markers continue to fuel the feeling of “otherness”, on both sides. This othering by the dominant mainstream class also stems from caste perceptions, where the NE Indians are accorded a lower “polluted” status, being perceived as culturally, religiously, and socially lower, thus reflecting a deeply hierarchical society (Niumai & Rajesh, 2024). They however also add that racism in India has to be uniquely addressed as it has its roots in ethnicity rather than skin colour. Moreover, prejudice is another factor coupled with ignorance that worsen the situation.

Thus, racial discrimination takes different forms. It can range from verbal abuse, physical abuse, and psychological abuse. Specific phenotypes are disowned based upon cultural, social, and linguistic factors. Food habits also play a role in racist stigmatisation. Such racial stigmatisation has been an outcome of social and historical forces. No amount of denial that racism does not exist in India against a specific phenotype would hold merit, especially in the context of the blatant racist attacks during COVID- 19. The NE people have been facing a slew of physical, psychological, linguistic, sexual, verbal, and workplace racism. Those opposed to the need for racism debate would argue that these maybe stray incidences and cannot be attributed to racism. But the truth remains that although not every single NE individual may have faced the brunt of racism, the vulnerability remains since societal perceptions continue to demarcate cultural and ethnic hierarchies.

Dey (2020) also goes on to describe how the NE women as looked at as sites of pleasure. Their bodies are objectified and their appearances are lapped up for male sexual desire. Thus, the NE woman is perceived through the lens of exotica and erotica. Within this frame of reference, work place harassment finds a unique place. The women of the NER are treasured and desired to be employed in the profitable hospitality industry as well as personal care and grooming sector. This exemplifies how gender also intersects with the vulnerabilities of physical appearance, language, and culture, which worsens the vulnerability. However, pay anomalies, work pressure, freedom of decision-making, responsibilities, promotion policies etc. are so routinised that it escapes the purview of racism. Call centres serve as another work setting where there have been unofficial reports of blatant prejudices. The mastery over English language of the NE person is preferred but there is no inclination to pay salaries on time or to provide timely raise. There has also been reports of unintimated termination. Writing off these various acts of discrimination as mere aberrations, or unintentional and insignificant can pose serious threats in the long run, when such seemingly invisible racialized practices get more systematized. Racism was never admitted as present in Indian society, as it is being practised against another set of Indians. However, in the interim, the configuration of racist practices has changed.

NE India mostly hits the headlines for the wrong reasons. Raging violence, and reportedly anti-national activities dominate the media representation of the NER. The various armed groups rebelling against Indian policy-making and placing certain other demands are categorised as terrorists or insurgents. This adversely affects the public perception of the entire landscape of the NE and its people. Any reports of attacks on the armed forces in the NER would make the NE migrants feel unnerved. Gaining entry to public places where visitors’ fees are often differentiated based upon citizenship also was a challenge as they had to prove their Indianness. Competition for limited jobs with the mainlanders placed them at vulnerable positions as well. This battle for recognition does not end with the struggle in the mainland. Ethno-nationalism abounds in the NE. This increased strife amongst inter-ethnic groups can further the antagonism against the Indian nation-state.  

Conclusions

Systemic ills and practices are the birthplace of further societal ills, racism being one of them. The intersection of the social, political, territorial, cultural, and biological characteristics of the NER and its people have served to further create a pretext to legitimize racist formations. Thus, socio-historical processes also play a strong role in the creation, nurturance, or destruction of racial categories in any society. Underdevelopment and its troubled frontiers add strength to a kind of neo-capitalism where those who out-migrate in search of employment are near colonised through practices of capitalistic racism in terms of employment patterns. The stereotyping of the people as happy-go-lucky and the portrayal of the entire NER as trouble-torn must stop. There is a pattern of systemic racism that is more covert in nature and hence difficult to identify or exemplify. This is even more dangerous. Denial or avoidance of its prevalence can be challenged. This was evident during COVID-19, when racial profiling was employed to target people from the NER. It is therefore essential to accord due merit to studies on racism in India. Meaningful and enriching scholastic pursuits will serve as a key to reforms in undoing racial formations and thwart the deepening of a racialized society. The media can also play a key role in presenting stories that are not lop-sided or poorly researched. However, deracialisation must not be at the cost of losing the uniqueness and indigeneity of the people of the NER. Attempts at acculturation and assimilation also would perhaps be futile as the phenotype is completely different. The nation must avoid striving towards that “one ideal Indian face” as such an archetype will destroy the diversity and richness of India that we so celebrate.

References

Bonilla-Silva, E. (1997). Rethinking Racism: Toward a Structural Interpretation. American Sociological Review, 62(3), 465–480. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657316

Dey, S. (2020). The Dis-Ease of Body-Politics: “Coronavirus” as a Racial Pandemic in Contemporary India. International Journal of Critical Diversity Studies, 3(1), 69–78. https://doi.org/10.13169/intecritdivestud.3.1.0069

Downing, J., & Husband, C. (2005). Representing ‘race’: Racisms, ethnicities and media. SAGE Publications Ltd, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446220412

GoI. (n.d.). North East Division. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved on October 14, 2024 from https://www.mha.gov.in/en/commoncontent/north-east-division

Haokip, T. (2012). Is There a Pan-North-East Identity and Solidarity? Economic and Political Weekly, 47(36), 84–85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41720116

Haokip, T. (2021). From ‘Chinky’to ‘Coronavirus’: racism against Northeast Indians during the Covid-19 pandemic. Asian Ethnicity, 22(2), 353-373.

Kumar, D. (2025). Racialization of Northeastern People in Indian Metropolitan Cities: Difference, Racism, and Identity. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 0(0), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096251326037

Malavika, P. M. (June 4, 2021).  Include history, personalities of northeast in NCERT textbooks: Student unions. Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/include-history-personalities-of-northeast-in-ncert-textbooks-student-unions-101622801716630.html

McDuie-Ra, D. (2012). Northeast Migrants in Delhi: Race, Refuge and Retail. Amsterdam University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46mv07

McDuie-Ra, D. (2015). ‘Is India Racist?’: Murder, Migration and Mary Kom. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 38(2), 304–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2014.992508

Nelson, J. K. (2013). Denial of racism and its implications for local action. Discourse & Society, 24(1), 89-109. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926512463635

Ngaihte, T. (2014). Nido Taniam and the Fraught Question of Racism in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 49(11), 15–17. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24479291

Niumai, A., & Rajesh, M. N. (2024). Racism, Stereotyping and Exclusion: Experiences of Northeast Indians in Hyderabad. Journal of Social and Economic Development, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40847-024-00390-0

Partha.  (May 07, 2024). The Erasure of North East India’s History from NCERT Syllabus: A Glaring Omission. Prathaindic.in. https://prathaindic.in/the-erasure-of-north-east-indias-history-from-ncert-syllabus-a-glaring-omission/

Saldanha, A. (2011). The concept of race. Geography, 96(1), 27–33. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41320323

Tellis, A. (2012, June 07). Racism is in your face, not under your skin. The Hindu. Retrieved on October 14, 2024, from https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/racism-is-in-your-face-not-under-your-skin/article3497933.ece

Thounaojam, S. (2012). A Preface to Racial Discourse in India: North-east and Mainland. Economic and Political Weekly, 47(32), 10–13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23251789 Yamada, A. M., & Marsella, A. J. (2013). The Study of Culture and Psychopathology: Fundamental Concepts and Historic Forces. In F. A. Paniagua & A.-M. Yamada (Eds.), Handbook of Multicultural Mental Health: Assessment and Treatment of Diverse Populations: Second Edition (pp. 3–23). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-394