The death of 24-year-old Anjel Chakma from Tripura, who became a victim of alleged racial violence in Uttarakhand, has intensified demands for justice and greater safety for northeasterners living outside the region.
Anjel, a sixth-semester MBA student at Uttaranchal University, was attacked on December 6 and succumbed to injuries on December 26 in a private Dehradun hospital. He was cremated on Sunday at Machmara in Unakoti district, Tripura.
According to his family, Anjel and his younger brother Michael were assaulted by a six-member group who taunted them with racial slurs like “chinky” and “Chinese”. Michael was first targeted after objecting to the slurs, and Anjel was brutally attacked when he tried to defend him. Anjel sustained severe head and spinal injuries.
His embalmed body was flown from Delhi to Agartala on Saturday. “We have no words to express our grief. The brothers had stepped out to buy groceries. We
demand justice and compensation,” said Anjel’s aunt Dipa Chakma.
Anjel’s father is a BSF personnel posted in Manipur. Michael, 20, is pursuing his BA from Jigyasa University in Dehradun. Five of the accused have been arrested, but the man who allegedly stabbed Anjel is still absconding.
Suhas Chakma, founder of the Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI), told The Telegraph that Uttarakhand Police delayed registering the FIR by three days. “This delay must be accounted for. The accused should be tried in a fast-track court,” he said. Suhas also urged the police to establish a helpline for northeastern citizens in Dehradun, like the special police unit for northeastern region (SPUNER) in Delhi.
CDFI wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on December 27, demanding trial in a fast-track court and the enactment of an anti-racial violence law, as recommended by the MHA’s MP Bezbaruah committee.
The Chakmas are a Scheduled Tribe in India, with populations in the Northeast, Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts and Myanmar’s Arakan region. They follow Buddhism and are said to be the only ethnic group in the region with Sanskrit linguistic origins.
Tipra Motha chief Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma said people must protest. “What happened to Anjel could happen to any of us. We cannot accept being
treated as second-class citizens,” he said.
Debbarma, whose party is part of Tripura’s BJP-led government, added: “People from the Northeast are still called ‘Chinese’, ‘momo’, and ‘chinky’. This neglect and lack of empathy must end.”
Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma also condemned the incident: “Racial violence must not be tolerated. Northeasterners are as Indian as every citizen of this country. The perpetrators must be punished.”
