Terming the recent attacks on people from the northeast as unfortunate, Congress Member of Parliament from Arunachal Pradesh Ninong Ering said on Friday that there was a need for people to change their mindsets.
Crimes against people of northeastern origin, especially students, have been making the news in recent times.
Two youths from Nagaland were beaten up and assaulted by a gang of seven in the Sikanderpur area of Gurgaon on Thursday.
Earlier this week, a 26-year-old engineering student from Manipur was roughed up in Bangalore by a group of men who reportedly abused and then attacked him for not speaking Kannada.
A young woman from Manipur was also reportedly been found dead in her flat in South Delhi's Munirka area. Ering said such incidents send a very wrong message to people from Northeast states.
"The incidents that have happened in the last few days send a wrong message to the people of the northeast. People from northeast come here with great enthusiasm, they come here to join the mainstream. People have to change their mindsets," Ering told ANI.
"Even the people from South India come here, they are 'dravidians' and have distinct facial features. Why is everyone from the south called 'madrasi' and people from the northeast are called 'chinki', Chinese or 'Nepali'?" he added.
Ering also pointed out that the fundamental problem is that people lack awareness. "We are interested in uniting India in a more dynamic and vibrant way, whereas here, there are clashes for being from different region of the nation," he lamented.
Congress Party spokesperson Shobha Oza termed the incidents as 'unfortunate'. "This is very unfortunate that the students of northeast are being beaten up, the government should give protection to these people," Oza said.
Oza also urged the government to take the matter very seriously.
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