'Five yrs in jail for calling people 'chinki'? Not enough!'

by Adrija Bose and Avadhoot Khanolkar

Reacting to recent instances of discrimination against students from the North East, the government has made it illegal to call anyone ‘chinki’ .  Under the new proposal, people using the term can be booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and can face up to five years in jail.

But was this needed and is it adequate? Firstpost decided to get some opinions, from those who have been at the receiving end of the term.

“The law is absolutely fair. They look at us with cheapness when they call us ‘chinki’. It’s a third grade word. Why do  people call us that?” says Raznee Rai from Sikkim, a 23-year-old law student.

According to Rai, a five year imprisonment term isn’t enough.

“People who call us ‘chinki’ should be jailed for 10 years,” she said.

Medical student, Tashi Bhutia from Nagaland,  seconds her, “We are looked at like we are aliens or something. I think it’s absolutely necessary for people to know we are not. We are not ‘chinkis’.”

But not all from the North East think the law is fair or essential.

Kaustav Ghayas, a professional working in Kolkata says, “Why should there be a law? We call each other ‘chinki’!”

“You can call a person Bihari, is that a racial slur? Then why a ban on the word ‘chinki’? I think it’s pointless,” Ghayas said.

See more reactions in the video above.

What the government says:

The Ministry of Home Affairs has directed all the states and Union Territories to book anyone found guilty of atrocity against people from the region.

Under the amendment, police are empowered to arrest the offender without any warrant and launch an investigation. However, if police fail to act on a complaint, the officer or in-charge could be imprisoned for not less than six months, which may even extend to a year.

And it’s not just the victim who can complain, the MHA letter says that anyone, who knows that such a comment has been passed can lodge a complaint. The law states that the accused can end up spending five years in jail and he could be denied anticipatory bail as well.