Arunachal student's death: Treat us like Indians, MP tells Delhi

The ugly narrative of racial discrimination against people from North East India took a fatal turn in Delhi on Thursday when a young student from Arunachal Pradesh, Nido Taniam, was allegedly beaten to death by a mob of seven to eight people. The incident took place on Wednesday at Lajpat Nagar in Southeast Delhi. According to reports, Taniam had some altercation with a shopkeeper which resulted in violence. [caption id=“attachment_1368843” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nido Taniam.[/caption] Taniam is the son of Arunachal Pradesh Nido Pavitra, parliamentary secretary for health and family welfare, food and civil supplies. Taking strong exception to this incident, Arunachal Pradesh MP Takam Sanjoy told Firstpost from Itanagar, “Taniam was a very cool, nice and calm guy. There was an altercation but it soon turned racial. This is a completely racial attack on the student because of his Mongoloid features. This is a serious phenomenon in mainstream India.” Expressing anger over the incident, Sanjoy said, “How can a country accommodate so much intolerance because of how someone looks? This amounts to alienating people from your country. There are already so many problems in the North East already because of these differences. Why are these elements given room in the society?” The Congress MP from Arunachal West constituency in Arunachal Pradesh also questioned the refusal of the Delhi Police to register an FIR. “My colleague in Parliament, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Ninong Ering had to go the Lajpat Nagar police station regarding the FIR. The death of the student occurred a day after. There were not much external injuries but there have to be internal injuries as he was hit with rods and sticks. He passed away a day after he was brutally beaten up” Sanjoy said. Taniam stayed in the Green Park area of Delhi and it has been alleged that the Lajpat Nagar police station is trying to push the case to Green Park. “Why is either of the police stations having a problem in registering an FIR. This is murder and they will have to apply the same laws that they would have in case of anyone else. If the government, police and administration thinks that the Indian Constitution is for a section of India, we will have to go out like Arvind Kejriwal to the streets for our rights,” Sanjoy said.