Bangalore: Manipuri student attacked for not speaking in Kannada, 3 arrested

In a suspected hate crime in Bangalore a 26-year-old engineering student was beaten up by a group of men who reportedly abused and then attacked him for not speaking Kannada. All three accused, all cab drivers, were arrested, reported Times Now. T Michael Lamjathang Haokip, the student, said that he was approached by a group of people who told him that if he was living in Karnataka and eating Kannada food, then he needed to also speak in Kannada, but added that when he did not pay heed to their demands they pelted stones at him. He has sustained injuries on his head and back. [caption id=“attachment_1757975” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] CNN-IBN quoted Michael as saying, “They hit me with stones because I was speaking in the Thadou language. I got five stitches. I have filed a complain. This was a racist attack.” He said that the incident took place in the Kothanur area past midnight last night. According to CNN-IBN two others, Ngamkholen Haokip, 28, and Rocky Kipgen, 25, who were with Michael when he was attacked also sustained minor injuries. This is the latest in a series of racist incidents involving Indian citizens from the Northeast who are living, studying and working in metros. Bangalore already has a shameful record with respect to citizens from the north-east. In 2012, there was a mass exodus of North-eastern students from the city, after an SMS threatening them began being circulated. The incident prompted a debate in both houses of parliament, and both the ruling UPA and then opposition BJP vowed to ensure that no incident of the sort would be allowed to take place again. But the incidents only seem to be increasing in frequency. In July this year there were reports that a couple from the north-east was attacked by four men in Nathupur, Gurgaon. In May, a girl from Nagaland who was studying to be a law student in Delhi University was molested by another lawyer at a metro station. When she went to court to in connection with the case along with three friends, they had been beaten up by a gang of lawyers. The mob had threatened her not to pursue the case any further. In February this year, two Manipuri women were assaulted by men who hurled racist abuses at them in South Delhi’s Kotla Mubarak area. According to the police, the women, identified as Tharmila Jajo and Chonmila, were beaten up by a group of men, who were in their late 20s. Before that in January, the capital had seen protests over the death of 19-year-old Nido Taniam, son of Arunachal Pradesh Congress MLA and Parliamentary Secretary in Health and Family Welfare Department Nido Pavitra. Nido was attacked with iron rods by shopkeepers in South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar market after an altercation. The shopkeepers had allegedly mocked Nido’s hairstyle and he had in turn thrown a rock at the store, shattering the display window. With agency inputs