By H.Rals*

I am neither amazed nor amused by such episodes (as those happening in Pune these days); for I know that India is a racist nation. Why I am talking about it is not because you and your friends don’t know it. For every body alive in this world knows. Those who have gone from this world left knowing it. The only one who does not know is the one who is presently living in the peaceful world of the loving mother’s womb.

The only non-racist Indian I have so far known were Indira Gandhi and her son –Rajiv. They laid down their lives for being non-racist. I salute them. I will not be shocked if somebody tells me that the President is racist. I will not be wide-eyed at all if the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, the Minister for STs, SCs, Minorities and OBCs are said to be racist. Even I am a bit inclined to expect them to be of that rank.

Racism is the twin brother of the multi-millennia old system Indian caste division. It is the ‘Indian way of life’. It finds a prominent place in the market, in the institutions, in the private enterprises, even in the various Ministries and Departments of the Central and State governments. One should not expect any staff member, official or elected legislator from the northeast be allowed to make a name for himself by achieving something. They cannot and should never expect an important posting or responsibility. No, never! Just ask any officer from the north-east who has had some experience in the Central Secretariat. You can see it for yourself.

The media is all praises for Dr Manmohan Singh, the Hon’ble PM for striving hard in his studies to the extend of ‘studying using the streetlight’. The Hindustan Times, dated 13.08.2012 on page 2, heaped praises upon Sunil Kumar, the son of a dhobi from Chandigarh for breaking through engineering entrance exam emphasizing his ‘studying under streetlights’. I am deeply pained to read such unworthy news; it injured my heart beyond description.

Dr Singh has had the fat chance of reading under streetlights more than fifty years back. Sunil Kumar deserves praises, of course, for his sincerity and undaunted will. But he did got a fat chance to attend one of the best coaching institutes in the country. The fact is this: thousands of students from the northeast are yet to know what a streetlight is.

It will take generations to get a chance to attend one of the standard coaching classes. Yet, their will power and determination landed them in a position somehow similar to that of Sunil Kumar’s. Will the Hon’ble PM dare to tell the tribal students in remote, rural hamlets what a streetlight is?

Sadly, Saina Nehwal shows the colour of race when she said the silver medal won by Sushil Kumar is as good as gold. The true non-gold medal that actually was as good as gold is that of Mary Kom’s, not that of Mr. Kumar’s. You ask me why? Mary Kom fought the higher weight category pugilists and won a bronze while Mr. Kumar competes in his original weight category. The only reason why Mr. Kumar’s medal is as good as gold in the eyes of Saina is nothing than her racist-infected mindset. Sushil Kumar is not from the northeast.

Racism is alien to the Constitution of India. Equality, fraternity and so much more are guaranteed to every citizen. But that’s on the printed page and nowhere else. The reason for giving ‘equality and fraternity’ a prominent spot in the Constitution is not known. Could it be a bait to deceive the simple-minded north-easterners so that the ‘real’ Indians could colonize them without fighting/bloodshed? Could we find any north-easterner who hopes the materialization of he guaranteed provisions by the time India celebrates its centennial Independence Day?

Experiences accumulated during the last 65 years of freedom clearly show that the north-easterners are, by any standard, not free. This is a clear indication that the only option the north-easterners have by now is to approach, without drying its perennial tears, the peaceful bosom of the true loving mother who is strong and courageous enough to punch the racist stepmother down.

*The writer is a Central government official and the views expressed herein are his personal and does not reflect the organisation he works for.