Understanding the condition of students from minority communities in Delhi University

Abstract

It has oft been noted that students stemming from minority communities such as from the North East, South India, and Tibetan refugees coming from Leh or Dharamshala, find themselves isolated and alienated from locals coming from larger cities of North India. They are most often found mingling in the same social circle, which consist of members with similar cultural practices, linguistic abilities and even physical appearance. The inability to find common ground in terms of culture leads to misjudgement and undesired hostilities translating into racial discrimination. This discrimination is not only a sociological phenomenon but also finds root in institutional structures such as the police and the media. Incidents like that of Nido Taniam, albeit of lesser intensity, are not uncommon in the by lanes of University of Delhi’s North Campus region, which is home to a huge population of students from the North-East. The students, themselves, are misunderstood as a homogenous group by students from other geographies despite the vast differences between the cultural, linguistic and racial groups which cohabit seven sister states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Derogatory terms such as ‘chinki’ used to concoct visual images to refer to a group have dire implications for the mental health of these students, apart from making them vulnerable to physical harassment – both sexual and otherwise.