Kohima: The Naga Students’ Union Phagwara (NSUP) has condemned the “derogatory remarks of racial slur and demarcation” made by a Punjab-based YouTuber against former Arunachal Pradesh MP and sitting Congress legislator Ninong Ering.
As EastMojo reported earlier, YouTuber Paras Singh, who goes by the name ‘Paras Official’ on his YouTube channel, had allegedly termed “Ering as a non-Indian and Arunachal Pradesh, a part of China,” in one of his videos posted on Sunday.
The Punjab-based Naga students’ body, through its president Imsanger Jamir and general secretary Rokozelie Tsürho, said that based on personal experiences of studying in Punjab, the local residents are “respectful, loving and tolerant towards others”.
“However, a few individuals such as the YouTuber bring shame and hatred to society. The root cause of racism could possibly lie on the education system. The education system focusing on the Northeastern states of India is very limited. Hence, more emphasis should be given,” the NSUP said.
NSUP also said that people from the region are often asked about their nationality if they are “Nepali” or “Chinese”. “This issue escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic when we faced discrimination. We are thrown racial slurs calling us Chinky, Momo, Corona, etc,” it said.
The Naga students’ body said that in one’s own nation, they feel alienated when treated like foreigners. “It is disheartening when they don’t know that the Northeastern states are an integral part of India,” it said.
Condemning the recent incident, it said that this is of “serious concern” not only for Arunachal Pradesh but for the entire Northeast. It urged every right-thinking individual to condemn such acts, saying that the “racist YouTuber” should be booked under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Further, it appealed the authorities concerned to look into the matter and “let it not slip by so that such acts are avoided in future” and that the people in the “diverse nation can live together in harmony”.
Also read: Arunachal cops want transit remand for YouTuber in racism row
Meanwhile, a case under u/s 124A/ 153A/ 505(2) IPC has been registered against Singh by the Arunachal Pradesh cyber crime team while multiple FIRs have also been lodged across the state against the YouTuber for his racial statements.
The YouTuber had made the comments while reacting to a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Ering recently, in which the latter asked the PM to ban the re-launch of PUBG Mobile India’s new avatar Battlegrounds Mobile India.
Ering had reasoned that the game was aimed at deceiving the government and citizens and should be banned in the country.
The former MP had also said that “re-launching the game was a mere illusion and a trick to collect user data of the citizens, including children and transfer it to foreign companies and the Chinese government”.
