New Delhi: A group of 16 people, mostly from Assam and a few from West Bengal, gathered to celebrate a birthday party on 17 November in Old Gupta Colony, a stone’s throw away from Delhi University’s North Campus.
Nobody knew at the time that the party was going to turn into a viral video of a horror night.
The youngsters were having a good time — singing, strumming the guitar, and playing music on a “small Bluetooth speaker” — on the first floor of the rented building. As the evening grew darker, the gathering turned into a macabre show. It was around 11:30 pm when it all changed. Jatin*, a 30-year-old third-floor resident, reportedly knocked on the door, upset by the noise emanating from below. The situation escalated and Jantin turned abusive, “commenting on the clothes of the women”, according to an attendee.
The Delhi Police arrived at the scene to see the women being called “prostitutes” and told, “Tum bikini pehen ke ghumo, lekin apne ghar mein (Walk around in a bikini, but only at your home).”
Delhi’s Old Gupta Colony has long been a home for students from across the country, with North Campus colleges exemplifying ‘salad bowl’ diversity for the Indian youth. And yet, for decades, the stigmatisation, stereotyping, and hypersexualisation of women from other states have continued.
The party that became a horror story
Ana*, a 22-year-old freelance writer from Assam who had come to the party to visit a friend, calls the neighbour a “belligerent drunk”. She mentions that the neighbour had run into confrontations with them previously as well and passed derogatory statements at the party, saying: “Why do so many prostitutes come here? Is there some prostitution going on here?” Ana posted about the entire “racially targeted and xenophobic” incident early Saturday morning on X (formerly Twitter).
Living in delhi is scary when people are racially targeting you and being xenophobic, this 30 year old man who lives on the 3rd floor has been harassing since weeks. His problem is that "why are randis (referring to the female friends) coming to the building. One day he was very+
— ana (@mightbeana) November 17, 2023
From talking about how the neighbour hurls abuses at them every week to recalling the ruckus he created on Friday night, she spoke about the rampant racism that Northeast women face every day. Videos attached to the tweet show loud confrontations, angry and derogatory comments being passed, and residents out on the street.
Her series of tweets went viral, having been retweeted nearly 2,000 times within hours. There is shock, anger and outrage against the episode on social media. Some have reacted by talking about their own experiences, one called it an everyday occurrence in Delhi.
A few tweeted in support of Jatin, too. “Smoking ganja in house and playing loud music then crying xenophobia, misogyny and harassment isn’t going to help you,” posted a user.
The Friday episode wasn’t the first of its kind. It was the latest in a long list of instances where women from the Northeast have been subjected to xenophobia and racial harassment in the national capital. Stories of women from the region dealing with negative stereotypes reflect the scars left by a society that sees them as the ‘Other’ and ‘exotic’.
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Women from the Northeast have come up with antidotes to the stereotypes.
“I spent my entire time in Delhi fighting to not fit the perception. I subconsciously changed how I dressed, spoke and perfected my Hindi,” says Chandana Gurung, a 30-year-old business consultant from Assam who first came to Delhi in 2011 for her undergraduate studies at Sri Ram School of Commerce (SRCC).
She recalls her college days with the hurt that surrounds being called “chinki”.
“I avoided the North Campus student life activities — boys and girls going on trips, partying, staying over at friends’ places, drinking, clubbing — that are usually considered part of ‘college life’ but looked down when ‘chinkies’ do it,” she says.
Moreover, linguistic-cultural differences become a problem when it comes to expressing grievances.
“Language is one of the barriers,” says Joint Commissioner of Police PN Khrimey, adding that Northeasterners find it difficult to communicate with the local residents. Khrimey, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, says it was “high time” people should know about the Northeast and that it will take time for things to change in Delhi.
Dr Rituparna Patgiri, a sociologist from Assam who works in Delhi, says that there is an “othering which is very racist in nature” when it comes to people from the Northeast.
“There is an assumption that sexuality in the Northeast is fluid — that women from there are sexually available. They dress up in a certain way, their customs are patterned in a certain way, the kind of independence we take pride in is used against them,” she says.
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‘What’s your rate’
When she came to Delhi as a young adult, Gurung tried to navigate through the glamour and grime of the capital, fighting racial profiling and stereotypes at every step. Sexual harassment was common — even schoolchildren passed offensive remarks at her. She recalls a particularly “stark memory”: She would be harassed by school kids on DTC buses whenever she walked back to her hostel from college.
“Once, at the New Delhi metro station, a man called me ‘chinky Chinese’. I called the Delhi Police’s helpline for Northeast people; he was caught and begged to be released because he was with his wife. I gave in and let him go,” she says.
Gurung briefly worked in Delhi before packing her bags in 2020 to work in Shillong. Her bitter experiences in the capital forced her to quit. Today, she says how “nothing was enough” to change Delhiites’ attitude toward her.
“The only thing I couldn’t change was my face,” she says.
Gurung has vowed never to work in Delhi again unless “someone is willing to compensate me for the harassment I face on a daily basis”.
A resident of Greater Kailash, who studied at St. Stephen’s College in the early 2010s and spoke on the condition of anonymity, alleged that college professors discriminated against them too, reportedly questioning the students’ capabilities and remarking they get admissions under quota.
But the severest trauma was inflicted outside the classroom. When she used to take walks around the campus, people on bike would stop by and ask, “What is your rate?” Rickshaw pullers would ask, “Where do you go to party?”
Thirteen years later, she says she can talk about it “in a nonchalant way”. While she sees that people are “woke” about issues like racism, she hasn’t put her guard down.
“Delhi is still Delhi. My sixth sense is always up. I don’t ever feel safe. The microaggression is still there,” says the 31-year-old.
She also recalls a time when she consciously dressed in a “more Indian” way and dated men who were not from the Northeast — all in an attempt to “fit in”. It was only a few years later when she turned 25 that she became more confident of her ethnicity.
Another woman in her 30s, who has been living in Delhi for over a decade, shares how men exoticise Northeastern women. “They think Northeastern women are good to date, but when it comes to marriage, they would think twice,” she says.
No room of one’s own
Harassment and stereotyping begin the moment when Northeasterners land in Delhi and start looking for a space to live in. In places surrounding North Campus, the real estate market is shouldered by outstation students who rent most of the houses.
Rohan Ahuja, who has been working as a real estate broker for the last seven years, elaborates on the nature of the business. He said that landlords prefer Northeastern tenants because “they give rent on time and are well-behaved”. The problems they face are mostly about overcrowding apartments.
“There might be differences related to food habits or entry of boys and girls, but that’s usually discussed at the outset. The actual problem occurs when the agreement is made for two people but five end up living in the accommodation and there is a nuisance,” he says.
In Gurung’s experience, what amounts to nuisance also depends on perception. She has observed the “calm, well-behaved nature” of Northeasterners is often taken as a sign of a non-confrontational attitude and even weakness in some instances. And that is why landlords take advantage of them, finding it easy to be rude and dominating.
“How we are viewed and what we eat are very much policed” by the landlords, according to Ana.
Education can’t help
In 2014, the Delhi Police started a Special Police Unit for North East Region (SNUPER) to look into the grievances of the people from the region. It was the same cell Gurung called to report about her harassment at the metro station. Khrimey, who heads SNUPER, says that most of the complaints they receive involve landlords and tenants. Whenever they receive a call on the special helpline number (1093), assistance is immediately dispatched.
The friction between Delhiites and Northeasterners comes down to cultural differences — so, instead of welcoming diversity, they become points for racial otherisation.
“These very customs, which we would say are giving us the liberty and freedom to have more socially mobile lives, are used to racially other us,” Patgiri says.
The sociologist also remarks that the exoticisation results when sexism and racism are intertwined in such cases. And it’s not a practice limited to India.
“You see it in the West, where there is an exotic element associated with Asian or Hispanic women. Again, it’s the idea of mobile or fluid sexuality,” she explains.
Even the seemingly innocuous comments about Northeasterners’ skin and hair are symptomatic of this attitude. Despite the increasing ‘wokeness’ about the Northeast — and academic, social, and popular interest in the region — Ana’s experience in Old Gupta Colony on Friday night is a reminder that nothing much has changed even in 2023.
Raising awareness and educating people are only superficial fixes, according to Patgiri. The problem is deeper. “It’s the mentality that cannot be changed,” she says. “In the Indian context, there is an understanding of people from the Northeast as different — as tribals. It’s very difficult to get out of that mentality. No matter what education we have, until and unless a rechurning of all the mentality happens, it is going to be very difficult.” Education “can’t help in unpacking” so many layers of differences.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)