With winter slowly receding and summer arriving in Delhi, the seasonal change came at a cost for students from Arunachal Pradesh living in Malviya Nagar. Around 3:30 pm, they called an electrician to install an air conditioner in their fourth-floor flat.
The drilling caused dust and debris to fall onto the lower floors, and what followed has since gone viral as an incident of racial abuse on social media. This raises a deeper question: how many such incidents go undocumented, silently endured without proof or recourse?
It was precisely this reality that led Ananya Kundu and Dennis Lallienzuol to found the White Dot Solidarity Network, a safe space for members to network, collectivise, and build cross-border and regional solidarities.
Launched in March 2024, the network conducted nine workshops in Bengaluru last year under the theme “North East Youth Civic Engagement.”
“The incident in Malviya Nagar demonstrates how deep-rooted racism is in our communities and how these stereotypes and prejudices harm people from the Northeast who come to mainland Indian cities,” Ananya said.
“Our initiative in Bengaluru aimed to address this by building the capacity of members of Northeastern communities regarding their legal rights and by sensitising local communities about racism and stereotypes. Addressing racism requires this dual approach. At a time when exclusionary ideas are being fuelled in the country, we need more sensitive and open discussions on the issue. We need to build communities that are inclusive and where everyone can feel safe.”
Migration from the Northeast is significant. According to the study Migration from North-East India During 1991–2011: Unemployment and Ethnopolitical Issues, more than one million people from the region were recorded as interstate migrants in both the 2001 and 2011 Censuses, roughly two per cent of India’s interstate migrants.
Around 0.75 million in 2001 and 0.54 million in 2011 migrated to mainland states, with nearly 30 per cent moving in search of work. Student migration is also substantial, while 13 per cent moved for other reasons such as escaping conflict, political unrest, or natural disasters.
Another study, Out-Migration from the North-Eastern States of India: Evidence from Census 2011, notes that there are approximately 14.8 million Northeast migrants in the country, of whom 6.95 per cent are interstate migrants and 93.05 per cent are intra-state migrants.
The study highlights the structural drivers of migration, including limited economic development, inadequate infrastructure, scarce employment opportunities, and few higher education institutions. Migration, therefore, is largely shaped by structural inequalities.
Despite high migration rates, social inclusion often remains a challenge. Many from the Northeast report being stereotyped or reduced to narrow occupational identities and being subjected to prejudiced assumptions about their character, culture, or food habits.
Rising exclusionary narratives in Indian cities have intensified hostility toward migrants, including insistence on speaking the local language, instances of racist and casteist bullying, dietary policing, and arguments that protecting local culture requires suspicion toward outsiders. In such environments, belonging becomes a political question: who can access state resources, and whom do institutions serve?
Over the last eight months, the White Dot Solidarity Network, supported by the Youth Fund, has partnered with Northeast-based community groups to train nearly 500 young students and migrant workers across India.
The sessions covered legal rights, digital security, human rights law, and community sensitisation. Young people, particularly young women, are often most vulnerable to discrimination and harassment. Organisers argue that equipping them with legal knowledge is crucial for building safer communities.
Workshops included training on constitutional and international human rights law, tenant protections, UGC guidelines safeguarding students on campuses, and procedures for filing FIRs.
Participants are guided on legal remedies when they face discrimination, such as being denied rental housing despite paying deposits. The initiative partnered with organisations such as the Alternative Law Forum and Kuki, Hmar, and Vaiphei student and welfare groups to connect participants directly with legal professionals for continued support.
Bengia Sebasa, a participant from Arunachal Pradesh, completed his high school education in his home state before deciding to pursue higher studies at St Joseph’s University in Bengaluru. He moved with excitement and hope for new opportunities. However, he was soon confronted with a different reality when he began facing verbal racial abuse.
“That has happened many times,” he told EastMojo. “It’s mostly verbal, being called ‘chinki’ or ‘Chinese’ while walking on the street, and sometimes even in college. I feel disturbed. When I am not bothering anyone, why should I be bothered?”
Bengia was a participant in a cybercrime awareness workshop organised by the White Dot Solidarity Network. He said such workshops are helpful, particularly in teaching participants how to stay safe in digital spaces. At the same time, he added that more workshops should be held to equip members of the Northeast to respond to ignorance and prejudice.
“Workshops like this are very helpful,” he said. “They are not prepared to face people from the Northeast, and we are not prepared to handle such people either. It was shocking; their ignorance surprised me so much. They don’t know their own country’s geography. They are educated, but not about the geography of the country. They have not totally accepted it yet.”
Another participant shared how the workshop helped her open up about her experiences with racism and discrimination.
“I am from Darjeeling. It’s been roughly four years since I left my hometown. I moved to Bangalore in Class 11, and now I’m in my second year of degree college studying Psychology and Theatre,” she said.
She recounted one of her earliest experiences after moving to the city. She had gone shopping with her sister and aunt when a shopkeeper overheard them speaking in Nepali.
“He started speaking to us in Nepali too, and we felt so nice that someone here knew our language,” she said. However, the interaction soon became uncomfortable. “After a few conversations, he asked us where we sell momo or which parlour we work at.”
She clarified that she does not demean any profession, but said the assumption reflected a common stereotype about people from the Northeast. During her pre-university years, she experienced similar prejudice. Bus conductors often questioned her identity despite her carrying a valid monthly pass.
“One conductor did not believe I am from India. He made me show my ID proof,” she recalled. “It felt like I was treated differently because of how I look.”
She also spoke about insensitive questions from peers about her origins and food habits, which made her feel like an outsider.
The most distressing incident, she said, involved an English professor who handled her optional lab and research paper during her degree course. She alleged that the professor frequently targeted her in class.
“She would scream at me for no reason and once did not allow me to write my exam,” she said. The situation escalated when she missed a practical presentation due to a compulsory theatre department event. When she approached the professor to clarify her eligibility to write the exam, the interaction turned confrontational.
“She told me she couldn’t understand me because our accents were different. She said my English is bad and that she could barely understand me. She even said I should get a translator from my hometown,” the student alleged.
“These incidents have really broken me. It literally felt like I was being treated differently for looking different,” she said.
The discrimination extended beyond campus. After she began dating a local boy, his sister allegedly called her and said, “People like you from outside come and spoil our boys. You make him fight with us.”
However, she said the workshop provided her with a sense of support and awareness.
“After I attended the workshop, I could talk about it freely. They told me they are there with me. I felt like there are people for me,” she said, adding that she now collaborates whenever such workshops are organised in her college and has found guidance on legal protections against racism particularly helpful.
“It was very important for us to tailor each session to the participants’ needs,” Ananya said. “At St Joseph’s University, we focused on UGC guidelines and campus protections. With community-led organisations, we emphasised street safety, accessing police mechanisms, and filing FIRs.”
Following the Anjel Chakma incident, the network also partnered with the Bangalore Chakma Society and the Bangalore Chakma Students’ Association to hold workshops on legal rights and digital security.
Reflecting on the broader purpose of the initiative, the organisers emphasised the importance of community solidarity. “One of the biggest things our project also tried to do was unify, mobilise, and bring together diverse communities from the Northeast so they can better support one another,” they said.
In a society where discrimination and exclusion remain persistent, building these connections is crucial not only for individual empowerment but also for strengthening collective resilience and ensuring that everyone from the Northeast can feel safe, recognised, and included in the cities they call home.
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