The word ‘capital’ usually evokes a sense of home, that is, a space defined by inclusivity, safety, and shared aspiration. As the political center of the nation, New Delhi draws people from every corner of India to live, work, and build their futures.
Elected representatives assemble in Parliament to voice the concerns of their constituents. Yet, for many who make this city their home, the capital harbours a pervasive darkness.
This darkness does not stem merely from the baseline crime rate typical of any major metropolis. Rather, it persists through a quiet, continuous hostility rooted in appearance-based differences.
How some of us look has long made us targets for unwanted advances, verbal harassment, and all too frequently, violent crimes that culminate in the loss of innocent lives. This is racial profiling, where attacks are triggered not by individual suspicion, but by ethnicity.
Violence against the Northeast Indians in mainland cities is a long-standing reality. From the murder of Nido Tania in 2014 to the death of Angel Chakma, a devastating trail of racially motivated violence stretches across the country alongside countless incidents that go unreported.
The recent death of Chongtham Vikram Singh, a respected musician, in Southeast Delhi demands rigorous scrutiny. While investigating authorities have not officially confirmed a racial motive at this stage, deep apprehension remains among people from the Northeast living in the capital.
The circumstances surrounding Vikram Singh’s death bear chilling similarities to the assault on Nido Tania, a fatal beating by a group of hostile individuals. Given Delhi’s history of hate-driven violence, the racial angle cannot be dismissed.
Even if a racial motive is not officially established in Vikram Singh’s case, it has nonetheless sparked safety fears across the people from the region living in the capital since many of us face racism from time to time from subtle to overt racism.
The tragedy raises urgent questions about the systemic measures currently in place. The Delhi Police operates a dedicated Special Police Unit for the North East Region (SPUNER), yet tragedies like Vikram Singh’s continue to occur.
While both regular law enforcement and a specialized police unit exists to deal with any law-and-order situation, is it sufficient to safeguard the people from routine abuse, physical assault, and lethal violence? Or do we need deeper institutional analysis and preventative solutions that go beyond reactive policing?
Law enforcement alone cannot dismantle deep-seated prejudice.
Racism is an ideology rooted in social conditioning; defeating it requires preventive mechanisms. Educational reform and early-childhood awareness are crucial to teaching young citizens about India’s ethnic diversity, fostering mutual respect, and unlearning implicit bias long before it manifests as violence.
For those of us living in the capital, systemic inaction forces a different kind of adaptation: self-modification. Over 15 years in Delhi, I have gradually altered how I navigate daily life.
These shifts which includes adjusting my daily routines, regulating my social interactions, altering my attire, and changing where I shop, are not the ordinary adjustments of living in a metropolitan space.
These are self-preservation tactics which were developed through years of personal experiences, unwanted encounters, and observation.
Where I once bought groceries at local kirana stores in residential neighbourhoods of Delhi, I now rely almost exclusively on large supermarket chains to avoid unwelcoming interactions. I deliberately choose clothing that offers maximum coverage as a preventive shield against staring.
I am extra careful of the time when I am out after dark. Many from the Northeast community enforce these quiet modifications upon themselves simply to feel secure enough to exist in public spaces.
In doing so, we are forced into a painful compromise: normalising daily harassment and racial abuse just to cope with the reality of living in the nation’s capital. It is the burden of seeing a clear, pervasive reality while watching society turn a blind eye to its existence.
What comes next? Should marginalised communities continue altering their daily lives to accommodate prejudice, or will society demand actionable solutions in the wake of mob-based violence like Chongtham Vikram Singh’s death? Will we remain silent until another life is cut short by crime in the heart of the nation?
Every citizen deserves to know whether New Delhi can truly become a crime-free, inclusive capital for all, or if it will remain a place where one’s physical appearance dictates one’s right to safety.
Views expressed are that of the author and do not reflect EastMojo’s stance on this or any other issue.
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