The intersection of racism and identity politics has moved from the margins of academic debate to the centre of our daily lives. While these forces can serve as powerful tools for community building and the pursuit of social justice, they also present a complex challenge: the challenge of discrimination. In 21st-century India, certain prejudices are still alive, which makes us witness the death of a young mind, Angel Chakma.
A 21-year-old student from Tripura, Angel Chakma, died after being brutally stabbed during an altercation near a liquor shop in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The incident has sparked nationwide outrage and renewed conversations around racism and the safety of people from the Northeast. This is not something exclusive; if we explore the campuses around the country, racism has turned into some ‘cool thing’.
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Abused by racial slurs like ‘momo’, ‘chinky’, and ‘Chinese’
Kinden from Jadavpur University mentioned while talking to News EiSamay, “To begin with, it is not new for people from the northeastern regions of India to be excluded as one of their own fellow Indians. Once the NE people step outside their homes, they are consistently verbally abused by racial slurs like "momo", "chinky", "Chinese" and many more slurs. And one of the biggest miseries is that we cannot fight against every person who calls us with these racial slurs, since there are too many of them. It is really concerning how the people themselves have normalised these discriminations; from my own experience, even little kids who are hardly able to properly talk about themselves somehow know words like 'Chinese' and 'momo'.”
“In fact, especially we who belong to W.B. itself have to keep explaining to the people that we are not from NE, and when we call ourselves Nepali, they presume that we belong to Nepal. It is also a result of the people's geographical and historical unawareness. But apart from the uneducated people, it is, to my surprise, that even literate people have hardly any idea about our people, despite touring the North Bengal regions frequently. In fact, in most cases, I've heard Nepali and Northeast women being sexually objectified by being called 'Russians', which, to everyone's knowledge, is a derogatory term for women. So yes, every day, no matter which corner of India except our own place and our geographical region, we have to be constantly guarded and constantly prove our identity to the people of our own country. So it is really stressful to actually live in cities far away from our homes. Staying in our hometown restricts us from opportunities, and the cities that prove so defy our identities,” she added.
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The ‘politics of ‘identity’
Lingam Lepcha from Kalimpong, studying at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, mentioned while speaking to News EiSamay, “Living in a diasporic space away from home means carrying our languages, faces, and cultures into places where they are often misunderstood or mocked. Like many people from the Himalayan and Northeast regions living in big cities such as Kolkata, we often face racism in everyday life. Most of them are verbal slurs, such as being called “momos” or “chinkis” or even being told not to speak our mother tongue, Nepali. These remarks are passed off as harmless jokes, but their repetition turns them into reminders that we are seen as outsiders in our own country. We are always asked to explain who we are and where we come from and to prove that we are “really” Indians, while very few people show any interest in learning about our history, language, or identity.
“There is also a quiet assumption that we are less intelligent or less capable than other students, which leads to us being looked down upon in classrooms and social spaces. In recent years, videos and posts that mock Northeastern and Himalayan features, accents, and food have also gone viral on social media, turning our everyday humiliation into a form of public entertainment. This digital ridicule spreads quickly, which makes people think that our experiences are something to laugh at rather than something to take seriously. The death of the Tripura student, Anjel Chekma, in Dehradun shows how easily casual racism and everyday slurs can grow into open violence. We are not asking for sympathy but for respect, safety, and recognition within our own country,” she added.
Angel Chakma’s death has been more than one tragic incident. It has exposed the everyday discrimination faced by people from the Northeast across India.
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Chakma’s final act was fighting against racial abuse and asserting his identity as an Indian and lighting up the fire, especially among students and young people living far from home. The case ignited the debates and questions about racism, accountability, and the safety of marginalised communities in the country.
