In a shocking incident of hate crime, two men from Nagaland were attacked by a group of men for selling non-vegetarian and northeastern food in the Chanakyapuri area of Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Rovimezo Kehie, 33, and Mapuyanger Jamir, both from Nagaland, worked at an eatery called ‘One Stop Northeast’ in Chanakyapuri. On Sunday night, a group of 10 men came and attacked Rovimezo Kehie and Mapuyanger Jamir with baseball bats for selling non vegetarian and northeastern food in a Hindu dominated state like Gujarat. Following the incident, Rovimezo Kehie filed an FIR at Sola police station. One customer who came for the rescue too was attacked. Furthermore, the attackers threatened to kill both Kehie and Jamir if they ever sold non vegetarian and north-eastern food in the city.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and BJP Nagaland president Temjen Imna Along on Wednesday condemned the incident and tweeted about the alleged hate crime against two Nagaland men in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad.
Attaching a news article of the incident, Chief Minister Rio said, the assault for selling northeastern and non vegetarian food is “disturbing.” Rio urged people to respect each other’s cultural identity and food choices adding that people should live up to our ideal of unity in diversity.
Minister Along in his tweet said that it was “disheartening” to see people from the Northeastern parts getting attacked due to their food choices and culture.
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Meanwhile, Advisor for School Education & SCERT Dr Kekhrie Yhome condemning the act said that the citizens of India still have a long way to go over food habits, cultural practices and over the way we socialise.
“You see if we go to big cities like Delhi earlier there were people calling us chinky this and that eyes. Legally this are now punishable by law. So, the citizens of India still has a long way to go,” said Yhome.
Yhome informed that the Nagaland government is in touch with the concern officials of Gujarat.
He was also of the view that in India it is the minority that has to integrate with the majority. “The minority have to prove their loyalty to the majority, so it has a long way to go. It is very unfortunate; it is very uncalled for,” he lamented.
Saying that this incident will have to be taken up at different level, Yhome pointed out that such unfortunate incidents create a sense of fear as many people from the Northeast are residing in the cities to earn a livelihood, for studying and in search of other opportunities.
He hoped that this incident should not happen again.
The Naga Students Federation President K. Tep also condemning the act, said it is an act of discrimination not only to the Naga people but a discrimination to the entire North Eastern people. It is very disheartening to see such things happening in India, said Tep.
Mentioning that NSF under the banner of North East Students Organisation (NESO) have been pushing forward that North Eastern people should not be discriminated even by food habit or any other related things in the main land India, however, he said time and again NE people are being discriminated.
“This has to be condemned not only by the Naga people, but it should be condemned by all the people particularly by the North Eastern states,” added Tep.
He also informed the Federation is in touch with its subordinate bodies in Gujarat and it will also try to ensure that justice is delivered.
