A petition has been urgently filed in the Supreme Court of India, seeking its direct intervention to safeguard citizens from the north-eastern states from widespread racial abuse and hate crimes across the country. This legal move comes amidst national outrage over the alleged racially motivated murder of 24-year-old Anjel Chakma from Tripura.
A Constitutional Indictment
The petition, filed by advocate Anoop Prakash Awasthi, argues that people from the northeast are routinely subjected to racial discrimination, being targeted as if they are not Indian citizens. It highlights the repeated humiliation through slurs like "Chinese" or "chinky," stating this is not just individual prejudice but a fundamental failure to understand India's constitutional and civilizational vision.
Referring to a TOI report on the victim's last words, the petition presents a powerful constitutional argument. "I am Indian... What certificate should we show?" – these reported final words of Anjel Chakma are described as not merely an expression of personal anguish but a searing indictment of the Republic.
From Verbal Abuse to Homicide: A Continuum of Violence
The petition frames Chakma's killing as the tragic culmination of a social process, not an isolated aberration. It outlines a dangerous continuum where racial othering, if left unchecked by law and institutions, escalates from verbal abuse to physical assault and ultimately to homicide.
It points out that the vulnerability of north-eastern citizens is a formally acknowledged issue. The petition cites replies given in the Lok Sabha in March 2017, where the Centre placed on record the prevalence of racial attacks and the absence of a dedicated mechanism to address them. This, the petitioner argues, represents clear executive admission of knowledge coupled with inaction.
The Demand to 'Prove' Nationality
A core issue raised is the informal but pervasive demand placed on racially distinct Indians to constantly explain or prove their citizenship. The petition asserts that the question "what certificate should we show?" exposes this unconstitutional burden, which is never imposed on citizens whose physical features conform to mainstream norms.
"Indianness flows from the Constitution, not from public perception or ethnic conformity," the petition states emphatically. It pleads with the Supreme Court to frame necessary guidelines to fill the existing policy vacuum, arguing that the law's failure to interrupt the cycle of racial targeting at earlier stages is a direct failure of constitutional governance.
The petition concludes that a young student from Tripura being compelled to assert his Indian identity to avoid death is a profound civilizational indictment, urging the apex court to act to make constitutional citizenship experientially real for all Indians.
