Youth battle racial slurs

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The national capital is a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities, but it has often been criticised for racial discrimination.

The latest government ruling stating that those found guilty of racial slurs against people from Northeast may end up behind the bar, has been welcomed by youngsters. But those belonging to other parts of the country too find themselves facing the brunt of taunts.
Tina Jha, 24, a Delhi-based professional in Delhi, says that inspite of the fact that she has been living in the city for six years now, she has often been a target of slurs pertaining to her place of birth. “They have been addressing me as a Bihari, as if being born in that part of the country is a curse. I fail to understand why they think that makes us inferior citizens,” she says.
Says Faraz Ali, a DU aspirant, “My brother has been living in Delhi for many years and he often tells me how inspite of all its good facets, the city’s people are biased against people from small towns, especially Bihar. Since I am planning to move to Dehi and take admission in a college there, I have planned to get associated with regional students groups to get a support base.”
“We have to understand that there is a need to fix the attitude of Delhiites towards people from different cultures. The government ruling is an appreciable, but temporary fix. What’s needed is a change in the mindset of the youth,” says Quaisar Alam, Ph.D scholar at JNU.