In April, a study found that engineering students from ST and SC categories, usually reviled with the epithet of “quota students”, learn at a faster rate than those from the general category. That this research was carried out by Stanford University, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the World Bank meant that for once, these “undeserving” students had something to cheer about.

While mainland media occasionally frees up space to discuss the exodus of students from the Northeast to mainland India’s education hubs, rarely do they examine the after-effects. Between 2005 to 2010, four lakh people from the Northeast migrated to mainland India, and this number is only increasing. What has remained constant though are the blatant racist attitudes and institutionalised discrimination faced by them in their rented apartments, colleges, and workplaces.

Thanks to an outdated education system and creaking, decrepit infrastructure, many Northeasterners step outside their homes and cultures, hoping for a chance to learn in a cosmopolitan, diverse environment and avail of opportunities absent in their own underdeveloped states. Instead, what they get is a toxic mix of overt and casual racism by peers and authorities alike.

Elitist, not elite, institutions

For example, take the preparatory course foisted by institutes like the IIMs and IITs on SC and ST students. Whether this helps in improving their academic performance is questionable, since teachers usually sleepwalk their way through such classes, but what it does enable is further demoralisation of students who are already made to feel inferior because of the taint of reservations. Rather it becomes a useful tool for teachers and students to identify the outcaste and target them for systematic bullying and exclusion—a modern day, caste-shaming version of the scarlet letter, if you will.

At the same time, these institutes do literally nothing to combat the toxic racism that has a debilitating effect on their academic performance and mental health. Is it surprising, then, that many of these students underperform or eventually drop-out?

No general category students are required to attend these remedial classes, even if they perform miserably during the academic session. It is easy to forget that most of the reserved category students are the first generation from their communities to either study in these prestigious institutes or enrol for any kind of higher studies.

For upper-caste know-it-alls—whose opinions dominate mainstream media—the intractable problem of high drop-outs and vacant seats for ST (and SC) students is proof that they are inherently lazy and incompetent. What pontificating savarnas conveniently ignore is that except for the highly privileged, most Northeasterners don’t come from affluent backgrounds, have no access to coaching institutes or extra-curricular facilities, have little awareness about mainland culture, have no help in personality development and networking skills, and are stuck in substandard schools with mediocre teachers. The culture shock when they land in mainland India is only matched by the huge gulf in the resources and societal support that is accorded to them compared to their entitled fellow citizens.  

ST students are particularly vulnerable to systemic discrimination and racial bias because their looks are a permanent marker that makes them easy targets. One can try and impersonate the language, affectations, mannerisms, and consumption patterns of privileged groups to escape the worst excesses of casteism and racism. But when your physical self becomes your biggest differentiator, it scarcely matters how good your assimilation skills are. It makes no difference if the ST student got through on “merit”; if they are seen as such, their entire identity is reduced to a quota student and hence, putatively undeserving.

The relentless violation of Northeastern women

What are the stories from Northeast that feature in mainstream media? Aside from the latest riveting controversy of the Citizenship Bill, there are two kinds of narratives that are considered worthy of coverage: violent acts by militant groups, and violent acts by mainlanders on Northeast people. The former is usually reported as a news snippet, focusing on the act but decontextualising it from local history, politics and social realities. The latter purports to empathise with the victims, but conveniently ignores the casual and normalised racism that is a feature of mainland India. Cases like the murder of Nido Tania and Akha Salouni are well-documented even as the 2014 Bezbaruah Committee recommendations are languishing .

Missing from the discourse are multiple instances of sexual violence and studies that show 78 out of 100 North-Easterners in Delhi face racial discrimination. Other estimates paint a more horrific picture. One study found that approximately 10-15 Northeastern women are found dead in their rented rooms in Delhi-NCR every year, but these cases almost never get solved. Ask any Northeastern woman about this and she will not be surprised.

The revolting fetishisation of Asian women steeped in the sick geisha stereotype—submissive, docile, feminine, genteel, hyper-sexual—affects Northeastern women too. Since they dress fashionably and are culturally disposed to be friendly, mainland guys perceive them as sexual objects with questionable characters. Harassment, sexual violence, and emotional abuse are commonplace, whether the perpetrators are unknown perverts or male friends who proudly proclaim their love for all things “chinki” (a derogatory term that mainlanders should always avoid). In reality, the latter see North-Eastern women as little more than a functional accessory to showcase their cool street cred, serving the twin roles of guaranteeing entry into bars and nightclubs and, with sufficient alcohol and a bit of luck, a good romp in bed.

However, when it is time to settle down, these men obediently marry into their own caste, sub-caste and communities, so their families can display this as proof of their son’s cultured upbringing. The women take time to recognise the sheer corrosiveness and depravity of this environment, but by then they have already been brutalised and humiliated in multiple ways. This is one of the many reasons why Northeasterners stick to their own people. You can’t fraternise with those who seek to dehumanise you.

Why we need to be heard

The limited discourse and lack of nuance around Northeasterners and their experiences is a direct result of the lack of representation in mainstream media. Try as they may to make themselves heard in the mainland din, it is ironic that much of the reporting on Northeast issues is done by mainlanders who probably have never set foot in the region and cannot name all Northeastern states. Numbers on Northeastern people in newsrooms are nowhere to be found but if Dalit representation is anything to go by, it doesn’t bode too well for them. A cursory glance through some of the well-known liberal (and hence, “woke”) newspapers and websites doesn’t inspire much confidence either.

I found myself in a meta situation where one liberal journalist and his copyeditor (both savarnas), who had evinced interest in publishing this piece, proceeded to gaslight me over my own experiences, and dismissed ST students as “poor performers”. The irony of their blatant racism for a piece that explicitly focuses on racism isn’t lost.

What they and their cadre of for-their-own-profit progressives should realise that just as having a token black friend doesn’t make a white person non-racist, knowing a few people from the Northeast doesn’t make mainlanders experts in this field, or exonerate them from perpetuating negative stereotypes. And just like black people don’t need white saviours, Northeastern people don’t need mainlanders to speak for them.

A lot of people ask us if we see ourselves as part of India. Perhaps they first need to understand this: it is not our job to assimilate, it is your duty to accept us as we are.