Drop in crimes against Northeast people in Delhi

New Delhi: Crimes against people from Northeast in the national capital have fallen in the last one-and-a-half years, compared to the period from 2014 to 2017, according to data released by the Delhi Police. The total number of criminal cases against Northeast people reported from 1 January 2018 till 15 July 2019 was 215, while the number of cases reported from 2014 to 2017 was 896.

According to the data, 1,623 calls in total were received on the special helpline number for Northeast people from 1 January 2018 to 15 July 2019. Out of these, 1,331 calls were categorised as “call filed”, which refers to cases where the issue is solved amongst the disputed parties before the police takes up the case. The number of FIRs lodged out of these calls was 170 and the number of untraced cases was 87. The number of inquest cases under 174 CrPC is 20, whereas 15 cases were registered under Kalandra 107/105 CrPC. Kalandra cases are those wherein the police mediate between the parties involved in a dispute to settle cases.

A special helpline number for Northeast people–1093—was launched by Delhi Police in 2014 to register complaints, including racism and harassment. This move came after the murder of Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, on 29 January 2014. A committee of 11 members headed by retired IAS officer M.P. Bezbaruah was set up in 2014 by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to submit its report on discrimination against people hailing from the Northeast. The committee submitted its report to MHA on 11 July 2014. The committee categorised its recommendations into three categories: (a) immediate measures, (b) short term measures, and (c) long term measures.

From time to time, Opposition MPs have questioned the implementation of recommendations made by the committee. In 2018, Rajya Sabha Congress MP Ripun Bora had said, “Implementation of the recommendations made by the committee relates to Central ministries and state governments and is in different stages of implementation.” The MHA also informed the House that implementation of the recommendations has been reviewed by MOS (Home) in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

The committee had also recommended inclusion of Section 153(C) and 509(A) in the Indian Penal Code to prevent racial discrimination against Northeast people. The MHA responded in Rajya Sabha by saying, “As the criminal law is in the concurrent list, it has been decided to seek comments/views of the state governments/UTs on the draft bill. We are also in consultation with the Law Commission on the issue.”

However, on a question raised by Aam Aadmi Party MP Sushil Kumar Gupta, the MHA had said, “A Monitoring Committee headed by Joint Secretary (Northeast) has been constituted by the MHA to monitor and review the implementation of the M.P. Bezbaruah Committee Report and to redress the grievances faced by Northeast people. Meetings of the Monitoring Committee are held periodically.’’

The ministry also said that various steps have been taken by the Centre for the security of Northeast people, including issuing advisories to state governments on the need for adequate and proactive response by police.