By: Dr. Malem Ningthouja, Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur) There is articulation of… more »
By: Dr. Malem Ningthouja, Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur) There is articulation of… more
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/mysterious-richard-inculcating-racist-lingo-and-protest/
Business Standard| Google News Rss Feed PTI / Imphal May 21, 2012, 14:05 The… more »
Business Standard| Google News Rss Feed
PTI / Imphal May 21, 2012, 14:05 The Manipur government wants a CBI probe into the death of a student from the state in Bangalore as there has been no conclusive finding so far, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh said. “We have been insisting upon the Centre …
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/manipur-wants-cbi-inquiry-into-death-of-student-in-bangalore-business-standard/
Office Of the Justice for Loitam Richard Memorandum Ref: 20120517 JFLR to MHA To: Union… more »
Office
Of the Justice for Loitam Richard
Memorandum
Ref: 20120517 JFLR to MHA
To: Union Home Minister of India
From: Justice for Loitam Richard
Goal: Pushing hate out of our Indian communities
Date: 17th May 2012
The Government of India, as it officially strives to establish peace and order in order to defend a democratic parliamentary system in an atmosphere of the projected unity in diversity, must not fail to recognise multi racial composition of India and the phenomenon of racial discrimination as it exist distinctively amidst the myriads of socio-cultural discriminations prevalent in India.
Certain steps or measures are needed in making India recognize the multi-racial composition and for the protection and promotion of NorthEast (NE) people in the best interest of status quo and collective co-existence:
Identification of the challenges and barriers to the protection and promotion of personal security of students, migrant workers (employees), job seekers and tourists from the NorthEast region residing/ visiting in other parts of India and address social profiling of racial and ethnic minorities.
Examine the legislative and administrative measures that are in place, and the efficacy in practice and specific inadequacies to address the problems of violence and other forms of abuses faced by students, migrant workers (employees), job seekers and tourists from the NorthEast region residing/ visiting in other parts of India.
Recommend specific investigative and punitive steps under the existing law by an independent agency for the present and past cases/ incidences of crime including murder, assault, sexual abuse, rape, abuse or discrimination in institutions and workplaces committed against students, migrant workers (employees), job seekers and tourists from the NorthEast region residing/ visiting in other parts of India.
Recommend concrete steps to be taken by the ruling central and state governments to strengthen security measures to protect and promote the safety and personal security of students, migrant workers (employees), job seekers and tourists from the NorthEast region residing / visiting in other parts of the country.
Review the existing curricula of schools, colleges, higher institutions and technical institutions, universities including special institutions to train police and armed forces personnel in India with special attention to the inclusion of subjects about the history, culture and present situation of the communities of NorthEast region of India with a view to fill the large lacuna identified and enhance awareness and education about the region and its peoples among the young generations of India.
Monthly induction program on inter-racial and ethnic issues mandatory for all students and employees of the country so that they are educated and sensitised on these important issues. Such induction programs are mandatory in western countries thereby reinforcing that racism won’t be tolerated at all.
To initiate workshops/ symposiums on racial discrimination in India in every state for public to reinforce that racism won’t be tolerated at all.
Make mandatory policies for the media (TV, Radio, Newspaper, Magazine, Internet, etc) to circulate advertisements, documentaries and films that reflect the multi-cultural and multi-racial composition of India. They should acknowledge the issues face by people of NorthEast India and implement means to positively change people’s perception towards NorthEast people and thus avoid the stereotyping and prejudice and consequent crime as a result of it.
Make mandatory policies for the theatres/ cinema halls to show short documentary film to reflect the multi-cultural and multi-racial composition of India before they screen the main movie. Contemporary cinema and other media platform should be encouraged to reflect the diverse India and consider emphasising on NorthEast India and as such allow a positive change in people’s perception towards the NorthEast people.
Make mandatory policies for the Outdoor Media (banner, posters, hoardings, etc) to acknowledge and reflect NorthEast India and thereby allow a positive change of people’s perception to treat NorthEast people with respect and dignity.
The political leaders, actors, dignitaries, etc should be part of mandatory multidisciplinary team in the fight against hate crime and must conduct informed campaign to improve the effectiveness of the goal to tackle racism in India.
We have serious concerns of the mechanically superimposed Indian National Anthem which doesn’t reflect anything at all about the vast and vibrant NorthEast. Parliamentary level discussion should be done to discuss this matter.
Law against any racism/ discrimination, against any incitement to discrimination and against all forms of discrimination should be passed in the parliament, and should prove that racism won’t be tolerated at all in India. The stringent law is needed so that any racial stereotyping and prejudice can be held accountable and judicially restraint.
Special Police Cell with (24×7 service with Toll Free number from landline and all mobile operators) both male and female officers from NorthEast should be deployed in all states for the security of the NorthEast population.
Special Legal cell with both male and female officers from NorthEast should be installed in all states for the judicial protection of the NorthEast population.
Exchange programs and social clubs at school, college, university, and other social networking levels.
Adequate number of guest houses at subsidised and affordable rate for the NorthEast population in the prime locations in all the states with comfortable accommodation facilities and security guards, managed and run by the staffs from the NorthEast states.
Many other suggestions need to be sought from the NorthEast.
Long Live Democracy!
*************************************
* The Press release is sent to KanglaOnline by Justice for Loitam Richard , info[at]justice4richard[dot]org
PDF Version
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/tackle-hate-crime-in-india-suggestions-submitted-to-union-home-ministers-office-by-justice-for-richard-loitam/
Published: Thursday, May 17, 2012, 10:08 IST By Santosh Kumar RB | Place: Bangalore |… more »
Published: Thursday, May 17, 2012, 10:08 IST
By Santosh Kumar RB | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA
The mysterious death of Richard Loitam continues to haunt the Bangalore rural district police as the medical report has said his death was not due to physical injuries.
In their report submitted to the police on Wednesday, doctors at Victoria Hospital, who conducted the postmortem, stated Loitam’s death was due to a cardiac disease the source of which may be heredity. The doctors prepared the report after analysing autopsy, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and pathology reports, police sources said.
The police said they will now gather information on Loitam’s alleged heart disease and ascertain if any of his family members had the disease earlier.
Senior police officers are not sure whether to covert the murder case into an unnatural death report (UDR) case or book a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 of IPC, police sources said. The superintendent of police (Bangalore district) D Prakash was not available for comments on the medical report as his mobile phone was switched off when DNA tried to contact him while Inspector general of police (central range) Malini Krishnamurthy did not pick up calls.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/latest-finding-richard-loitam-died-due-to-cardiac-ailment/
Richard Loitam, a Manipuri student in Bangalore who died reportedly after he was assaulted by… more »
Richard Loitam, a Manipuri student in Bangalore who died reportedly after he was assaulted by his fellow students, presumably was not the first student who died resulting from nasty brawl amongst students; and under the criminal justice system of this country, this is also not the first case that concerned authorities have refused to follow up a case properly or sought to cover-up crimes. Given this, one must ask and be honest as to why so many, particularly from the Northeast, have come out crying for “Justice for Richard Loitam”? The answer will invariably bring a context which will speak, not only about the nature of the present case but also the nature of the response against the death of Richard Loitam.
Justice for Richard – Protest at Delhi : Click the image to view the gallery
Racism and Its Violence: It’s Not a Private Affair Alone
We must ask four questions in order to put the unfortunate death of this young student from Manipur in perspective:
Answers to the above questions shall tell us something about “racism” vis-à-vis the present case. Indeed, these four questions will reveal that Richard’s case is a larger concern which has a collective stake rather than being merely a case of justice for an individual or a family. For instance, it seems, going by the preliminary post-mortem report and pictures of Richard’s dead body and his room that are being circulated on net, the nature of the injuries that had led to his death were not the results of a regular brawl with his fellow students who did not have the intention of causing injuries that might lead to his death or a consequences of a scuffle in which Richard fell and got injured. Prima facie, these pictures and the preliminary post-mortem report seem to suggest that the injuries that led to his death were results of a brutal assault. It is here that one is forced to think of the intent of those who allegedly assaulted him, and the above first question gets implicated in the present case which simultaneously makes Richard’s death a part of a larger issue of “racially” motivated acts.
Besides, legal fraternity will tell us that large part of the denial or subversion of justice under the criminal justice system in the country starts with the lowest level of the system, that is, the police. From refusal to register the FIR or registering it in ways that are detrimental to the victims to shoddy investigations, the denial or subversion of justice began from there. And more than any other class of people, it is the marginalized and weaker sections of the society who are more likely to face such an experience of subversion of justice is a well known fact. There is no point in denying that there had been an attempt to subvert justice by seeking to brush aside Richard’s death as a natural death and hush up the case. After all, the present outcry has been a reaction to such an effort to subvert justice. This being the case, what are the reasons for the attempt to subvert justice by the concerned authorities? Is it a case of familiar attempts of our criminal justice system which often denies justice to the weaker or marginalized sections of the society (here, the case being that Richard was a member of a particular people from a particular region which is marked by a marginal status vis-à-vis the larger Indian society)? It is this aspect of the present case which implicates the above second question, which, in turn, makes Richard’s death a collective concern over and above being a concern of his family and friends.
Needless to say, the outpouring of resentment and anger against the manner in which he was allegedly assaulted that led to his death and the initial responses of the concerned authorities have been presumably informed by a general sense of being marked out or differently treated or having faced outright acts of discrimination and humiliation by the people of the Northeast and an empathy with them by other citizens of the country. Only a self denial (due to ignorance or vested interests) of those who are used to seeking private solution (such as buying inverter) to a public malaise of institutional failures (electricity) in Manipur would deny that Richard’s case in not merely a concern or affairs of a private kind (family etc) but that of a public and collective concerns which speak of the place and experiences of the people in/from the Northeast. Arguably, it is also precisely because of this public concern that implicates the people from a geo-politically sensitive region that the Govt. of India and political class scrambled to respond to the outcry.
In order to understand the present case, both the unfortunate death, responses to the same and nature of contemporary understanding on racism, we might as well take note of the following two aspects:
The above aspects, the different “languages” of the majority perpetrators and the minority victim are points to be noted for us to grapple with the violence that has led to the death of Richard Loitam and responses to the same.
Need for Informed and Honest Response
Incidentally, and perhaps expectedly, on the other hand, there are some who have a misplaced, if not a sinister or deliberate, attempt to distract the issues at hand by raising the insecurity-driven-xenophobia which are often expressed in terms of “identity assertions” and violence against “outsiders” (or amongst the different communities) in the Northeast. Incidentally, some of these people who raise such issues have never spoken out against such xenophobic violence before they choose to raise the issue in this case. Raising such issue is not only reflective of a lack of understanding between the two forms of violence but also an attempt to distract, wittingly or unwittingly, from the issue at hand. The present case must, therefore, be addressed for what it is through proper investigations, which entails an informed and honest effort to take into account the context of the violence and the responses to the same.
It has been pointed out that the inmates (Jews/gypsies) of the Nazi concentration camps were/are not the only ones who were/are traumatized by the experience; the camps guards also suffer from the de-humanizing experience. However, juxtaposing the trauma of the camp guards to de-legitimize or sideline the dehumanizing and traumatic experiences of the inmates of those camps can only be a misplaced concern at best and at worst, a sinister move to deny the sufferings of the inmates and justify and perpetuate racism which had produced the Holocaust.
We must also remember that fight against “racism” in any form or manifestation is not an anti-state act. Indian State, constitutionally speaking, is not a racist State. Article 15 of the Constitution makes any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, race, sex or place of birth illegal. If the spirit and letter of the Constitution are not respected or followed by the Government or parties, one must not be apologetic about standing against the same. Notwithstanding the Constitution, we must know that our lived world is not entirely determined or covered by the constitutional provisions or laws. We might eulogize Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar as the father of the Indian Constitution. But, I suppose, Ambedkar must also be acknowledged for his insistence on or preference for “social transformation” over “political transformation”. Perhaps, the Constitution is like an “interview guide” that researcher uses while engaging with the realities of the “field”; the actual outcome depends on what the researcher actually “does” with it. In short, the kind of “transformation” that he had in mind must therefore be judged by what we do with the Constitution. In fact, Ambedkar’s concluding remark in the Constituent Assembly on 26 November, 1949 on “those who are called to work it happen” must speak a lot to us today.
In short, the case of Richard Loitam brings home the familiar lacunae in our criminal justice system and the reality of “racism” with or without “race” which has often been underplayed, if not actively denied, in this country, including by those who are incidentally at the receiving end of “racism”. Sooner we realize this and seek corrective measures, better it would be for one and all. Seeking justice for Richard Loitam must be a part of that effort.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/richard-loitam-racism-and-its-violence/
Richard Loitam, a Manipuri student in Bangalore who died reportedly after he was assaulted by… more »
Richard Loitam, a Manipuri student in Bangalore who died reportedly after he was assaulted by his fellow students, presumably was not the first student who died resulting from nasty brawl amongst students; and under the criminal justice system of this country, this is also not the first case that concerned authorities have refused to follow up a case properly or sought to cover-up crimes. Given this, one must ask and be honest as to why so many, particularly from the Northeast, have come out crying for “Justice for Richard Loitam”? The answer will invariably bring a context which will speak, not only about the nature of the present case but also the nature of the response against the death of Richard Loitam.
Justice for Richard – Protest at Delhi : Click the image to view the gallery
Racism and Its Violence: It’s Not a Private Affair Alone
We must ask four questions in order to put the unfortunate death of this young student from Manipur in perspective:
Answers to the above questions shall tell us something about “racism” vis-à-vis the present case. Indeed, these four questions will reveal that Richard’s case is a larger concern which has a collective stake rather than being merely a case of justice for an individual or a family. For instance, it seems, going by the preliminary post-mortem report and pictures of Richard’s dead body and his room that are being circulated on net, the nature of the injuries that had led to his death were not the results of a regular brawl with his fellow students who did not have the intention of causing injuries that might lead to his death or a consequences of a scuffle in which Richard fell and got injured. Prima facie, these pictures and the preliminary post-mortem report seem to suggest that the injuries that led to his death were results of a brutal assault. It is here that one is forced to think of the intent of those who allegedly assaulted him, and the above first question gets implicated in the present case which simultaneously makes Richard’s death a part of a larger issue of “racially” motivated acts.
Besides, legal fraternity will tell us that large part of the denial or subversion of justice under the criminal justice system in the country starts with the lowest level of the system, that is, the police. From refusal to register the FIR or registering it in ways that are detrimental to the victims to shoddy investigations, the denial or subversion of justice began from there. And more than any other class of people, it is the marginalized and weaker sections of the society who are more likely to face such an experience of subversion of justice is a well known fact. There is no point in denying that there had been an attempt to subvert justice by seeking to brush aside Richard’s death as a natural death and hush up the case. After all, the present outcry has been a reaction to such an effort to subvert justice. This being the case, what are the reasons for the attempt to subvert justice by the concerned authorities? Is it a case of familiar attempts of our criminal justice system which often denies justice to the weaker or marginalized sections of the society (here, the case being that Richard was a member of a particular people from a particular region which is marked by a marginal status vis-à-vis the larger Indian society)? It is this aspect of the present case which implicates the above second question, which, in turn, makes Richard’s death a collective concern over and above being a concern of his family and friends.
Needless to say, the outpouring of resentment and anger against the manner in which he was allegedly assaulted that led to his death and the initial responses of the concerned authorities have been presumably informed by a general sense of being marked out or differently treated or having faced outright acts of discrimination and humiliation by the people of the Northeast and an empathy with them by other citizens of the country. Only a self denial (due to ignorance or vested interests) of those who are used to seeking private solution (such as buying inverter) to a public malaise of institutional failures (electricity) in Manipur would deny that Richard’s case in not merely a concern or affairs of a private kind (family etc) but that of a public and collective concerns which speak of the place and experiences of the people in/from the Northeast. Arguably, it is also precisely because of this public concern that implicates the people from a geo-politically sensitive region that the Govt. of India and political class scrambled to respond to the outcry.
In order to understand the present case, both the unfortunate death, responses to the same and nature of contemporary understanding on racism, we might as well take note of the following two aspects:
The above aspects, the different “languages” of the majority perpetrators and the minority victim are points to be noted for us to grapple with the violence that has led to the death of Richard Loitam and responses to the same.
Need for Informed and Honest Response
Incidentally, and perhaps expectedly, on the other hand, there are some who have a misplaced, if not a sinister or deliberate, attempt to distract the issues at hand by raising the insecurity-driven-xenophobia which are often expressed in terms of “identity assertions” and violence against “outsiders” (or amongst the different communities) in the Northeast. Incidentally, some of these people who raise such issues have never spoken out against such xenophobic violence before they choose to raise the issue in this case. Raising such issue is not only reflective of a lack of understanding between the two forms of violence but also an attempt to distract, wittingly or unwittingly, from the issue at hand. The present case must, therefore, be addressed for what it is through proper investigations, which entails an informed and honest effort to take into account the context of the violence and the responses to the same.
It has been pointed out that the inmates (Jews/gypsies) of the Nazi concentration camps were/are not the only ones who were/are traumatized by the experience; the camps guards also suffer from the de-humanizing experience. However, juxtaposing the trauma of the camp guards to de-legitimize or sideline the dehumanizing and traumatic experiences of the inmates of those camps can only be a misplaced concern at best and at worst, a sinister move to deny the sufferings of the inmates and justify and perpetuate racism which had produced the Holocaust.
We must also remember that fight against “racism” in any form or manifestation is not an anti-state act. Indian State, constitutionally speaking, is not a racist State. Article 15 of the Constitution makes any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, race, sex or place of birth illegal. If the spirit and letter of the Constitution are not respected or followed by the Government or parties, one must not be apologetic about standing against the same. Notwithstanding the Constitution, we must know that our lived world is not entirely determined or covered by the constitutional provisions or laws. We might eulogize Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar as the father of the Indian Constitution. But, I suppose, Ambedkar must also be acknowledged for his insistence on or preference for “social transformation” over “political transformation”. Perhaps, the Constitution is like an “interview guide” that researcher uses while engaging with the realities of the “field”; the actual outcome depends on what the researcher actually “does” with it. In short, the kind of “transformation” that he had in mind must therefore be judged by what we do with the Constitution. In fact, Ambedkar’s concluding remark in the Constituent Assembly on 26 November, 1949 on “those who are called to work it happen” must speak a lot to us today.
In short, the case of Richard Loitam brings home the familiar lacunae in our criminal justice system and the reality of “racism” with or without “race” which has often been underplayed, if not actively denied, in this country, including by those who are incidentally at the receiving end of “racism”. Sooner we realize this and seek corrective measures, better it would be for one and all. Seeking justice for Richard Loitam must be a part of that effort.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/richard-loitam-racism-and-its-violence/
By: Bishwajit Okram, LL.B, LL.M, ACCA “Omg! What in the world? How can anyone be… more »
Justice campaign for Richard
By: Bishwajit Okram, LL.B, LL.M, ACCA
“Omg! What in the world? How can anyone be this brutal? Its someones life were talking about here!! All this brutality for changing the channel? Justice should be given!! Please please!! I beg not only the Northeasterner students or people working in Bangalore but to all the right thinking citizens of India should take a stand and fight for Justice!! R.I.P Richard!”
The Garden City, Bangaluru, one assumes, is a very safe city unlike its counterparts in some parts of India. And yet odour of ‘racism’, a stink given out by the facbookers as an intention suspected behind the murder of Late Richard, emanates from this garden city.
Reporting the dead as related to drugs and the accident the victim had two days ago, was the most idiotic thing to do by the local media.
Putting salt to the wound was the indifferent attitude of the dean of the Institute- the Acharya NRV School of Architecture- Bangalore. He was quoted mentioning some habits and temperaments of the late Richard, as though reprimanding him posthumously not being enough with the fact that the poor boy was no more alive, then; this was totally against the sanctity of respecting a departed soul!
The saddest of all was the extreme casual approach of the law enforcing agency, the Bangalore rural police which has the jurisdiction of this case. ‘Mysterious circumstances of the death’ as often cited by the police sounded like the mysteries often endured in the crime fiction book- Sherlock Homes of Arthur Conan Doyle.
The two rogue hostel mates punched him dead; simple! How mysterious could it be?
It took a Mark Zuckerberg’s company-the facebook, to unravel the ‘mystery’ for the code to be unlocked, for the world to see the gruesome image, and cry in horror with disbelief; the writing in the wall of the facebook became clearer – in all probability (Late) Richard was done to death with a strong vengeance; this is the verdict at the minimum by the facebookers.
The first facebook wall arrived on the 24th of April. The soulless face in the facebook came seeking justice for his death all around the world.
His face smeared with blood all around, the battered mouth that oozed out blood shocking the pillow, the sore and swollen face that of like a beast bitten by another beast, the brutally smashed late Richard Loitam lay asleep in his dead as seen in the facebook wall that arrived on the 24th of April.
One would often wonder why such a thing had to happen within a well secured four wall of a hostel governed by able administrators inter alia the well educated and qualified dean of the institute.
Questions are still not answered: why none of the hostel mates came forward to intervene the assault? Why nobody reported the deadly incident to any authority?
As mentioned in some report, the warden did see the assault, then, why was not he bothered to examine the injuries sustained by late Richard if it was grievous or not?;
Why the Bangalore police was playing pooh-pooh with the case – sometimes saying the death was due to accident, under mysterious circumstances; it was a case of homicide but not murder; but now it is a case of murder but the suspects can’t be arrested; they need to wait for x,y,z reports.
The police tried its best to prove that the case is that of a accident; a television footage showed the police inspector showing to the media personnel the helmet worn by the victim two days before his death-trying to make his point that the severity of the damage caused to the helmet could mean Richard’s death was due to the accident.
The dean also played its part well to shrug off the matter lightly. It took him nearly a fortnight to expel the suspects from college. Under normal circumstances, action should have been initiated the following day – pending police investigation; not for the killing but for breaking the hostel norms and rules, if assaulting and killing is not part of the hostel norms. But he didn’t!
Facebookers , more than 2,00,000 of them are still profusely condemning the killing and, they are appalled by the fact that no arrest has been made so far.
It is reported as the author writes this feature, the suspects are under hostel arrest; it is a kind of ‘ house arrest’ we often come across in high profile politically peculiar cases.
A beautiful quote says, “Racism isn’t born, folks, it’s taught……”- Dennis Leary.
India’s constitution is one of the finest constitutions in the world, particularly the article 19 to 21 are enough for every citizen to feel secured and enjoy the best of the freedoms one can think of.
But, quite often questions arise again and again; there seems to be having a stark difference between what is on the ground and what is guaranteed in the constitution-a total disconnect.
May not be taught in a black and white- but the inaction of the authorities in such cases may imply for it, what the quote above mentioned tries to say.
Many pioneer facebookers of that wall wailed, yelled and, the same were echoed by other fellows on the same questions-racism and justice.
Loitam Richard, aged 19 from Manipur, studying Architecture Engineering at Acharya NRV School of Architecture in…
Posted by Youth Of Indians on Thursday, April 26, 2012
Many cast racism and regionalism when they wrote. One can only hope that was not the case.
Manish Rawat could have yelled on the top his voice when he wrote-” We @%*** INDIAN BREED STILL DONT KNOE NORTH EAST IS INDIA TOO………..”
Marak Jeffrey further shared a past experience, -“…that happened some years ago in Chikmanglur to a fellow NE brother. That incident though was quite conveniently covered up. I hope Richard gets justice.”
Lobsang Tshering Bhutia wrote -“This is racism to the limits…. Heights… People should look beyond barriers of caste nd creed… The people guilty of this dreadful incident should definitely be hanged irrespective of their social and economic status…. Justice should prevail!!! “
Imti Piratelord Ao : “All students from NE and other parts of India studying in Bangalore stand up n fight for him. put damn pressure on the police until they make this case a strong one so that it doesn’t happen 2 u too in the future… “
Issac Buns : “regionalism pure brutal regionalism. . . It is just not happening . . the treatment .tat a student of NE gets is not at all tolerable . We just need answers n justice . It is not justifiable tat he was a drug user witout any sort of evidence . May his soul rest in peace . N justice is just his soul needs . .”
Lhüvevolü Rhakho : “Omg! What in the world? How can anyone be this brutal? Its someones life were talking about here!! All this brutality for changing the channel? Justice should be given!! Please please!! I beg not only the Northeasterner students or people working in Bangalore but to all the right thinking citizens of India should take a stand and fight for Justice!! R.I.P Richard!”
Tshering Choden Bhutia : “northeast ppl r always discriminated.. Only we ppl can understand..”
Mrigank Bhattacharya “R.I.P. Richard…..those monsters who hv done dis wid u, willl burn in hell…..if dere iz GOD….”
Neil Singh: “ ths is the second time in a week tht a northeast student has been killed……”
Deepankar Roy: “If such Incident of a Student from Mainland India Dying in North East would have come Up, The Publicity and the Swift Justice that, All the Mainland States would have demanded invariably can make the Life of North Easterner Hell in MAINLAND INDIA!!! But Unfortunately, We are looked upon as UNTOUCHABLES by our Own Brother and Sisters from MAINLAND INDIA, meant only for Exploitation be it Human Resources or Natural Resources !!!
Heights of INSANITY! WAKE UP u all People from MAINLAND INDIA before its too LATE!!!!!!!!!”
Gaurav Dikshit: “RIP..really sad..Worst form of racism exists in India”
Pry Singha: “har gali mein to kutta bhi sher hotey hai……saley north indian people 1nce u cme 2 north-east dn wl so u…..”
This is, however , not to say that there are no people looking at this issue, rationally from different perspective. Many also explain logically their own perspectives.
Vishnu Vishwanathan: “R.I.P Brother! No matter north east north west , south or north India ! India govtt. has no law strong laws for safety of students …Neither do they concern about student problems ….Thats why there is ragging everywhere …Feels sad but its the truth as i myself was once a raging victim however i escaped death n a story dat wud have circled up d whole f networking sites if i wud have been dead den…Common students lets get n unite togather as community not race based groups to fight Raging in campus ………………!!!!!!”
ALan Sibia : “Its heartbreaking! There can b no justification for taking someone else life. Whethr he ws a drug abuser or not, had a tiffd wt hs mates or not, no person or group hav a rit to end the life of Loitam or any human. It forces me to percept: a) was ther any racial motive behind the killing? b) was he used by the seniors as an object to show off their courage n skills whch comes out only when the number of ther associates are high? c) was ther any deliberate plan of harming him even to the extend of killing him- (complimenting to the level of torment tht one can presumed frm the pic). These are questions whch time wl b answer IF the murderers are to be properly trialed before a court of law. RIP Richard n i doubted if peace n harmony are to exist in the minds n lives of the killers for quite a long time. “
Vishal Chaudhary: “guys it not about regionalism its about the miss done done by some bloodies who should be punished bitterly”
Thankfully, majority of the facebookers maintain the composure except to rent their frustration, which were quite human.
Samsad Ahmed: “saitan banna asan hai par kya insan bane rahna itna muskil hai”
Raj Tewary : “…….acharya institute it shud be burnt down. alongwith those murderers”
Dicky K Gangte Meizap : “This is 3rd degree torture and murder”
Gopal Bhandari : “I think the management should be honestly dealing by compensating and justifying his family as well as all the culprits should be given hardest punishment. Or else this will lead to a big social unrest .”
Hrishi Singh: “the person who hve done this, ussko ko saale ko ssube saamne aise he marne ka order diya jaye,,,,,,,this iss the only way to stop such kind of things”
Milind Wankhede : “So sad yaar. ……. Oh god Where r u”
Monica Witschi Tenzin Chokzin : “Horrifying…..”
Lizza F Hinzz :” is da word humanity not in them…may his soul rest in peace…”
The bottom line is, punish the guilty and deliver the justice to the victim without further delay. For this to happen, it would need an extra ordinary courage for a robust justice system to work. Effectively then, if at all there existed racism, that will automatically go of its own.
Still, the rationality is
“You don’t fight racism with racism, the best way to fight racism is with solidarity.”-unknown
This article is sent to KanglaOnline by Bishwajit Okram
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/the-fight-is-for-%E2%80%98justice%E2%80%99-for-richard-loitam-%E2%80%93-not-for-%E2%80%98racism%E2%80%99-facebookers-still-argue/
By Arijit Sen On the afternoon of July 15, 2004, 12 women disrobed themselves and… more »
By Arijit Sen
On the afternoon of July 15, 2004, 12 women disrobed themselves and stood naked in front of the Indian paramilitary headquarters in Imphal. Together they held a single length of white cloth that had “Indian Army Rape Us” emblazoned on it in red paint. No corner of India had witnessed such a display of anger, ever. The Manipuri women were protesting the gangrape and murder of a 32-year old woman, by paramilitary forces. It was only after this protest by the ‘Imas’ or mothers of Manipur and the publication of photographs of their protest in some newspapers that the rest of the mainstream media woke up. Reporters were sent to Imphal. Stories were carried and awards won. Unfortunately, the principal demand of the protest, the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, fell on deaf ears. Manipur, again, dropped off the national mainstream news cycle. Ironically, in December 2008, the same group of 12 women travelled from Manipur and staged a sit-in protest in Delhi. The media did not find the protests newsworthy.
It is not without reason that Indians from the Northeast corner of the country often feel neglected and ignored. The apathy displayed towards the region by the so-called mainstream Indians is perverse, if not criminal. Currently, the death of 19-year old Richard Loitam and 21-year old Dana Sangma has hit the national headlines. There are protests, debates and efforts to bridge divides. Even then a large number of educated Indians display surprising ignorance. Some believe that the entire debate of ignorance of the Northeast is a myth. Some, still, do not think twice before cracking a joke on the region. In metropolitan India, the dominant image of the region still remains that of a wild frontier.
At Delhi, few months ago, an award winning Indian film critic was looking back with much love at a few days she spent in Nagaland. Or was it Manipur? She couldn’t exactly remember. But she was certain it was the Northeast. That was what mattered most. She seemed happy to have done her bit of exotic tourism. “But oh the roads and the time we spent to travel to “what was the name of the capital city” from Dimapur?, she asked me. “I could have reached Paris in that time”, she underlined. Global citizens have their way of drawing comparisons. I couldn’t fathom the Paris-Kohima trade off even if it was in half-jest. But our cine pandit’s bharat darshan kahaani let my mind go back to what an Ivy League-educated American economist had once asked me, “Tell me frankly, are there any cannibals in Northeast?” I thought there wasn’t much difference between these two entitled and illuminated global beings. Be it an elite Indian or an elite Westerner, for most, the idea of Manipur and that of the entire Northeast even in 2012, still remains that of an area of darkness. It’s an idea that comes with a healthy dose of colonial hangover. Gazeteer’s records hidden away at archives in London, the fountain head of civilisation, have ravingly racist descriptions of Northeast India. In the 19th Century, according to Lord Dalhousie, it was an area full of “pertinacious savages”. An idea not too far removed from what is thought about the region now. In 2008, an Indian television anchor reporting from Nagaland famously said that “the further I travel inside Nagaland, the further I move away from civilisation”. The foundations of the British Empire still appear unshaken in such statements.
The biggest instrument of such a civilisation, democracy and in turn elections, has established itself comfortably in Northeastern Indian states. When it comes to governance in a place like Manipur, for most observers and policymakers what remains of interest is the number of people who cast their votes in elections. In this democracy overdose, many also tend to ignore that Manipur was the first corner in South Asia that elected a government on adult franchise in 1948. That assembly was dismissed, the King of Manipur was put under house arrest in Shillong. A treaty of accession was signed in 1949 under direction of the then Home Minister of India Sardar Vallabbhai Patel of the Indian National Congress. Late Mr. Patel probably would be a happy man to find Manipur’s speedy rise in India’s electoral politics in the last sixty years. A newfound status of a C Category State (from being an Independent Kingdom that was making the transformation to democracy) in 1949 to 60 MLAs and at least 30 militant outfits in active resistance in 2012 the journey has been stupendous according to some, disastrous according to most. Not to forget the inescapable darkness of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act across the state.
When it comes to building bridges with the rest of India, one extreme suggestion is to overlook problems and talk about success stories. Ignore the insurgency chatter, ignore the problems and put the winners, the successful on the hoardings of Incredible India. I met the incredible-then thrice world boxing champion MC Marykom at her home in Imphal in 2007. I clearly remember how she said that for many Manipuris sport remains the passport to a better life, or a job in the police or two meals a day in a training camp. Marykom’s story is one of incredible success against all odds. Yet, for her recognition has been incremental. Not a continuous one as is the case in cricket or tennis. It is almost to hide the embarrasments of racial hatred against people from Northeast India, an embrace of a Marykom seems imperative.
That embrace, however, fails to erase certain facts. The Ministry of Development of Northeast Region has released 138 billion rupees in the last ten years. However, the funds have either been misdirected or not used at all. According to the Human Development and Infrastructure Index mentioned in the Twelfth (2005-10) Finance Commission Report, the seven Northeastern states rank the lowest in infrastructure development. Basic facilities like elecricity, water, roads are absent in most of Northeast. There are local militias calling the shots in various places and in many places the ideology of resistance has been replaced by the convenience of money-sharing arrangements between local militias and bureaucracy. The Justice Manisana Commission report (2008) on the misappropriation of funds in North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council mentions how funds meant for development work were chanelled to militants and some departmental officers in Assam received their due share. In 2012, an Austrian Company moved out of oil exploration work in Assam, after they were asked to pay 70 lakh rupees by a faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam. There are at least 30 active militant groups in the region. The government is negotiating with at least 15. Every year, like a ritual, signing of ceasefire agreements and surrender ceremonies keep alive the lies and deception of peace building in Northeast India. Behind all changes in the region, this remains a constant.
What also remains constant despite all efforts is the attitude of the Indian bureacucracy towards the region. In 2007, an Indian Police Service official wrote a booklet for students from Northeast who come to study in Delhi. In “Security tips for Northeastern students” racial profiling was the underlining theme. It had instructions for women from the Northeast to avoid wearing revealing clothes and dress according to the sensitivity of the local population. “Avoid lonely roads/bylanes when dressed scantily”, it counselled, clearly implying that women from the Northeast display too much skin. It also objected to Northeastern food habits, especially the cooking of akhuni and bamboo shoots, saying “smelly dishes should be prepared without creating ruckus in the neighbourhood”. Ironically, the booklet was written by an IPS officer from the Northeast who considered these exhortations to be in the interest of ‘emotional and patriotic integration”.
Suddenly, when it comes to Northeast civil liberties seem to have been defenestrated. And in a free India integration seems to be taking place at gunpoint. This integration was probably never there and with the deaths of Richard and Dana seems to have gone horribly wrong. Take a look at the the profiling of Northeast India that takes place comes out in various ways. Jonathan Glancey of The Guardian mentions a report of the Indian media in his travelogue, Nagaland: A Journey to India’s Forgotten Frontier ( which too is guilty of making the area appear exotic), where someone suggests that the thriving monkey population of Delhi should be sent to Nagaland because, “the locals will have no problem dealing with monkeys; they will eat them”. This year in February during a dog menace in Punjab, the MLAs decided to write to the Nagaland government. Then MLA Makhan Singh, a member of the Vidhan Sabha Committee wrote that “besides looking for a provision in law to kill stray dogs we are working out the possibility of sending the canines to Nagaland, where dogs are commonly sold for meat”
After the death of Richard Loitam and Dana Sangma and a campaign for justice for them, Indian Parliament discussed Northeast last week. Arun Jaitley and P Chidambaram spoke with much passion. They spoke of helpline numbers for the students. They spoke about sensitizing the rest of India about the region. I am told most of Manipur could not catch them on TV. The region just gets one hour of electricity in a twenty four day.
Email: arijitsenmail@gmail.com
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/richard-loitam-an-alien-in-his-own-country/
By Jagdamba Mall “Bhaiya mat maaro” were perhaps the last words of Richard Loitam… more »
By Jagdamba Mall
“Bhaiya mat maaro” were perhaps the last words of Richard Loitam – a 19 year Meitei Hindu 1st year student of architecture at the Acharya NRV Institute of Architecture, Bangaluru on 17th April 2012 who came to Bangaluru with the dream of becoming an architect but died instead after being attacked by two of his seniors – Vishal Benerjee and Syed Afzal Ali – both from Jharkhand in his college hostel on that fateful day. The two seniors had attacked Richard Loitam following an argument over watching an IPL match in the college hostel.
As per the report gathered from the fellow students who were present at the time of brawl, Loitam’s head was forcibly pushed against the window rods of hall. His head and vulnerable and sensitive parts of his body bore marks of severe assaults with some blunt object and was bleeding profusely from mouth and nose. When the door of his room did not open next day i.e. 18th April 2012 till noon and he was not responding to any loud call, he was found dead when his door was break-opened. Richard Loitam was a cheerful and obedient son of his doctor parents in Imphal, Manipur. He was an avid footballer, a music lover, cordial, sincere and bright student.
Instead of showing a human sympathy to the innocent victim student and his wailing parents and family members, the police and management concocted the story of Loitam being a drug addict who met with an accident because of which his death occurred. Even on the lapse of 21 days of filing this report on 9th May 2012, the culprits – Vishal Benerjee and Syed Afjal Ali are still not arrested and are in the hostel under police protection. They are neither rusticated nor punished in any manner even though a case of murder has been lodged in the police station under section 302 and 306 of Cr.P.C. They are attending regular classes.
On hearing the news of death of Richard Loitam, the team of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) under the leadership of Ningombam Sanjeev Kumar – a resident of Imphal (Manipur) and a research scholar Ph.D. student in Management in Bangalore University who is a national executive member of ABVP, visited the place of incident, took the stock of situation, met the College Principal, warden and all other concerned faculty member and employees and submitted a memorandum to Principal expressing the anguish over the inaction of police and college authorities and instead spreading over the mischievous propaganda against the dead – Richard Loitam. ABVP organized protest rally and submitted a similar memorandum to Shri R. Ashok, Home Minister of Karnataka Government as well, but in vain.
Back home, the student bodies in Manipur and other States of North-East Region are continuously agitating demanding the justice from State Government of Karnataka and Union Government. The print and electronic media has given a large coverage to this incident. The agitators clearly say if the victim was from any other State out of North-East Zone and the culprits/murderers were from North-East Region, could the law enforcing agencies under the control of Karnataka Government and Union Government remain as inactive as they are in this case? Such step-motherly behavior of Delhi and Bangaluru adds to already existing segregation and disenchantments in the minds of people of NE Region. The anti-national forces most active in Manipur and other NE States add fuel to the fire. To extinguish the fire of discontent and discrimination, the concerned Governments of Karnataka and Delhi must act decisively to do justice to the victim and his parents to restore the confidence.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/punish-the-murderers-of-richard-loitam-of-manipur/
Livemint – Posted: Fri, May 11 2012. 11:34 AM IST Pramit Bhattacharya The uproar over… more »
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/the-angry-northeast/
By Y. Jajo Two recent incidents, one within the state and the other outside the… more »
By Y. Jajo
Two recent incidents, one within the state and the other outside the state, have captivated the readers of the local dailies in Manipur, including myself.
Both are death and gone. May their souls rests in eternal peace.
What is interesting, and also of significance, to note is not the death per se of the two individuals mentioned above but the way the living respond to the deaths which reflect the deeply rooted structures of inequality in the society.
Shortly after the death of Loitam Richard, ‘Justice for Loitam Richard’.facebook.com, came into being.
The newspapers reported that 190,000 people registered immediately thereafter and the number was rising.
Candle lights vigils, sit-in protests, marches, condemnations etc. against the ‘mysterious’ death of Loitam Richard and for speedy delivery of justice were organized and continues to be organized across the country. Apparently, the nation in general, and the ‘northeasterners’ in particular, have suddenly woken up to brute injustice, or so it seems, through Loitam Richard’s ‘mysterious’ death.
Every day the front pages of all the leading local newspaper in Manipur carry big headlines and pictures of ‘Justice for Loitam Richard’. In it one see the faces of the young and the old, the foolish-looking and not-so-foolish looking, the enchanted and disenchanted, some seen herding them, all coming together demanding justice for Loitam Richard. Eulogy floods the limited editorial space of these dailies.
One of the intellectuals of the state wrote in a local daily:
‘He definitely must be a boy who had Manipur in his mind and heart so closely that even his death has played such a wonderful role to shake up the Indian psyche as never before’.
I have not had the opportunity to log in or browse the net for some time now. I am sure the traffic would be heavier there.
Forget dying, Loitam Richard would never have thought of becoming a martyr either as he is made out to be by the media. To conjecture and attribute so much after the person is no more reeks of something dubious; something more than just the ‘mysterious’ death. By the way, where is Kumari Premila all this while? Wasn’t her corpse charred beyond recognition – like an overdone barbecue – and head-less when it was found by the police?
Why is the inhumane, brutal and gruesome nature of her murder not advocated and given equal space like Loitam Richard’s?
If brutality or gruesome-ness is the yardstick for visibility, I guess Premila has an edge over Richard. But then, when this is not so, one is tempted to asked could it be the gender of the victim, the location of the death or is it a reflection of the wider socio-economic and cultural divide that marks the contemporary neo-liberal capitalist society largely driven by a patriarchal ideology – ‘Loitam’s Law’
(See Imphal Free Press, 6/5/2012, Editorial page, Manipur’s Time: Our Turn to Catch)?
That Loitam Richard died very young is sad. Moreover, the deliberate attempt to hush up the cause of the death by certain interested parties is condemnable. Justice must be delivered. Yes, justice must be delivered to Loitam Richard not because of his gender, youth, or being a ‘northeasterner’; justice has to be given because injustice has been committed. A murder is murder. The on-going attempt by many individuals and groups to harp on the attention generated by the media over the death of Loitam Richard to the calculated silence on Kumari Premila’s murder or the gang-rape of Mrs. Janthailiu Kamei that happened in our own backyard by our own people is very disturbing? Isn’t it said that charity begins at home? Are we saying that justice must be equated to the capacity to generate a higher level of decibel? How is one death different from another death when death is the scale? The calculated silence and apathetic approach to the increasing crime against women in the state by the media and the concerned agencies of the state speaks volume about the cockeyed notion of justice permeating our society.
For instance, in the gang-rape of Mrs. Janthailiu Kamei, where the perpetrators of the crime includes members of the state machinery, the response of the media and the public is still less than venerable. Moreover, beneath the apparent coming together of some civil society based groups condemning the gang-rape and the call for awarding befitting punishment to the culprits, the divide based on elemental forces like gender, ethnicity and minority-majority seems to underline the fellowship. Interestingly, the way it is represented in the prints appears so shabby and incoherent that it generally escapes the eyes of the serious readers
(See Letter to the Editor, Hueiyen Lanpao, Dated 7/5/2012
“ On Gang rape of Jangthailu and brutal killing of Premila). Silly writing mistakes, avoidable errors, unconnected sentences etc. all go into giving an impression that either the campaigners are not as smart or the media just don’t care. Therefore, the public need not bother.
With due reverence to the departed souls and condolences to the bereaved families, I would like to strongly contend here that what is being played out in the media today is disturbing for the reason that inequality in the society is being perpetuated in the ways we respond to the issues happening around us.
Issues like ‘us’ versus ‘them’, men versus women, the ‘haves’ versus the ‘have-nots’ etc. continually gets reflected in our responses as we fail to note the embedded-ness of the existing inequalities and the hegemony of the state and the media dictated means of responses.
One needs to be conscious of the means and ways of responding to the issues confronting us ensuring that our responses do not perpetuate the ills that plagued our society. One need to remember that media and the urge to be in the limelight has become strange bed-fellows in this time and age.
I guess it is time the media savvy-based- canvassing steps aside for a more justifiable channel and forms of protest for ensuring justice for all transcending the gender, regional and economic divide. The media needs to represent issues in a more democratic manner and shed its penchant for selective amnesia.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/two-deaths-and-a-lie/
The lyrics Verse 1: Big Deal My mind states very disturbed/ please bear wit me… more »
Verse 1: Big Deal
My mind states very disturbed/
please bear wit me i Wana be sharing these thoughts/
n i know there is no law/
but goddam where is the love?
Feels like mother earth’s heart-broken/
the cut’s so deep its bleedin n open/
all this violence your tv’s provoking/
very ironic that ppl get killed over tv remotes!
“really?”
“see you don’t even know”/
ppl ignorant, they just got their own/
they don’t give a Shit bout the Shit outside their homes/
until they step on Shit,
“Shit! Gross”/
yday was ansh today its Richard/
moro its ur fren, day after its ur sister/
so stand up 4 ur beliefs, don’t just Sit/
if you want it, raise your voice n say”I want justice”/
Verse 2: Shree Sen
Human, losing humanity
Got stuck in the idiotic word TV
Manobikota’ aaj boro song’in / Humanism is dying rotten alone
Look around/ deykho aaj sudhu hing’sa/ Look Around, all you can see is HATE
No one listens/ jibon aaj mith’thay/ No one listens, life is a living LIE
Khotobikhoto pran/ nai tar mul’lo?/ Life is mourning, doesn’t have a value!
Monushot’to nei’/ sob aaj mrito/ Humanity is over, it’s all dead now
Think about it, so many are dying/
Harassment, Racism, Physical Abuse and
Kayray nilo nis’paap pran, jibon dhong’so, / Taking away an innocent life
Kothin ek odh’dhai ai holo sotto? / Fact of life is nothing but stuggle
Nikris’to’tar udahoron, nai richard’o/ Example of brutality, we have lost Richard now
Wa hai’niag’I lait’ray thawa’I khubak’ta Haptuna chat’li ai
– I don’t have words to say, with soul in my
palms I walk (risking my life….)
Don’t have any words/ bak’kohin ami/ I’m left with no words
Bikhip’to kotha niya/ agiya choli/ I move ahead with heavy words.
Boli ai hobay sesh, punora’bri’t’ti’r/ Lets say, we are gonna stop this madness
Come out, lets stop it/ chai bichar noi fakhi!/ We want justice, won’t let it escape
Veerse 3: Zing
lets take a moment to recollect;
lets call our thoughts and redirect:
if you still have a brain, a lil intellect(left)
oh lord, will you ever
resurrect back???
since when did people die of cuts and bruises?
a broken helmet is the proof, murderers loose;
painting the image of a victim with “drug-abuse”;
(got me wondering if ) the media is clean or did they “drug” the “news”?
the government is deaf , the ministers are mute;
so they justify girls bein raped cuz some people think their “skirts” are “LOOSE”??
or is it bout the looks?
for that, im sorry brothers, we aint born to choose;
born light-skinned, chinky-eyed, therefore, abused??
“GUILTY” of being “DIFFERENT” and they (wanna) hang the ACCUSED.
its time we rise above “ASAINS”, “BLACKS” AND “JEWS”..
RICHARD, DANA, ANSH, WE ALL STAND FOR YOU……
meanings…:-
1. “since when did people die of cuts and bruises?”
*(they say richard died due to a minor accident that happened a couple of days before he died)
2. “broken helmet is the proof, murderers loose”
*(they found some scratches, dents on richard’s helmet and now that is “proof” that richard died in the accident)*
3.painting the image of a victim with “drug abuse”-
*(they say richard died due to drug abuse)*
4.” so they justify girls bein raped cuz some people think their “skirts” are “LOOSE”??”
*(they say girls wearing short dresses are inviting rape, sexual harassment intentionally.. they blame the victim, not the criminal..*)
Source: Two Much Reverbnation
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/justice-two-much-shreesenprod-by-suraj-sarja-by-two-much-richard-loitam/
Dr. RK Bidyabati, mother of Richard Loitam from Manipur demanding a swift and fair investigation… more »
Dr. RK Bidyabati, mother of Richard Loitam from Manipur demanding a swift and fair investigation into her son’s sudden death
Source: IBN Live
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/video-blog-richard-loitams-mother-speaks-out/
Bangalore, May 9, 2012: The Hindu He(Narasingh, Former Minister, Manipur and CPI state secretary, Manipur… more »
Bangalore, May 9, 2012: The Hindu
He(Narasingh, Former Minister, Manipur and CPI state secretary, Manipur ) submits memorandum to Chief Minister on behalf of student’s father
Loitam Rajeshkumar, the father of Manipuri student Richard Loitam, who died on April 17 under mysterious circumstances in Bangalore, has appealed to the Karnataka government to order a CBI probe into the matter and arrest the culprits.
A memorandum in this regard was submitted to Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Monday through M. Narasingh, the former Art and Culture Minister of Manipur.
A student of Acharya’s NRV School of Architecture, 19-year-old Richard died in his sleep on April 17.
While Richard’s family and friends alleged that he was beaten to death by two of his seniors, the police have maintained that the boy died of injuries he sustained in a road accident two days before his death, and registered a case of unnatural death. However, following public outcry and an opinion among forensic experts that the boy could have been beaten to death by more than two students (based on the nature of wounds sustained), the police have now registered a case of murder. However, no arrests have been made.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/former-manipur-minister-seeks-justice-for-richard-loitam/
Bangalore, May 8, 2012, DHNS : The Manipur unit of the CPI on… more »
Addressing reporters here, Secretary of Manipur unit of CPI and former minister M Nara Singh charged the college management with playing tricks over the incident.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/college-covering-up-richard-loitam-case-says-cpi-manipur/
Mohit M. Rao In the wake of the death of Richard Loitam, a Manipuri Meitei,… more »
Mohit M. Rao
In the wake of the death of Richard Loitam, a Manipuri Meitei, organisations from across the city participated in the “Justice for Richard” protest.
As a member of the Manipuri Meitei Bangalore Association (MMBA), Jenial Thiyam was surrounded by those from Bangalore Manipuri Students Association (BMSA), Tangkhul Student Union Bangalore (TSUB),Kuki student Organisation (KSO), Zaliarong Student Union Bangalore (ZSUB) — each representing the different ethnicities from in and around Manipur.
“It was only during the protest did I know of the various organisations and associations in the city,” said Mr. Thiyam.
Diverse groups
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/what-is-needed-now-is-a-common-platform-manipur/
The Madanayakanahalli police on Monday briefed a police official from Manipur about the progress of… more »
The Madanayakanahalli police on Monday briefed a police official from Manipur about the progress of investigation into the death of Manipuri student Richard Loitam at a city college hostel.
Following widespread protests, the Manipur government had deployed superintendent of police Potsangbam Dhanakumar to assess the speed of investigation and also check whether the attack was a racist one, or whether other Manipuri students in the city too were facing similar problems.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/loitam%E2%80%99s-report-ready-to-roll-manipur/
Sudipto Mondal It rakes up attitudes and discrimination in a supposedly liberal Bangalore Investigation of… more »
Sudipto Mondal
It rakes up attitudes and discrimination in a supposedly liberal Bangalore
Investigation of the mysterious death of Manipuri student Richard Loitam has taken an intriguing turn even as the police continue to probe into the possibility of his death being caused by a road accident.
Based on the nature of wounds the 19-year-old sustained, which include multiple injuries to his forehead, chest, face and thighs, an opinion has emerged among forensic experts that the boy was beaten by more than the two students. A case of murder has been registered but there have been no arrests yet.
While experts are yet to establish the exact cause of the death, the police and the college management agree that Loitam was attacked on the night of his death.
Brawl or racism?
But ever since the teen’s death made national headlines, activists and journalists have agonised over one question — was it an attack on a human being or a crime against humanity?
During the April 29 “Justice for Richard” protest in the city, there were murmurs about racism and hate crime. But protest leaders were quick to dissuade the agitators from making such claims.
“The brazenness of the attack has the classic symptoms of racism,” argues Johnson Rajkumar, Associate Professor of Visual Communication, St. Joseph’s College, who also hails from Manipur.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/%E2%80%98the-loitam-case-was-just-a-trigger-manipur/
Bangalore: Amid growing public outcry demanding justice for Manipuri student Loitam Richard, died under suspicious… more »
Bangalore: Amid growing public outcry demanding justice for Manipuri student Loitam Richard, died under suspicious circumstances in his college hostel here last month, a former Minister from that state on Tuesday demanded immediate arrest of those behind the “killing”.
Manipur’s CPI Secretary and former Arts and Culture Minister M Nara Singh, who met Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda here yesterday, said he was happy with Gowda’s assurance to him that the suspects in the killing would be nabbed.
Singh said Gowda would address students from north-eastern in Karnataka in the next couple of days.
Source: Zee News
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/manipuri-teens-death-arrest-of-suspects-demanded/
By Rajkumar Bobichand Racial profiling and discrimination is something not always reflected in the… more »
By Rajkumar Bobichand
Racial profiling and discrimination is something not always reflected in the statute and other documents of the powers that control peoples who belong to different races. But it is an experience of the people who are discriminated. It is the reflection of relationships between the people who are in powers or more powerful and the people upon whom the power is being exercised.
We know that racial profiling is a form of racism, like, consisting of the policy of policemen who stop and search vehicles driven by persons belonging to particular racial groups vis-à-vis racial discrimination is a discriminatory or abusive behaviour of members of a race towards members of another race.
The issue of racial profiling and discrimination of students and people from Manipur in particular and the Northeast in general has reached its India-wide attention of both media and the powers that be in New Delhi after the all-out protests over the beating of a Manipuri student in Bangalore to death and the death of a girl student from Meghalaya who was studying MBA at Amity University.
There have been a number of reports about the mass exodus of students seeking higher studies and educated youth from the region primarily because of unemployment had been repeatedly hounded in the metropolitan cities and other places in mainland India. A number of students return with experiences of racial profiling and discrimination. Hundreds of rape cases involving Northeast girls are happening on a regular basis right on his doorstep at New Delhi. How the people of Mainland India look towards the people from the Northeast who looks a bit oriental or Southeast Asian is well known to them and the people from the Northeast have been experiencing it for many years. It is well known that they call the people from the Northeast as Chinkee because the Northeast is racially, culturally, linguistically, historically and physically very distinct from the mainland India. In their mindset people from the Northeast is not considered as Indian as there has not been an established oneness between the people of the Northeast and the rest of India. And always look down upon the people of the Northeast.
This is once again confirmed from what the Home Minister of India said, in a reply to Mr Arun Jaitly’s call attention of the Home Minister towards the racial profiling and discrimination against the students of Northeast who go to different parts of India, that the centre accorded highest importance to the development of the Northeastern region as well as prevention of atrocities against the Scheduled Tribes as if all the peoples of the Northeast are all tribes. As India’s Rural Minister, Ms Agatha Sangma who hails from the Northeast said that South India is very different from North India, but no south Indian in Delhi would be made to feel he does not look Indian, we cannot observe such obvious attitude and behaviour of the people of north India towards south Indians. There was an order or guidelines from Delhi police particularly for the people from the Northeast how to dress and behave in New Delhi to avoid molestation, rape and other atrocities towards the people of Northeast. If these are not racial profiling and discrimination, what is it?
The perpetrators will always say that there is no any racial profiling and discrimination. Racial profiling and discrimination is to treat differently a person or group of people based on their racial origins. Power is a necessary precondition, for it depends on the ability to give or withhold social benefits, facilities, services, opportunities etc., from someone who should be entitled to them, and are denied on the basis of race, colour or national origin.
The racial profiling and discrimination is about the mindset of the people who are in power over the other race. The attitude of racial profiling and discrimination turns out as their behaviour, thereby raping and killing of the innocent girls and young women from the Northeast. They insult the people from the Northeast openly in public places in most parts and major cities of India. These are embedded in the relationship of the two distinct groups of people. How many times, how many innocent students from the Northeast will continue to die in the hands of the people in India’s major cities including metropolitans? How many innocent girls and young women who are studying and working outside the Northeast continue to be victims of rape by the people from mainland India? How long will the students and people of this part of the globe continue to protest and demand justice. This is the time to rethink about the relations between the people of the Northeast and the mainland India and act accordingly so that the people of the Northeast can live with dignity.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/05/the-relations-time-to-rethink-and-act/
