A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court of India seeking that racial abuse and violence against people from the Northeastern states be recognised as a separate category of “hate crime”. The plea follows the death of 22-year-old Tripura student Anjel Chakma, who died in Dehradun after an alleged racial attack earlier this month.
The petition has been moved by advocate Anoop Prakash Awasthi. It requests the court to direct the Union government and all states to set up special police units, nodal officers and awareness programmes, especially in educational institutions, to prevent racial discrimination. It also asks the court to frame interim guidelines until a dedicated law is brought in to deal with such offences.
The plea argues that racial comments and violence against citizens from the Northeastern region are not isolated incidents, but part of a wider pattern that needs clear legal recognition. It says official acknowledgement of such acts as “hate crimes” would help improve reporting, investigation and support for victims. 
The case relates to the death of Anjel Chakma, a final-year MBA student from Tripura. He died on December 26, after spending 17 days in hospital. His family alleges he was attacked on December 9 when he tried to defend his younger brother, who was reportedly abused with racial slurs and called “Chinese” by a group of youngsters.
According to the family, the attackers then allegedly assaulted Anjel with sharp and blunt objects after he asserted that he was Indian. His father, a BSF jawan posted in Manipur, has said the assault was clearly racial in nature.
However, the Dehradun police have denied that the incident was racially motivated. Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh said the incident appeared to stem from a personal altercation and that no racial motive had come to light during the investigation so far. “There was no provocation,” Singh told India Today TV, when asked about the allegations of a racial attack.
