Political parties protest against racial attack on Arunachal student

Political parties on Saturday rallied against the death of a student from Arunachal Pradesh who was beaten up mercilessly at a busy market in south Delhi, leading to an outrage among northeastern community against racial discrimination.

The teenager, Nido Taniam, was allegedly beaten to death at Lajpat Nagar on January 29 as he got into a brawl, reacting to a verbal racial slur and taunts on his hair colour, with local shopkeepers.

A delegation of northeastern community met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Harshvardhan demanding justice for Taniam and to ensure safety for other students living in the capital.

Vardhan promised to write a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, on the issue.

"Such incidents are distressing and shameful. I am going to a serious letter to the prime minister of India and the interior minister, requesting them to take steps to ensure their safety in the capital in light of such incidences," he said in New Delhi.

Janata Dal-United strongly denounced the attack saying it was not just another stray incident, but a failure of the nation.

"I strongly condemn it. Kashmir youths also face problems. Such incident has no place in independent and sovereign India," said JD-U spokesperson K. C. Tyagi.

A former lawmaker, Shahid Siddiqui, attacked the newly formed Delhi government for the attack referring to the recent mid-night raid carried out by its law minister involving the Ugandan nationals.

"A very conservative thought has come to power, which propagates that children from outside Delhi will not get admission in Delhi colleges, which says that black people are bad and they indulge in illegal activities. They also claim that people, who are different from them, are wrong and they are spreading ills in Delhi. It is just a beginning, if such thoughts get promoted," he added.

The post mortem report is awaited.