Agartala, Oct 21: Politicians across party lines have condemned the alleged racial harassment of a youth from Tripura by a social media content creator in Delhi, demanding strict legal action against the accused amid mounting outrage across the Northeast.
Tipra Motha Party (TMP) founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury and senior Congress MLA Birajit Sinha have all denounced the alleged incident involving Instagram user Amir Shokeen, whose purported video targeting the youth went viral on Tuesday.
The video allegedly shows Shokeen directing derogatory remarks at the youth, including calling him “chinky”, “China president” and “Michael Jackson”.
It also purportedly shows him using offensive language and engaging in inappropriate physical contact with the young tribal man, triggering widespread anger across the region.
Debbarma described the alleged conduct as an insult to the people of Tripura, objecting in particular to a purported derogatory distortion of the state’s historic name.
“Amir Shokeen has made fun of our people and even the historic name of Tripura by calling it C#%tpura. If this is not an insult to us, then what is? I demand that proper action must be taken,” he wrote on Facebook.
He called on the youth wings of TMP to file a case immediately and urged authorities to send a police team to arrest the accused.
At the time of filing this report, the Youth Tipra Federation (YTF), a youth wing of TMP, has lodged a formal complaint with the Officer-in-Charge of New Capital Complex Police Station in Agartala, seeking legal action against Shokeen.
The condemnation has extended beyond the ruling party’s political camp, with opposition leaders also demanding accountability.
Chaudhury called on Delhi Police to take “immediate, strict, and exemplary action” against the content creator, whom he described as a “parasitic and racist influencer”.
“Arrest him. Prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. Make an example so loud and so clear that no one ever dares to insult Tripura and the Tiprasa ever again,” he said in a Facebook post.
Senior Congress MLA Birajit Sinha also expressed concern over what he described as the normalisation of racial profiling and sexual harassment against people from Northeast India on social media platforms.
“Extremely disturbing to see this behaviour towards a youth from Tripura by a person named Amir Shokeen, who has stooped so low on social media platforms, normalising racial profiling and sexual harassment towards people from NE India,” Sinha wrote on Facebook.
The incident has once again drawn attention to allegations of racial abuse targeting people from the Northeast, with political leaders across party lines calling for action over the purported online content.
With inputs from PTI