The AG is asked to take up the issue with the Centre
NEW DELHI: In a petition highlighting a racially motivated attack last December that led to the death of Angel Chakma in Uttarakhand, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said those who attack people because of their appearance, language, race, region or origin must be dealt with with an iron fist.ICC bench Surya Kant and Justices Joymalia Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said this while expressing their reluctance to enter the legislative arena and establish a mechanism under the Penal Code to prevent violence committed by the group against people on the basis of race, place of birth and language.Petitioner Anup Prakash Awasthi highlighted recurring instances of violence in many parts of the country against people from the north-eastern states solely because of their physical features, and said they were routinely abused with racist insults.
“The killing of Angel Chakma is not an isolated incident but forms part of a long-standing pattern of racist violence against citizens from north-eastern states, including the death of Nidu Taniyam in 2014 and numerous attacks on students and workers in major cities, a phenomenon that the government has formally acknowledged in parliamentary responses, but left unaddressed by any dedicated legislative or institutional framework,” Awasthi said.
The ICJ-led court said that India’s strong federal character, based on the unity of citizens despite cultural, linguistic and regional diversity, cannot be allowed to be undermined by such crimes, which must be dealt with with an iron fist.The bench said the petitioner’s plea to the court to frame guidelines, on the lines of the Vishaka ruling to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplace, to prevent violence against people on the basis of race, region and language until Parliament enacts a law will be better dealt with by the government.The court asked Awasthi to submit a copy of the petition to Attorney General R Venkataramani and asked the Attorney General to discuss the case with concerned authorities of the Union government.
