THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Unending crime against people from North East must stop
Chongtham Vikram Singh’s lynching at Delhi means normalisation of violence against ‘dissenters’.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat
Sep 12, 2026
The murder of Chongtham Vikram Singh, a very well respected musician, singer and a teacher from Manipur in the heart of Delhi indicate the prevailing prejudices against people from North East. The lynch mob culture that has been promoted and encouraged by the power in the last one decade has resulted in mushrooming of such ‘nationalist goons’ who know it well that after initial noise, things will be ‘normalised’. The violence leading to murder has often been normalised in the name of ‘hurt’ feeling which does not care for the ‘hurt feeling’ of others.
It is reported that at around 1130 pm on September 6th, 2026, an altercation happened between Mr Singh and the local goons who had been creating nuisance at a local Dhaba near his house. Vikram, 54, asked these goons to stop as their noise was disturbing him and others living in the vicinity. This resulted in further altercation and got physical resulting in brutal attack by them on Vikram Singh who fell on the ground. The matter was reported to the police which arrived at the venue around 1.38 am on September 7th. Vikram passed away at around 6 am as per media reports at the Holy Family Hospital in Delhi.
Vikram, a very well respected musician was associated with number of bands and other cultural organisations where he would perform live. He was also training youngsters in music. Chongtham Vikram Singh was born in Thangmeiband, Lourung Purel Leikai, in Imphal West, Manipur and he migrated to Delhi in 1980 to pursue his professional career in music.
According to Bezbaruah committee report which was formed in 2014, Delhi was the most preferred destination of the people from North East followed by Banglore. It is sad that despite there presence in most of the metropolitan cities the crime and discrimination against them continue unabated.
Abysmal Conviction Percentages: According to reports, out of 2,656 FIRs filed by the Delhi Police for crimes against people from the Northeast between 2014 and 2026, only 33 cases resulted in convictions. This places the overall conviction rate at a mere 1.82%. [1]. Shockingly 1,465 cases were treated as ‘untraced’ which is 55% of the total FIR registered and hence it is just 771 cases which Delhi police is pursuing but the story does not end here. The fact is that only 74 cases are under active investigation according to these reports. The problem is unless there is effective monitoring and implementation everything would be just fad. It also need to be seen as what has been the ‘final’ conviction in these cases. 81% of the women from the North East, according to a report in Times of India, face harrassment and discrimination on a daily basis in Delhi. Nature of Offences: Among migrated women across four major metros (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore), 42% faced severe verbal abuse, 26% faced heckling or molestation, and 23% reported direct harassment by landlords, says the report. Another dark reality is that a majority of the young women dont feel comfortable in reporting to the police.
The racial discrimination against the North East people is India’s dirty reality and spread across the country so none should take shelter as if it happen in Delhi only. An ICSSR study mapped out the prevalence of offensive and abusive language across major metros: Mumbai: 74%Chennai: 72%Pune: 67.3%Delhi: 64% Bengaluru: 43.3%.
The point is simple and clear. Life style, facial feature, language and food habits have made the people from north East target of mockery, abuse and violence in rest of the country. In the last ten years, prejudices have increased against those who dont get fixed into the ‘vegitarian nationalism’ of India. This is a serious issue and responsible for major cause of moblynching and violence. Extra-state actors have grown, local goons have taken as the task of self appointed ‘monitors’. The mushrooming industry of Babas and other Bhudevtas are providing ‘legitimacy’ to their acts and people have normalised it and state appratus simply victimise the victims almost giving full freedom to the goons to do what they are doing.
The regular chanting of people who do not get confirmed to this vegitarian nationalism as anti national has resulted in violence against Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis and a individuals from North East. Look at the new age Baba from Madhya Pradesh asking people to boycott meat eating Bengalis. The entire process is to make people believe as vegitarianism is a virtue and all those who do not possess it are simply unwanted and criminals.
The prejudices against people from North East have a lot to do with their being ‘non confomist’ to the north Indian vegitarian value system hence they face not merely jokes on them but abuses as well as violence. These things are not that simple as being made out. The idea of India is derived from being diverse yet equal in rights. The attempt to create Hindi vegitarian homogenity on people of India is unacceptable and completely against the spirit of our constitution which gives us our right to choice including eating food of our choice and preference towards our mother tongue which may not necessarily be Hindi. Let us learn to accept these diversities which are part and parcel of India and make us a role model for the rest of the world. Diversity is not a weakness but our strength but it would only be possible when we respect the sentiments of the people and differences are resolved through constitutional and democratic means.
We hope the Delhi Police will act fast on this matter and take it to logical conclusion. As I said, it needs to be seen as how much past cases have moved ahead. Our condolences and solidarity with friends from North East particularly the family and near dear ones of Chongtham Vikram Singh. It is important for all of us to not to leave this issue to merely a law and order issue. This is a civilisational crisis that we face and it is time all Indians feel that the discrimination based on caste, color, religion or race will not take us anywhere and will only be detrimental for the unity and integrity of India. We need a united and inclusive India but it is also means that unity does not mean homogenity and but accepting the diversity that make India a vibrant and colourful country.
