NE students find supporter in Rahul

NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he will fully cooperate with the Northeast Students’ Organization in its efforts to check the rising instances of crime against women and men from the north-eastern States.

Sira Kharay, convener of the Northeast Students Organization, said: "We went to meet Rahul Gandhi today to seek his support in fighting the rising crime against the north-eastern community. Not only did he show his keen interest in the matter but also promised us full cooperation. We had a list of demands to fight this dangerous trend of targeting the north-eastern community and Rahul Gandhi said that he will publicly announce his views on our demands very soon. He also said that he will be in regular contact with us."

Union minister Agatha Sangma also condemned the attitude of the general Delhiites towards women from the Northeast. She said incidents of women from the Northeast being molested in Delhi have been quite rampant and the situation in Delhi has been disgraceful.

Meanwhile, Northeast Congress general secretary Sarif Ujaman Lasker told a press conference that they put some demands before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and sought his immediate intervention into the plight of Northeast students in Delhi.

"We have 15 specific demands from the government in order to safeguard the north-eastern community in the capital, and elsewhere in the country from racial bias. One among them is that there should be a 24/7 police control vehicle in vulnerable areas like Munirka in south Delhi where such crimes are often reported from," another student leader said, and added: "We also demand that there should be a special committee to look into cases of crime against north-eastern women. The nodal officer in the police force, who is meant to look into these crimes, should be a person from the Northeast, and there should be certain points included in the IPC (Indian Penal Code) whereby racial discrimination is absolutely not tolerated anywhere in the country." THE SENTINEL