OURCorrespondent
ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Pradesh government has registered a case against a social media influencer from Punjab for making racial slur against a sitting Congress MLA from the state, which went viral on Sunday.
Paras Kumar, who is known as 'Paras Official' on YouTube, had in a video posted in his channel on Sunday termed Congress MLA from the state Ninong Ering as a 'non-Indian' and the state as a part of China.
DGP R P Upadhyaya informed that a case has been registered against Paras for 'racial hatred' and the Cyber Crime branch in Itanagar is investigating the matter.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu in a social media post while condemning the racial comment said that based on the video that aims at inciting ill will and hatred towards the people of Arunachal Pradesh, state police has already initiated action by registering a case against the person u/s 124A/ 153A/ 505(2) IPC.
Khandu further added that the social media account of the person is being thoroughly investigated for details about his activities and technical resources are being employed to gather his current whereabouts.
"Use of social media should be with due caution and any infringement will lead to action as per law," the chief minister added.
Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein condemning the post said that he was appalled and greatly dismayed to see the YouTube post where the person has not only questioned the nationality of a MLA from Arunachal Pradesh but also questioned the existence of the state within India.
"To doubt our nationality because of how we look is a problem most of us from the North East of India face regularly in the mainland. What we look like, how we dress, what we eat and how we live makes us no less Indian. We are proud to be a state in the Union of India where even in the interior most we greet each other with a 'Jai Hind' and primary school children even in the border villages sing 'Saare Jahaan se Achha, Hindustan Hamara' with pride," Mein said in his official twitter handle.
"I strongly condemn this racist and arrogant act of Mr Paras Singh (Bunty). Every Arunachalee and every right thinking Indian must condemn such prejudiced views. He must apologise unconditionally to the people of Arunachal Pradesh. @PemaKhanduBJP @KirenRijiju @ninong_erring," Mein tweeted.
Paras made the comments while reacting to a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Ering recently wherein he had asked Modi to ban the re-launch of PUBG Mobile India's new avatar Battlegrounds Mobile India.
Ering in his letter, had reasoned that the game was aimed at deceiving the government and citizens and should be banned in the country.
When contacted Ering said he would soon file complaints against Paras at the Pasighat police station and crime branch.
Meanwhile, the All Arunachal Pradesh Students' Union (AAPSU) has slammed the comments made by Paras.
The apex students' body in a statement said that the people of the state have been greatly hurt by the remarks made against the state and its people.
"Such incidents are not isolated ones and have been happening time and again in various parts of the country. It is really distressing that despite more than 70 years of the country's independence, people from the state and the north east region in general still face humiliation in other parts of the country whenever they go for work or study there," a joint statement by AAPSU President Hawa Bagang and General Secretary Tabom Dai said.
"We would like to question the Government of India as to why there are no single chapters about Arunachal Pradesh and its people in the NCERT and other textbooks? Why are students from states outside the North-East Region not taught in detail about India's rich cultural and ethnic diversity? There is an imminent need to address cropping up of such divisive and racial mindset while bridging the cultural gaps between different regions of the country as these pose a serious threat to the unity and integrity of a multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-diversified nation like India," the statement said.
"We demand an end to this systematic racism. The Centre has to be serious about the issues concerning the people of Arunachal Pradesh and the North East. Further, through his anti-national remarks, social media influencer Paras Singh has also questioned the very existence, identity and patriotism of Arunachalees. We condemn his racist mindset and demanded the government to book Paras Singh under NSA and relevant sections of the law," the statement added.
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