“We have filed a detailed action-taken report in pursuance of the findings of the 11-member panel, headed by M P Bezbaruah, on this issue,” the counsel for the Union Home Ministry told a bench comprising Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw.
Taking the Home Ministry’s report into the records, the court asked senior advocate Upmanyu Hazarika, who has been appointed the amicus curiae, to respond by filing his suggestions. “We have dealt with each and every aspect of the findings of the Bezbaruah committee and have come out with the proposed actions,” Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for Ministry, said.
The court has fixed the matter for further hearing on November 12.
Earlier, the Centre had set up the Bezbaruah panel after 19-year-old Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania was killed in an alleged racial attack in Lajpat Nagare locality here earlier this year.
The panel then submitted its 80-page report to Home Ministry saying the national capital was ahead of the rest of the country in “racial discrimination” against people from the northeastern region.
As per the report, over two lakh people have migrated to Delhi from northeastern states between 2005 and 2013 and about 86 per cent of them have faced some form of racial discrimination.
The people from the Northeast faced more problems in Delhi as compared to other metros like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata, the report had said.
It has suggested several long and short-term measures to tackle the issue after consulting various ministries and departments.
One of the suggestions said serious legal reform was necessary by changing the IPC to make racial discrimination an offence and introducing special police units and fast track courts for trying hate crimes.
The report had also said over two-thirds of women from the Northeast have reported that they faced discrimination or harassment in Delhi.
The committee has also suggested NCERT introduce certain aspects of the “Northeast ethos” into the curriculum to “integrate each aspect of the region into the consciousness of the people outside.” Resources of the Information and Broadcasting ministry could also be used to create awareness about this issue, the report has said.
The court had earlier expressed anguish over continuing incidents of violence against people from the Northeast despite its orders and sought a report from the government on the steps taken by it to curb “the menace plaguing the society”.
Delhi police had told the court that a Special Police Unit (SPU) has been set up for dealing with such crimes and the SPU has been effective as required actions are being taken promptly.
The court had taken suo motu cognisance of media reports about the death of Tania, son of an Arunachal MLA.
The fresh hearing in the PIL is centred on the death of a Manipuri youth in south Delhi on July 20 after being assaulted by five persons.
Earlier, the court had issued a slew of directions to ensure the safety and security of people, hailing from northeastern states, here and said the police from those states can be deployed in Delhi to instill faith in the victims.
It had also asked Delhi Police to take preventive measures besides sensitizing the police force towards the need and grievances of people hailing from that region.
Besides recruiting northeastern citizens in police, the bench had asked Delhi Police to establish a special unit on the lines of Crime Against Women cell to redress the grievances of persons of that region.
Source: The Shillong Times
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