A PIL was today moved in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to put in place a system and framing of guidelines to protect the people from north eastern states in the national capital and other parts of the country from racial discrimination.
The petition was mentioned by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi before a bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam which agreed to hear it on Friday.
The petition filed by seven advocates, some of them belonging to North East, highlighted the recent attacks on north eastern people, including the death of Arunachal Pradesh youth Nido Tania who was beaten by local shopkeepers in south Delhi.
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Rohatgi and advocate Diksha Rai submitted there was no system in place by the Ministry of Home to protect these people.
The Centre, through Ministry of Home, Delhi government and all other states and Union territories, have been made parties in the petition.
The petition said the people of North-Eastern region of the country, who move out of their states in search of better opportunities for studies and jobs, are subjected to racial taunts and violence on a daily basis due to their physical appearances in the hands of people of their own country.
"Most of the people from the region, who return to their states, have one or two tales of horrid, unspeakable and unimaginable proportions where they have been discriminated, taunted, molested, raped and even murdered, and all because of their outward appearances," it said.
The petition also said the crime of racial discrimination is a "menace to the society" and violates the human rights of every person irrespective of his caste, creed, religion, domicile and the right to live with human dignity.
The PIL sought the court to ensure that the culprits of such racial discrimination are punished and to lay down guidelines to protect citizens against it.
