It is one thing not to know much about the people from the Northeast and quite another to reduce them to stereotypes. Worse, such perverse profiling of a people can lead to strange abuses. The “racial discrimination” against women from the region in New Delhi is a case in point. Those who abuse women need no reason other than their own criminal tendencies. But perverse ideas about the women from the Northeast seem to make matters worse for them. It is thus understandable why politicians, social workers and other sections of the people in Manipur are upset with the trend. But the abuses actually reflect the insensitivity that marks most Indians’ attitudes to the people and problems of the Northeast. The region is painted either as a fairy-tale land with exotic cultures and customs or as a dark corner of India where only tribal militancies reign. There is little understanding of the hopes and aspirations of the common people who, like those in any other part of India, want to live in peace and work for a better life. True, the armed insurgencies and the State’s battles against them cast a shadow over their lives. But all that does not stop boys and girls from Manipur and other states in the region from going out to big cities in search of a better future.

However, the uproar in Imphal over the discrimination in New Delhi is a welcome sign. More so because the loudest protests came from the women. This is no flash in the pan. The women of Manipur are known to stand up and speak against sexual and other harassments inside the state or outside it. Their unusual show of anger and defiance in protest against the death of Thanjam Manorama in 2004 may have shocked the country, but it was a rare tribute to their fighting spirit. This spirited refusal to accept humiliation is at the heart of any protest. Politicians in Imphal can take up the issue with the administration in New Delhi. But it is the public outcry that may do more to inspire a better understanding of the region and its people. New Delhi may not be the only place where ignorance about the region leads to insensitivity towards its people. Official propaganda on national integration has obviously not changed attitudes. But the nation that lives with such ignorance of its own people usually has to pay a heavy price for it.