New Delhi: The use of racist terms to describe a contestant from the northeast on a Colors TV reality show by an anchor has resulted in a massive backlash from the region. Several notable personalities, including Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, have expressed outrage over the language, which was broadcast on national television.
On the ‘Dance Deewane 3’ show, anchor Raghav Juyal, while introducing a child contestant from Assam, used words such as “Chinese”, “Momo”, “Ching Chong” – derogatory terms that are used in several parts of India to describe people from the northeast and have racist overtones. The video clip, which emerged on social media on November 15, has now gone viral.
In the video clip, Juyal is seen introducing the child to a panel of judges, including Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit, in gibberish, but one could also clearly grasp words such as “Chinese”, “Momo”, “Ching Chong”. When asked about who he is referring to, Juyal says he is calling to the stage the one who understands it.
“You may not understand her Chinese, but you will certainly understand her dance,” continues Juyal.
Besides, Juyal is also seen mispronouncing the name of the northeastern city that the child contestant came from – Guwahati – as “Gu-hati”.
Reacting to the video clip, a number of well-known personalities from the northeast across various fields, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Congress leader and deputy leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, and scion of erstwhile Tripura royal family Pradyot Deb Barman have expressed outrage at the comment that smacked of racism.
Several netizens expressed shock that the derogatory terms, which are often hurled at people from the northeast in other parts of India, were used on national television in the presence of Bollywood personalities and were followed by laughter from the audience.
The killing of Nido Tania in 2014 represents the brutal reality of racism that people from the Northeast face in many parts of the country. The 20-year-old youth from Arunachal Pradesh was attacked by a few shopkeepers when he opposed the derogatory terms they used against him to mock his hair and ethnicity. Tania’s death ignited widespread protest from the people of the region, forcing the then Manmohan Singh government to set up the M.P. Bezbaruah committee to recommend measures to stem everyday racism faced by the northeasterners in several parts of the country.
The committee’s report, submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs, has since been shelved, with the Narendra Modi government failing to enforce recommendations and legal measures presented to address the issue. The report also took note of casual racism, specifically referring to terms such as ‘Chinese’, ‘momo’, ‘Ching Chong’ among others.
As for the latest controversy, Colors TV has not yet issued a statement. Anchor Juyal, in a video clip uploaded on his Instagram account on November 15, claimed his statement was “misinterpreted”.
He claimed that when the contestants were asked about their hobbies and interests when they had joined the programme, the participant from Assam had said that she could speak ‘Chinese’, which he said was the same as ‘gibberish’. This, he said, was the reason he had made that comment. However, Juyal was not able to explain why he used the terms ‘Momo’ and ‘Ching Chong’ while introducing the participant.