New Delhi/Agartala, Dec 29 Leader of the Opposition (LoP), in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, along with the Mizoram Chief Minister and several organisations, on Monday condemned the brutal assault and subsequent death of Tripura student Angel Chakma in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, describing it as a “horrific hate crime” and demanding strict punishment for the culprits.
According to officials and family members, the 24-year-old student, son of a Border Security Force (BSF) constable, succumbed to his injuries on December 26 at a hospital in Dehradun.
The student, belonging to the Chakma tribal community, was grievously injured after being attacked by a group of miscreants on December 9, who allegedly made racial slurs.
LoP Rahul Gandhi expressed his sympathy to the family members of the victim.
Taking to his official X account, LoP Rahul Gandhi said: “What happened to Anjel Chakma and his brother Michael in Dehradun is a horrific hate crime. Hate doesn’t appear overnight. For years now, it has been fed daily - especially to our youth - through toxic content and irresponsible narratives. And it’s being normalised by the hate-spewing leadership of the ruling BJP.”
LoP Rahul Gandhi said that India is built on respect and unity, not fear and abuse.
“We are a country of love and diversity. We must not become a dead society that looks away while fellow Indians are targeted. We must reflect and confront what we are allowing our country to become. My thoughts are with the Chakma family and the people of Tripura and the North East. We are proud to call you our fellow Indian brothers and sisters,” said LoP Rahul Gandhi.
Tarun Prasad Chakma, father of the deceased Angel Chakma, reacting to his son’s murder, told IANS that what happened to his child should not happen to others, and demanded severe punishments for the attackers.
Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha and Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma, former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Tripura Pradesh Congress, and many students’ and youth organisations have vehemently condemned the killing of the Tripura student in Uttarakhand.
Mizoram Chief Minister said in a post on his X handle: “Deeply saddened by the death of a student from Tripura in Dehradun. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family.”
“This tragedy highlights the continuing challenges faced by people from the Northeast in parts of mainland India. Discrimination and racial prejudice have no place in our Constitution, and the rule of law must prevail to ensure justice,” Lalduhoma said.
Expressing his deep anguish and anxiety over the tragic killing of Angel Chakma, a young student from Tripura, following a brutal act of racial violence, former Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh, in a post on X, said: “Racism, discrimination, and hatred against people from the Northeast have persisted for far too long. At the same time, this painful incident must also remind those outside the Northeast to know that the Northeast is not a distant corner of India; it is India.”
“Its people have contributed to the nation in every field, from defence and sports to arts, education, and public service. It is time the rest of the country moves beyond stereotypes and embraces the Northeast not as a margin, but as a pillar of India’s unity and strength. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family. May they find strength in this moment of immense loss, and may justice prevail,” Biren Singh said.
Demanding severe punishment of the culprits, quoting deceased Angel Chakma’s remarks during the attacks, Congress Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said, “I am an Indian, I am not Chinese”, and asserted that people of the Northeast are Indians, not Chinese.
Gogoi said that the case must be investigated in a time-bound manner and the guilty must be given the harshest punishment to convey a message across the country that there is zero tolerance for such crimes.
He also called for raising awareness about the history, culture, languages and literature of the Northeast.
Gogoi said that Unakoti in Tripura, the place Angel Chakma came from, has some of the ancient Shiva temples. He noted that students from the Northeast travel across the country for their studies, and Angel Chakma had also gone to Dehradun for the same reason.
“He did receive education, but also paid with his life”, he pointed out, while expressing grief over his death.
Gogoi demanded that the delay in registration of the FIR must also be probed.
Quoting the family members of Angel Chakma, he said the FIR in the matter was registered 12 days after the incident, which provided enough time to the main accused to escape.
The All India Chakma Students’ Union (AICSU) has written to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami seeking the transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the shifting of the trial outside Uttarakhand, preferably to Delhi, in the case relating to the racially motivated attack and murder of Angel Chakma, an MBA student.
The AICSU, in a statement, said that the family of the deceased has lost faith in the Uttarakhand Police due to serious procedural lapses, including a three-day delay in registering the FIR despite the incident occurring on December 9, and refusal by the Selakui Police station to register the complaint on multiple occasions, which was registered after three days.
The FIR was registered only after pressure from the AICSU, failure to invoke appropriate sections of law at the initial stage, and attempts by senior police officials to dilute the crime by portraying it as a “fight” while ignoring elements of racial abuse.
Tripura Pradesh Congress President Ashish Saha, Manipuri Students’ Federation, Tripura’s Tribal Student Union and several other organisations also strongly condemned the killing and demanded punishment for the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, earlier Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma and his party, the National People’s Party (NPP), also condemned the killing and demanded punishment for the attackers.
Tripura Chief Minister on Saturday spoke with his Uttarakhand counterpart, Pushkar Singh Dhami, regarding the incident.
Dhami informed Saha that five accused have been arrested and placed in judicial custody, and further investigation is underway.
BJP’s ally, Tipra Motha Party supremo Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, on Monday demanded immediate and exemplary punishment for those responsible and announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the main accused, who has reportedly fled to Nepal.
Various youth and students’ organisations on Sunday organised a candlelight march in Agartala to protest the brutal assault and subsequent death of Angel Chakma in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun.
--IANS
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