MYSURU: Two Naga students alleged racial discrimination against them in a supermarket store in the Chamundipuram area of the city on Saturday evening.
Based on their social media posts and CCTV footage, the Krishnaraja police registered a case against 3 staff members of the supermarket store under section 153 (1)( b)188,341 IPC. Meanwhile at the time of inquiry, store staff informed the police that public asked them not to allow these foreigners to enter the store.
The incident came to light when one of the victims wrote a lengthy post about the incident on his social media page. In his social media post, one of the students informed that incident happened when he went to the More store in Chamundipuram with his friend on Saturday evening for groceries. "We were in a queue for almost 25 minutes. As our turn arrived, we went to doors for entry and the security didn't allow us to enter. We told them that we don't have any symptoms and they can check us, the security replied because we were not Indian, he explained.
"My friend and I were immediately offended with their response. But without any further argument, we showed them our ID proof and told them that we are from northeast and college students. But they kept repeating that we were not Indians. We were arguing to prove ourselves as an Indian in our own country. We went back home without groceries," he concluded his post.
He uploaded the video of the incident.
He concluded his post by stating that the world is fighting this pandemic together, nobody should sleep without food. Stop this Racism because of this #Covid-19. If the owner don't feed his dog during this lock down for the greed of his family, the dog cannot survive. Likewise, if the stores can't allow us to even purchase we humans can't survive. Whether it be Indian, foreigners or northeastern or whatever, remember we are humans first and underneath every skin colours or face runs the same blood i.e. 'RED'. "STOP RACISM" ,"SAY NO TO RACISM".
Swift action: as the video went viral, the city police acted swiftly. City police commissioner Dr. Chandragupta informed that a video showing discrimination against Naga migrants in a "More" outlet was noticed in city and immediately FIR has been lodged in Krishnaraja police station and the manager and staff of the outlet have been taken to custody. "We urge people and shop owners/staff to desist from doing such acts and behave responsibly in this time of crisis," he stated.
According to the city police, on Sunday afternoon when they inquired about the incident, the More store staff informed them that they denied entry to the Naga students as public asked them not to allow these two foreigners inside the store.
As the video went viral, strong reactions poured in against the behaviour of the store staff. The More store assured of an investigation on the incident.
In a tweet More store authorities stated that More Retail does not accept discrimination of any kind in its stores. Our stores are open to all citizens of the country. This incident will be immediately investigated. We adhere to all the norms of State & Central Authorities and also request all the customers to follow the same.
Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju also reacted to the incident.
In a tweet, he stated that this is unacceptable. Union Home Ministry has already issued clear advisory to all the States and Union Territories to prevent any such discrimination against the people of North-East. Pls inform the local Police wherever this incident had occurred as soon as possible.
Late in the day, the Krishnaraja police arrested four staff of the outlet over the racial discrimination against the Naga students.
According to a press release issued by the city police, Krishnaraja police arrested Manjunath, 32, customer service associate, Naveen, 30, IT maintenance, Avinash, 26, manager, , and Revanna, staff, under the charges of racial discrimination and denial of the food items.
These arrested staff were booked under the IPC sections 153A (1), (B), 341, 188, 268 section 290.
Based on their social media posts and CCTV footage, the Krishnaraja police registered a case against 3 staff members of the supermarket store under section 153 (1)( b)188,341 IPC. Meanwhile at the time of inquiry, store staff informed the police that public asked them not to allow these foreigners to enter the store.
The incident came to light when one of the victims wrote a lengthy post about the incident on his social media page. In his social media post, one of the students informed that incident happened when he went to the More store in Chamundipuram with his friend on Saturday evening for groceries. "We were in a queue for almost 25 minutes. As our turn arrived, we went to doors for entry and the security didn't allow us to enter. We told them that we don't have any symptoms and they can check us, the security replied because we were not Indian, he explained.
"My friend and I were immediately offended with their response. But without any further argument, we showed them our ID proof and told them that we are from northeast and college students. But they kept repeating that we were not Indians. We were arguing to prove ourselves as an Indian in our own country. We went back home without groceries," he concluded his post.
He uploaded the video of the incident.
He concluded his post by stating that the world is fighting this pandemic together, nobody should sleep without food. Stop this Racism because of this #Covid-19. If the owner don't feed his dog during this lock down for the greed of his family, the dog cannot survive. Likewise, if the stores can't allow us to even purchase we humans can't survive. Whether it be Indian, foreigners or northeastern or whatever, remember we are humans first and underneath every skin colours or face runs the same blood i.e. 'RED'. "STOP RACISM" ,"SAY NO TO RACISM".
Swift action: as the video went viral, the city police acted swiftly. City police commissioner Dr. Chandragupta informed that a video showing discrimination against Naga migrants in a "More" outlet was noticed in city and immediately FIR has been lodged in Krishnaraja police station and the manager and staff of the outlet have been taken to custody. "We urge people and shop owners/staff to desist from doing such acts and behave responsibly in this time of crisis," he stated.
According to the city police, on Sunday afternoon when they inquired about the incident, the More store staff informed them that they denied entry to the Naga students as public asked them not to allow these two foreigners inside the store.
As the video went viral, strong reactions poured in against the behaviour of the store staff. The More store assured of an investigation on the incident.
In a tweet More store authorities stated that More Retail does not accept discrimination of any kind in its stores. Our stores are open to all citizens of the country. This incident will be immediately investigated. We adhere to all the norms of State & Central Authorities and also request all the customers to follow the same.
Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju also reacted to the incident.
@AnirbanGogoi10 More Retail does not accept discrimination of any kind in its stores.Our stores are open to all cit… https://t.co/w5nMgJmWrN
— More Retail Limited (@moremegastores) 1585486373000In a tweet, he stated that this is unacceptable. Union Home Ministry has already issued clear advisory to all the States and Union Territories to prevent any such discrimination against the people of North-East. Pls inform the local Police wherever this incident had occurred as soon as possible.
Late in the day, the Krishnaraja police arrested four staff of the outlet over the racial discrimination against the Naga students.
According to a press release issued by the city police, Krishnaraja police arrested Manjunath, 32, customer service associate, Naveen, 30, IT maintenance, Avinash, 26, manager, , and Revanna, staff, under the charges of racial discrimination and denial of the food items.
These arrested staff were booked under the IPC sections 153A (1), (B), 341, 188, 268 section 290.
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