Too much or too less?

[1]

Indians have just at the receiving end of different kinds of discrimination — both at home and abroad.

But we’ve always been racist ourselves and just to prove how serious the trouble was in our own backyard, the Ministry of Home Affairs this week announced a rule that has the entire nation cheering — Calling a North-East person ‘Chinki’ could land you in jail for five years.
Just after the surprise was joy.
“I’m just so happy. The nation’s capital sometimes makes me feel like I’m not part of this country. I realise nobody is going to be jailed but this gesture simply is more than enough,” North-east student Dorothy declared.
The MHA has passed on the directive to officials in states and union territories and offenders are likely to be booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
But this has opened up a Pandora’s box in a country where everyone, from Punjabis to ‘Madrasis’ have been made fun of and feel discriminated.
“What about Madrasis? Didn’t they always call us that even if we were from different states,” some students asked this reporter.
Should Madrasi share the same fate as Chinki? Nobody has an answer to that and many more agree the nation should relish this law instead of thinking up rubbish.
Says M.V. Swaroop, a practising lawyer in the Madras High Court, “This is a first-of-its-kind law in India, one that directly curbs racial slurs directed at people. This law is also bound to instigate other sections of the society, which feel are at the receiving end of racial discrimination, to push for a law to protect them. But the question of proportionality must be addressed here, that whether a five-year term for racial slur, one that has so far been considered normal in a country like India, is justifiable to the offense committed. Also, fair implementation and prosecution are also going to be a cause of concern.”
And as Indians that’s one word we’ve always be attached with — concerned.