‘I am not a virus’ – North East Indians call out racist attacks because of Coronavirus

• In Delhi’s Vijay Nagar area, a man allegedly spat on a woman from Manipur and shouted “Chinese Coronavirus Coming”.
• The man has now been booked under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code.
• In another incident, a law student in Mumbai was called a virus while she was grocery shopping.

As the Coronavirus scare spreads across the country, North East Indians have become a target of racist attacks.

In Delhi’s Vijay Nagar area, a man allegedly spat on a woman from Manipur and shouted “Chinese Coronavirus Coming”. The man has now been booked under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code.

Licypriya Kangujam, the eight-year old climate change activist from Manipur, too shared the details of the incident on Twitter.


But that isn’t the only incident. Shiyu Lian Wang, a law student in Mumbai, told Business Insider that she was grocery shopping where some people shouted, “Go Corona, Chinese, virus.” Wang spoke about the incident on her Instagram page with the caption “I am not a Virus”.

View this post on Instagram

My Indian brothers and sisters, let not this COVID-19 get into our brain birthing another excuse to harass our North East folks or stigmatize the affected. I'm hearing so many shocking stories, it's truly disheartening. Yesterday, I experienced it first hand at a grocery store where people were making insensitive remarks like Go Corona, Chinese, Virus. More than the virus itself, I fear the racist assault next time I step out. In this unfortunate situation, we need solidarity not racism!! 🙏🏻 Stay Safe, Stay Strong. #IAmNotAVirus #FuckRacism

A post shared by Shiyu Lian Wang (@_miss.wang__) on Mar 22, 2020 at 1:38pm PDT

As these reports of such racist attacks come in, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday (March 18) said that a strict advisory is being issued to all states to take action on racist remarks against people belonging to the North East.

Rijiju further said that these remarks come in due to “cultural ignorance, prejudice mindset ad lack of understanding”.


Globally, US President Donald Trump has been under fire for his racist remark and having called Coronavirus, “the Chinese virus”.

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Coronavirus cases in India state wise: 415 infected, 24 cured and 7 dead