Claim they are denied accommodation because of prejudices prevalent among Bangaloreans
Claim they are denied accommodation because of prejudices prevalent among Bangaloreans
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While there have been past instances of North Indians being snubbed in the city, this time it is the North-Eastern folk who are at the receiving end.
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An increasing number of visitors to the city from the North East said it was difficult to find accommodation due to the prejudices in the city.
These natives of North East said the city has preconceived notionsu00a0about their culture.
Dorjee Tenzin, a student who came to the city two months ago, said, "There is a general notion in the city that all people hailing from the North East are goons or drug addicts.
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Even after spending a lot of money to come down to Bangalore we are being made to go through this. "
Western influence
Some others complain that based on a few untoward instances the whole community is discriminated. Niha Koptro, an IT employee, said, "For our folk here, the discrimination starts from name calling.
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While that can be ignored, it is becoming very difficult for us to find a safe place to live. Landlords cite religious reasons, claiming that we cook all kinds of meat and play loud western music in the night.
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These things happen, but the situation is blown out of proposition."u00a0 The community said they had written anonymous letters to the Commissioner of Police, butu00a0 never received a reply.
Joint Commissioner of Police Pranob Mohanty, said, "We are here to investigate offences. Addressing such issues do not come under our legal boundaries or framework.
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If a certain community is finding it difficult to locate suitable accommodation, they should seek help from their respective local corporators.
The police is in no position to approach landlords as a preemptive measure either. To deal with the problem, they could also approach the state government to build hostels to accommodate people without any barriers."
Landlords refuse
Vivek Nagar, Eijipura, Neelasandra, JC Road, Austin Town and Koramangala are the main areas where people North East mostly live.
When MiD DAY questioned a few landlords who wanted to rent out their houses, most of them said they would not rent their houses to people from the North East.
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Lakshmi Gopi, a landlord from Vivek Nagar, said, "These people create a lot of nuisance and we like to maintain peace in the area.
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Last year, I rented out my place to an unmarried couple from the North East. Every other day there were brawls late in the night. One day they even took out knives to attack each other."
Some others from around JC Road and Shanti Nagar area had a problem with the 'weird' kind of meat these folk cooked. "They cook beef every other day.
Their beliefs go against ours; we would rather be peaceful than have a clash of ideals in our own backyard," said Govind Swamy, a landlord from Eijipura.
Even as the community continues to battle these pre-conceived notions, those who have found accommodation end up paying twice the rent, just to be left alone and reside in peace.
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