Agartala, Oct 21 — Political parties and leaders in Tripura, including the CPI(M), Congress and Tipra Motha Party (TMP), have strongly condemned the alleged racial harassment of a tribal youth from the state by a content creator in Delhi, describing the incident as an insult to the people of Tripura and the Northeast.
In a significant development, Shokeen apologised after the offensive video surfaced on social media and earned him major backlash. In a Facebook post, Shokeen claimed that the video was scripted and that the man featured in it was known to him. He said the man had previously worked at a friend’s cafe in Ahmedabad and described the exchange as a humorous video in which both people were joking. He maintained that he had no intention of insulting anyone.
However, TMP founder and ruling BJP ally Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma urged youth organisations to file cases against content creator Amir Shokeen under relevant laws and demanded that the Tripura Police send a team to Delhi to arrest him.
The Youth Tripura Federation (YTF), the youth wing of the TMP, on Wednesday lodged a complaint at the NCC Police Station in Agartala against Shokeen, accusing him of cyberbullying, racial harassment, hate speech and defamation of the indigenous people of Tripura.
“Today is a sad day that we, as Indians, have to see such things,” Debbarma said in a Facebook post. He alleged that Shokeen had mocked the people of Tripura and distorted the state's historic name, describing the remarks as an insult to the entire state.
“I demand that proper action must be taken. YTF, TSF and TISF should immediately file a case and a police team should be sent to arrest this person,” he said.
A purported video showing Shokeen allegedly making derogatory remarks against the youth, including calling him “chinky”, “China president” and “Michael Jackson”, went viral on social media on Tuesday, triggering widespread outrage across the Northeast.
Leader of the Opposition in the Tripura Assembly and CPI(M) state secretary, Jitendra Chaudhury, demanded an immediate apology from Shokeen to the youth, the people of Tripura, the Tiprasa (indigenous tribal) community and the people of the Northeast.
“It is no fun and games. You have publicly insulted and humiliated a youth of this country, which you also belong to, and by extension, shown utter contempt for an entire community and this Northeast region,” Chaudhury said in a Facebook post.
“Your words and actions will have serious consequences and are unpardonable,” he added.
Chaudhury, a CPI(M) politburo member and former minister, said Shokeen owed the victim a sincere and unconditional apology, as well as an apology to the people of Tripura and the Tiprasa community for the alleged offensive remarks.
The Opposition leader also urged the Delhi Police to take immediate, strict and exemplary action against the content creator.
“Arrest him. Prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. Make an example so loud and so clear that no one ever dares to insult Tripura and the Tiprasa ever again,” he said.
Senior Congress MLA and former minister Birajit Sinha also condemned the alleged harassment and demanded stringent action against Shokeen.
In a post on his official Facebook account, Sinha described the alleged behaviour towards the Tripura youth as extremely disturbing and accused the content creator of normalising racial profiling and sexual harassment of people from the Northeast on social media platforms.
“Racial profiling is not funny. We have seen multiple instances of racial abuse, violence and death in the past, including Anjel Chakma from Tripura,” Sinha said.
The former Tripura Congress president urged Chief Minister Manik Saha and the state police to pursue the matter through legal channels and demanded the harshest punishment for the accused.