The recent murder of Manipuri musician Chongtham Vikram Singh in New Delhi has brought into sharp relief a long-standing issue, which the nation has been unable to tackle satisfactorily. Singh, who resided in the capital city for twenty years and worked as a music teacher, is said to have been threatened by some men outside his home after an altercation. The musician was cornered in the third floor of his apartment before he ultimately died of multiple assaults. Delhi Police have arrested eight suspects, including a minor, for the murder but have not made the motive of the crime known. The case has, however, once more raised issues surrounding the treatment of Northeastern populations in mainland India.

Singh’s killing is important since it brings to the fore the discrepancy between the promise of equality enshrined in the Constitution of India and the plight of many of its citizens from the Northeast. For many years, Northeastern communities have been complaining of being victims of racial stereotypes, abuse, ostracization, and even violence in India’s major cities. Their ethnic characteristics have often put them at risk of discrimination, adding up to the idea that they continue to be marginalized socially despite having equal citizenship status under the law.

Committee Reports, Yet no Laws

The problem is neither recent nor unreported. After the 2014 killing of Nido Taniam, a student from Arunachal Pradesh who was assaulted in Delhi following a racially abusive incident, the Indian government set up a committee to look into the issues faced by migrant Northeasters. According to statistics reported by Al Jazeera, about 86 percent of over 200,000 surveyed Northeastern migrants in New Delhi reported facing racial discrimination. 

The committee proposed a more stringent legal framework, better methods of reporting discrimination and measures for the protection of Northeastern migrants. However, very few of these suggestions were ever incorporated into a legal framework.

This reflects a significant flaw in India’s approach. Criminal sanctions resulting from individual incidents may result in culpability; however, they do not deal with the structural issues that facilitate discrimination to take place. Where the government-recommended guidelines are left without being implemented for years on end, incidents of such nature start being viewed not as failures of law enforcement, but as governance problems.

The matter assumes still greater importance when viewed through the prism of the current crisis in Manipur. Since May 2023, there has been a very serious ethnic strife in Manipur between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo. There are hundreds of people dead and tens of thousands displaced. Human Rights Watch has pointed out violations carried out by armed gangs, as well as questionable behavior of the authorities during the conflict.

There have been many criticisms for both the state government and central government on how they handled the situation. In February 2025, the resignation of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and the promulgation of President’s Rule in Manipur indicated the gravity of the political and administrative crisis. However, any change in the administrative set-up would not have been able to solve a problem where the root of the problem was ethnic insecurity, competing claims, displacement and lack of trust.

Furthermore, India’s Supreme Court had to intervene in the Manipur Crisis for issues like problems of the displaced population, protection of their property and religious places, compensation and functioning of the state institutions. The court’s involvement in such matters clearly shows that the Manipur crisis should not be seen as a law and order problem alone, but also as a governance problem.

Insecurity and Prejudice

In this wider perspective, Singh’s murder assumes significance far beyond the case itself. The inhabitants of Manipur have had long-standing experiences of living insecurely in their own homeland, even as migrants from the Northeast have encountered prejudice in metropolitan India. It is thus true that the physical and social distance between the Northeast and India has produced a paradox where communities that belong formally to India can also face exclusion from the social mainstream.

This means that the government's response should not simply condemn isolated criminal acts. India needs more laws against racism, as well as reporting and investigating methods for hate crimes and police training on racial prejudice. Earlier reports and suggestions about this problem can form the basis for this. If nothing else, the neglect of these recommendations poses certain political questions about the priorities of Northeastern interests in India.

Meanwhile, there should be constant political involvement to solve the crisis in Manipur. Reconciliation, rehabilitation of displaced communities, impartial governance, and accountability for the crimes committed by all involved parties are key to regaining people's trust towards government institutions. The security approach is not enough to address grievances which have become entrenched with an ethnic and political dimension.

Whither Political Inclusion?

Another aspect of strategic significance of the Northeast region for India is its location at the borders of the country and connection to Southeast Asia. However, strategic significance should be complemented with political inclusion. National integration cannot be assessed merely on territorial or governmental aspects. It should also be reflected in people's belief that the state will safeguard them equally irrespective of their ethnic, geographical or cultural background.

Thus, Singh's death must not be reduced to yet another criminal case whose coverage will subside once arrests are made. Instead, it should serve as an impetus for the re-evaluation of how India responds institutionally to acts of racial discrimination and its governance approach in general to the Northeast. Indeed, while reacting to events is important, what is even more significant is making sure such events do not happen at all.

Indeed, for India, overcoming discrimination faced by people from Northeast and solving the crisis in Manipur boils down to governance and unity. Constitutional equality can only have substance if it is translated into people's lives. 

Unless there are appropriate institutions, laws, and governance that make that possible, the stories of people such as Chongtham Vikram Singh will keep posing the question of how far India is from realizing the equality promised in its constitution.

(The author is a political analyst and columnist with a deep interest in South Asian geopolitics, international diplomacy and policy reform. He graduated from King's College London with a focus in global governance and is passionate about narrowing the disparity among academia and policy making.  The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at aaravsharmaa245@gmail.com)