The killing of Angel Chakma in Uttarakhand is not merely a tragedy but a national disgrace, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Monday.
Angel Chakma, a 24-year-old MBA student, was assaulted along with his brother by a group of attackers in Dehradun on December 9. He later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on December 25.
The incident, described as a racially motivated attack, sparked widespread outrage across the country. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, termed the killing a “horrific hate crime” and accused the BJP of “normalising” hatred.
Meanwhile, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor condemned the killing of the young man from Tripura, describing the incident as a disturbing reflection of rising racism and prejudice in parts of the country.
"A young man from Tripura, a proud Indian, was racially abused, dehumanized with slurs like “Chinese” and “momo,” and ultimately murdered. This was not an isolated act of violence; it was the culmination of ignorance, prejudice, and a failure of our society to recognize and respect its own diversity," Tharoor said.
Tharoor expressed shock and shame over what he termed the growing normalisation of racism in North India, often disguised as casual mockery or enabled by systemic neglect. He emphasised that the Northeast, with its diverse cultures, languages, and traditions, is an integral part of Indian identity and not a peripheral region. Despite this, he noted, people from the region continue to face racial profiling, exclusion, and abuse.
Calling for justice, Tharoor said accountability must extend beyond the courts to the collective conscience of the nation. He urged that Chakma’s death should not be reduced to a statistic or a fleeting headline, but instead serve as a catalyst for education, empathy, and reform. He advocated for schools to teach the histories and cultures of all Indian communities and for the media to portray people from the Northeast with dignity.
The MP also called on political and religious leaders to speak out, warning that silence amounts to complicity. Referring to Hindu philosophy, Tharoor said that pluralism and inclusion lie at the core of the tradition, which has historically embraced diversity across tribes, castes, languages, and faiths.
Concluding his statement, Tharoor urged the nation to honour Chakma’s memory through concrete action, and to work towards building a society where no Indian feels alien in their own country.