Sam

“When Students Don’t Come Home” I am writing this as a conscious journalist from the Northeast, carrying the weight of years of silence, loss and unanswered questions. Late Anjel Chakma was preparing to return to his hometown for the holidays, a routine moment of relief every student understands. But that journey never happened. Instead, Anjel’s life was violently altered and ultimately taken in Dehradun, far from home, far from safety and far from the comfort of those who raised him. His death is not an isolated tragedy. It is a painful and familiar reminder for every family in the Northeast that sends its children away in search of education and a better future. More than a decade has passed since Nido Taniam, a young student from Arunachal Pradesh, was killed in South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar. That incident shook the nation’s conscience. Committees were formed, guidelines were drafted, helplines were launched, and special police units were introduced to protect people from the Northeast living outside their home states. Yet today, looking at Anjel Chakma’s death, we must ask: what truly changed? What we have not honestly acknowledged is that the Northeast continues to be seen as “different” in the national imagination. That difference has become dangerous. It manifests as casual slurs, suspicion, ridicule and at times, fatal violence. This mindset was not created overnight and it has not disappeared with laws or advisories. We often comfort ourselves by saying systems are in place. But systems do not control the minds of men. The prejudice that fuels such attacks has existed since the earliest days of our collective existence, passed on quietly, normalised, and tolerated. The question before us is uncomfortable: do we keep forgiving a rotten mindset until more innocent lives are lost? Enough is enough. Special helplines and designated police units are not enough to protect students who are targeted because of how they look, speak or belong. What is needed is institutional seriousness, not symbolic gestures. A dedicated national ministry or statutory body that focuses solely on the vulnerabilities, safety and dignity of Northeastern people across India, without distractions, without dilution, must be debated urgently. Will it work? That remains to be seen. But doing nothing has already failed too many times. In response to Anjel Chakma’s death, the Chakma Students’ Union proposed a protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on December 28, 2025, demanding justice and stronger safeguards for students from the Northeast. This protest was not only for Anjel. It was for every student who left home with hope and returned in a coffin or never returned at all. However, the proposed protest by the Chakma Students’ Union Delhi was postponed after police permitted only 50 participants. Anjel Chakma’s death is not just news. It is memory. It is a warning. It is grief carried by an entire Northeast region. I write this not to provoke sympathy, but to demand recognition, that the Northeast is not an exception within the nation, and its children are not expendable. I write this because silence, at this point, is no longer an option. @pushkardhami @DrManikSaha2 @uttarakhandcops @HMOIndia @DelhiPolice @mygovtripura @tripura_cmo @PMOIndia @NodalofficerNE #JusticeForAnjelChakma #NortheastLivesMatter #EnoughIsEnough #ProtectNortheastStudents