New Delhi [India], October 24 (ANI): Tipra Motha Party founder Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma on Saturday called for strict action against a Delhi-based content creator accused of making derogatory remarks against people from the Northeast, saying that merely sending the accused to jail was not enough and that channels allegedly creating such content for views and monetary gains should also be blocked.
Pradyot Deb Barma made the remarks after meeting a delegation of the Tripura Student Forum (TSF) in Delhi over the alleged racial abuse and derogatory remarks against a youth from Tripura, Lesongit Reang, in a video made by Delhi-based content creator Amir Shokeen.
The meeting came on a day when Delhi’s Tis Hazari Court remanded Amir Shokeen to five days of police custody in connection with the case. The accused was produced before the court after the expiry of one day of judicial custody. He had been remanded to judicial custody on Friday by a duty magistrate.
Speaking to ANI, Pradyot Deb Barma said, “Look, I am always in touch with the Tripura Students Forum (TSF) in Delhi; I meet with them regularly. Today, Lesonjit Riang—who hails from Anand Bazar, Kanchanpur in Tripura—has also arrived from Ahmedabad; he is the person against whom this shameful incident took place. I simply want to say that while an arrest has been made, this case must serve as an example.
“It should set a precedent that in India, you cannot make derogatory remarks about people from any region, their home state, their physical appearance, or their community. I am glad he has been arrested, but he must be made an example of. Why did he do this? Because he wanted views—and views translate into money. Therefore, I believe that merely sending him to jail is not enough; channels like his—which resort to such tactics solely for the sake of views—should also be blocked,” he added.
“Channels that create videos specifically to make them go viral should be shut down. Only when these individuals are hit where it hurts—in their pockets—and realise that they cannot earn money by producing such content, will a clear message be sent: you cannot mock people from any part of India, especially those from the Northeast,” TMP chief said.
During the interaction, when asked whether he knew the person who made the YouTube video beforehand or had met him earlier, the victim, Lesongit Reang, told ANI, “No, not at all; that was the very first time I met him.”
Asked whether the content creator might have known him, Reang said, “No, not at all. He even mentioned that he is just a friend—part of a group of friends. He said he didn’t know me from before either. There is another friend of his whom I do know, but I had never seen this person before; that was the first time I ever saw him.”
Meanwhile, the Tripura Pradesh Youth Congress on Friday filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Amir Shokeen, alleging racial harassment and derogatory remarks against a youth from Tripura, Tripura Youth Congress president Nil Kamal Saha said.
According to Saha, the content creator allegedly targeted the young man because of his physical appearance and identity as a person from Tripura, reportedly mocking him by calling him “Chinese”. He also allegedly distorted the name of Tripura, referring to it as “Chutpura” in a derogatory manner.
Condemning the alleged incident, Saha said the Tripura Pradesh Youth Congress had lodged an FIR against the content creator and urged the authorities to take up the matter on an urgent basis.
In the court proceedings on Saturday, the Delhi Police sought Amir Shokeen’s custody, submitting that he had to be taken to Ahmedabad for identification and the arrest of other persons. The police also stated that a mobile phone had to be recovered.
Special Judge Shilpi Jain remanded Amir Shokeen to five days of police custody after hearing submissions from the public prosecutor and counsel for the accused.
The case was registered under Sections 192, 196, 352 and 353 of the BNS, relating to provocation with intent to cause a riot, promoting enmity between different groups, intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace, and statements conducing to public mischief, respectively. (ANI)
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