Kolkata: Darjeeling Students Face 'Racial Taunts' Linked To Coronavirus In 3 Separate Incidents

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, there has been an increase in racial remarks against students from Darjeeling. The abusers largely mistake the students to be Chinese nationals, from where the novel virus spread worldwide.

Narrating the incident, a 21-year-old girl student of Presidency college told The Indian Express, "We were walking from Sealdah to Moulali on AJC Bose Road on Saturday afternoon with three of my batchmates all from Darjeeling and Siliguri when a group of men standing on the roadside said 'coronavirus esheche (here comes coronavirus)' after they saw us."

While the students confronted them, the men argued that they were discussing the disease and denied saying any such thing.

"This is not the first time. One of our friends while travelling on a local train to Sonarpur also faced such comments. It is sad that people would demean us like that because we have mongoloid features. We stay here, we study here, we are residents of this country and West Bengal, yet we have to face this. I told my parents and they are scared," she added.

In a separate incident, a 22-year-old student of Jadavpur University, who also hails from Darjeeling, faced a similar situation in Lake Gardens area, where he resides.

"I was called 'coronavirus' repeatedly by a group of transgenders who had covered their faces as I was waiting to catch an autorickshaw. They started shouting on my face and looked at me with disgust… There were some other people on the street. But no one came to my help," he told the media.

"I do not blame all. I have been in Kolkata for the past five years and have met nice people. But I think these people read in newspapers about coronavirus originating from China and then taunt us," he added.

In another incident that occurred on Saturday, a 21-year-old undergraduate student from Darjeeling alleged that he faced facial discrimination while travelling on a bus. He said that people did not sit near him on the crowded bus.

"I have never faced such a situation in my three years of stay in Kolkata. The bus was crowded, but no one sat beside. They gawked at me. I mean they know we are from the Hills yet why such a behaviour… I felt so bad," the student said.

However, none of the students have filed a complaint with the police.