Time heals everything, they say. But the adage holds true only if time really goes by. The tyranny of time is that it loses its healing power if it keeps repeating itself.

No matter how much politicians want to portray the Northeast as one integral part of India, there's a big disconnect between the mainland Indians and the northeast people.

Many Indians think of the northeast people as one of the most isolated tribes like the Sentinelese of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean.

On the other hand, many northeast people think of mainland Indians as pagans, a racially structured society, with an appalling servile nature for the white people even after 400 years of subjugation. Such stereotypes became more rigorous when migrant workers and beggars from mainland India came to the streets and homes of the northeast people.

As a matter of fact, majority of the northeastern people who profess as Christians today doesn't have any historical contact in the ancient past. Contact began only after the British came to the Indian sub-continent.

The northeastern people were mostly brought up in a westernized system of education. Christianity came as a renewed force of modernization. In olden days’ pigs, fowls, cattle's and humans existed in the same place but Christian way of life taught them to live properly with washrooms, modern fittings, separate pens and stables. Rice beer was replaced in many areas with soft drink and tea. Most importantly loving neighbors as dictated by Christianity eradicated processes like headhunting.

And today, what offends the people of northeast to be called 'Chinkis' more is the fact that it is a question on their loyalty and their citizenship; as most of the people here have tribal origins, they take such characters of human dignity with utmost importance. Loyalty and dedication forms the core of any tribal set up and calling one with names embroils this delicate issue with northeastern people.

How this trend originated may surprise many readers. It all started when students from the Northeast started moving to Delhi for further studies. It will be incorrect to put all the blame on those uneducated masses of India who had no concept of cultural sensitivity and ethnic diversity of India. The Indian government did played, perhaps indirectly, in shaping and inspiring this social reaction.

Soon after the Sino-Indian War, the Indian government passed the Defence of India Act in December 1962, permitting the "apprehension and detention in custody of any person suspected of being of hostile origin." The broad language of the act allowed for the arrest of any person that looks like a Chinese or simply for having a Chinese surname, Chinese ancestry or a Chinese spouse. It is worth noting that the Indian government incarcerated thousands of Chinese-Indians in an internment camp in Deoli, Rajasthan, where they were held for years without trial. Thousands more Chinese-Indians were forcibly deported or coerced to leave India. Nearly all internees had their properties sold off or looted. Even after their release, the Chinese Indians faced many restrictions in their freedom. They could not travel freely until the mid-1990s.

Unlike the underprivileged Nepalese in Delhi, the mainland Indians were astounded to find the Northeastern people smarter, intelligent and open minded. Moreover, the way they dress and their fairer skin was offensive to many Indians who were obsessed with the fair skin. The Indian learned that they cannot treat them the same ways they have been treating the Nepalese.

Additionally, the open protest of some northeastern community in Delhi's street for their rights to self-determinism irked them and was viewed as anti-India and to the minimum reminded them of the Chinese invasion. The "Chinki" slur and its trend was basically a social reaction aimed to belittle and mistreat the northeastern people like the Armed Force Special Power Act (AFSPA) was created to suppress separatist movement in the Northeast region.

For the record, IndiBlogger, an Indian blog community, dismissed one of my blog submission (not this) after I inserted their verification code on my blog by stating it couldn't be my blog.

They came to that decision, most probably - a high quality professional WordPress blog couldn't be from a Northeast blogger.

This appalling behavior tells that even the best minds and talented people are not excluded from this fallen disposition - they are not what they say they are.

Look at the Indian obsession with fair skin. It is one of the most sickening things about India. If you watch Bollywood movies you'd imagine India was a country of white folks. Indian racism towards Black people is almost worse than white peoples' racism. It's unbelievable. I've seen it happen on the streets when I've been with Black friends. And sometimes it comes from people whose skin colour is really no different!

Yes, there are many flaws in our society and polity. But we have inherent self-correcting instincts and mechanisms to restore balance and sanity in times of crisis.

On the social front, an important step forward could be to create independent and empowered watchdog bodies that ensure that all citizens are treated equitably.

Lastly,silence is no longer an option. Silence amounts to acceptance of the existing social order. Remember, today the victim may not be from amongst you. But given the pace at which hate is beginning to spread in our society, it's not long before the devil comes to rest at your door. Silence, really, is no longer an option.