‘About Time’: Tharoor, Hima Das Back Northeast Twitter Storm

#NortheastMatters started trending after YouTuber Paras Singh called Arunachal MLA “Chinese”.

The Twitter storm was joined by several eminent personalities from 6-8 pm on 4 June.

(Source: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

Several eminent personalities including Shashi Tharoor, Gaurav Gogoi, Hima Das joined the Twitter storm on 4 June, demanding a chapter about Northeast be included in the Central National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks.

The twitter trend amplified after Punjab-based YouTuber Paras Singh called Arunachal Pradesh Congress MLA and former MP Ninong Ering and the people of the state ‘Chinese’.

Twitteratis used hashtags like #NortheastMatters and #AchapterforNE from 6-8 pm to press their demand to the education ministry to include a comprehensive chapter about Northeast India.

SHASHI THAROOR, HIMA DAS JOIN THE CAMPAIGN

Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor put out an illustration by an Arunachal-based artist and said that it is essential that a chapter on the Northeast is included in the NCERT syllabus.

Star sprinter Hima Das tagged the education ministry, asking the authorities to include a chapter on Northeast.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi stressed on the contribution of Northeast to the history, politics and culture of the country.

"Let our history and cultural heritage breathe. We Demand a place in educational textbooks. We Demand a place in NCERT!!” National Student Union of India (NSUI) Nagaland tweeted.

Nagaland's former finance minister K Therie tweeted as well, backing the online movement.

THE BACKDROP

Paras Singh who runs a YouTube channel by the name of ‘Paras Official’, in one his videos, called MLA Ninong Ering “non-Indian” and Arunachal Pradesh as “part of China”. He has over 4.54 lakh subscribers on his channel.

He made the remarks reacting to a letter that the MLA had written addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting a ban on the relaunch of Battlegrounds Mobile India, a variant of PUBG.

In the video, Singh can be seen checking Ering’s pictures on his Twitter profile while saying, “Mujhe toh nahi lagta yeh Indian hai (I don’t think he is an Indian),” adding that he wasn’t sure how people from Arunachal look.

Singh then went on to look for Arunachal Pradesh on the map of India and said: “Arre yaar yeh (Arunachal) toh China ki side me hai. Yeh China walon ka hi hai... ek tarah se unhi k saath hi hai halka fulka touch hota hai, India me aata hai. (This is on China’s side. It belongs to the people of China. In a way, they are with them (Arunachal is with China, touches India a little).”

He was arrested by Ludhiana Police and brought to Arunachal’s capital Itanagar on 26 May. He has been sent to judicial custody. As part of his punishment, he was taken on a virtual educational tour on the history, geography and demography of the state, Special Investigation Team (SIT) superintendent of police Rohit Rajbir Singh told EastMojo.