Youtuber Paras Singh has been booked by Arunachal police under Sections 124A (Sedition), 153A, and 505(2) of the IPC which deal with promoting enmity between groups reported the Telegraph. On Tuesday Punjab police had arrested Singh from Ludhiana after an FIR was filed by Arunachal Pradesh MLA Ninong Ering. Singh had reportedly uploaded a “racist and anti-India” video on Sunday commenting that Ering did “not” look like an Indian and that Arunachal Pradesh was “part” of China.

Singh’s arrest was announced by Union Minister of State for Sports and Arunachal Pradesh MP Kiren Rijiju, who has also asked Ludhiana police commissioner to ensure Singh’s “urgent” transit remand so that he can be taken to Arunachal Pradesh.

Punjab Police searched & taken Paras Singh under custody. Arunachal Pradesh Police team is reaching Punjab. I’ve spoken to Police Commisioner of Ludhiana for urgent Judicial process for transit remand as it’s inter-state arrest so that he can be brought to Arunachal Pradesh. https://t.co/jm3WFAeVBL

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) May 25, 2021

After a massive outrage, Singh, who has over six lakh subscribers on Youtube reportedly removed the offensive comments and put up an apology on his channel. After he was picked up by Punjab police, a woman who identified herself as his mother, also put up a video on his channel and apologised on her son’s behalf, asking that he be forgiven for his mistake.

Apart from scores of hate comments on social media, FIRs have also been filed against Singh by the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union, Adi Bane Kebang Youth Wing and All Arunachal Pradesh Youth Organization. The Telegraph reported that Arunachal Pradesh DGP R.P. Upadhyaya had sent a three-member police team, led by inspector Techi Vijay to Chandigarh on Tuesday with a non-bailable warrant against Singh. Upadhyaya said Singh “has been booked for sedition and spreading racial hatred. In the video, Singh is heard saying ‘from his (Ering) face he does not look like an Indian, looks like a Chinese’, and pointing to a map of Arunachal says  it is ‘part’ of China.” 

According to news reports Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu said the video was aimed at “inciting ill will and hatred towards the people of Arunachal Pradesh”. And Deputy chief minister Chowna Mein, said he was appalled at the video, adding Arunachal is “proud to be a State in the Union of India where even in the interior most we greet each other with a ‘Jai Hind’ and primary school children even in the border villages sing ‘Saare Jahaan se Achha, Hindustan Hamara’ with pride.”

1/4. I am appalled and greatly dismayed to see a recent YouTube post by one Mr Paras Singh(Bunty) where he has not only questioned the nationality of an MLA from my State of Arunachal Pradesh but also questioned the existence of our State within India.@PMOIndia @DefenceMinIndia pic.twitter.com/A7RISx8viU

— Chowna Mein (@ChownaMeinBJP) May 24, 2021

EastMojo reported that the Naga Students’ Union Phagwara (NSUP) has also condemned the “derogatory remarks of racial slur and demarcation” made by the Punjab-based YouTuber. According to NSUP people from the region are often asked about their nationality if they are “Nepali” or “Chinese adding that this “escalated during the Covid-19 pandemic when we faced discrimination. We are thrown racial slurs calling us Chinky, Momo, Corona, etc,” stated the news report. The Naga students’ body said that in one’s own nation, they feel alienated when treated like foreigners. “It is disheartening when they don’t know that the Northeastern states are an integral part of India,” it said.

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