ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 outbreak in India created panic in the entire nation. The pandemic can be termed as “the great equaliser”, which battered the rich, the poor, the powerful and the powerless. It is a fact that nobody is immune to this virus, but the impacts are seen considerably more in certain sections as compared to others. In India, the collateral impact of the outbreak has not only been seen in the health sector but in other psychosocial aspects as well. The people belonging to India’s North East faced racism and class-based derogatory remarks linking them to the source of the pandemic in some way or the other. While there has been racial discrimination in mainland India towards these people in the past, the global pandemic due to the COVID-19 outbreak added to the discrimination and atrocities experienced by the people from this region. The present chapter discusses the impact of COVID-19 on life in general, brings clarity on the stereotypes and prejudices against the people from North East India and suggests strategies that may be implemented at different strata of society to curb the prejudices and discriminatory behaviours inflicted upon the people from North East India.
