COVID HATE CRIMES: A SERIOUS VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, WHICH CAN'T BE IGNORED.

That was a day in February 2021, a young man named "Dr. Peng Wang" was jogging near his house in Southampton, the United Kingdom as always, unaware of an impending danger awaiting for him. Suddenly he got attacked with some racist comments from a car. A group of young people came out of the car & started punching him badly, injuring his face severely.

"Fenge Tan", a middle-aged woman, in a station in the United Kingdom was spat on by some locals.  "Vicky Sung", a young woman, while walking on her way home was lambasted with the words "Coronavirus, Chinese Virus", by some small kids.

If you ask, what's common in all those unpopular names of the United Kingdom? Let me clarify that these names belong to some descendants of East Asian families, who are part of the UK. They are the victims of these Xenophobic attacks caused by the bigotry of the locals, who consider the East Asian people as the reason for the surge of these Corona pandemics. These incidents however are not new or confined to the UK. The hate speech was being openly promoted also by the former President of the United States in 2020, during the start of the pandemic. 

Xenophobic attacks, hate crimes against the "Xeno-groups"  in the world are not new. If you will open world history, tons of examples emerge in front of your eyes. Even though the pandemic has nothing to do with this, still the fear around the Coronavirus has inflamed the hate crimes.

It is quite understandable to the people, who have a genuine understanding towards humanity that how this Virus has affected us so closely & no single individual, country, or group can be declared as a reason for spreading this. We all have been continuously educated by the WHO since the last 1 year. However, the so-called "Anti-ethnic group" mindset or ideology of the people  is causing creating such odious incidents.

In  2020, the novel Coronavirus hit the entire globe, without determining the boundaries of the nation or judging the races and cast, millions of people lost their lives, and in this second wave, a dramatic escalation in death cases have been observed. It has nothing to do with which group or race one belongs to. 

In his Annual Peace Proposal 2018 to the United Nations, titled " Toward an Era of Human rights: Building a people's movement", the great peacebuilder, President of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), Dr. Daisaku Ikeda has mentioned, "Those who remain trapped in the echo chambers of the filter bubble or within unconsciously constructed walls fail to see the brilliant glow of humanity inherent in others. The humane light they too possess will also remain hidden, unable to reach those around them. Through its power to 

remove the barriers between self and other that arise from differences in identity and social standing, human rights education has the ability to expand opportunities for that humane light to shine most resplendently, both for ourselves and others." 

 

This makes absolute sense and an eye-opener remark for all of us. And in all these hate crimes, attacks, it has been observed, the accused are young mass between the age group of 20-30. Youth is synonymous with the future. If they will grow in this sort of ideology, it is very clear  to understand where the future of our globe heads. As Dr. Ikeda mentions, it is indeed important for a nation to make Human rights Education a mandatory affair. And it's the responsibility of the nation to educate their youth on the importance of developing a "sense of harmony in diversity". So that it will help the entire world  to fight with any promising situation. 

That's why SGI President, Dr. Ikeda further writes, "If members of the younger generation can shape the movement for human rights promotion in a similar way, we can surely shift the global current from one of division and conflict to one of coexistence."

Another aspect we also need to understand, in the context of "Covid Hate Crimes" that, these sorts of attacks on a particular group, in the name of a virus, are unacceptable &  should be condemned vehemently worldwide. Now  it's also crucial that the leaders of the nation must take  concrete steps towards this. A ray of hope has come in the form of the "COVID Hate Crime Act", which was introduced 2 weeks back by the US senator from Hawaii, Mazie Keiko Hirono, the Japanese-born American politician, who is popularly known as "A Voice for Hawaii". And it was passed by the US Senate on 22nd April  by a vote of 94-1. It is waiting for the President's confirmation for being introduced as a law. It will help to some extent to address the rise in hate crimes and violence against the AAPI community. 

The way a Voice of the leader became evident in America to address and fight this injustice, it's also now the turn of other nations, including India.