'Chinki, Momo, Chinese': Video Of Northeast Dance Team's Racial Abuse At Patna Hosp Sparks Outrage

Last Updated:April 04, 2026, 10:07 IST

Patna Viral Video: The clip went viral, drawing outrage in Nagaland and Arunachal, with calls to Bihar Police and CM Pema Khandu for swift action.

A dance team from Arunachal Pradesh came to Patna to perform. They ended up having to prove they were Indian — just to use a washroom. A video of the abuse they faced has since ignited outrage across the Northeast, and reopened a wound that never quite heals.

Slurs, Laughter, And A Camera That Caught It All

On April 2, at a Patna hospital, an attendant in a beige uniform stopped the group from using a public washroom and demanded ID.

When they pushed back, she allegedly called them “Momos," “Chinki," and “Chinese" — laughing through it all, caught on camera, unbothered.

One of the women filmed the encounter. Her voice carries both exhaustion and defiance: “Hum log apna North East se ghoomne ke liye aate hain, par aise 1-2 karan se hum darte hain (we come from the Northeast to travel, but because of incidents like this, we are scared)."

The Video That Shocked Two States

The clip spread rapidly, drawing outrage from communities in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Calls poured in — directed at Bihar Police and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu — demanding swift investigation and accountability.

Some voices online attempted to frame the attendant’s behaviour as possible hospital policy on ID verification. But that defence found few takers. No official response has been issued. No FIR has been filed.

‘They Are Indians Too’

On X, the reaction was swift and, in parts, unusually self-aware. “As a resident of Patna, I am extremely sorry for such behaviour," wrote @Shan0121kumar.

Another user, @Arishathegreat9, added: “I’m so sorry on behalf of the central north part… you guys are Indians too."

Others were less gentle. “In Patna, people can be extremely insensitive and rude," wrote @MojoJojoSam. Users tagged @PatnaPolice24x7 and the district magistrate’s handle directly, demanding action.

But it was @beingshamik whose post cut deepest: “North Easterners are people who serve in the Indian Army at disproportionate rates, produce world-class athletes, musicians and artists, pay their taxes, and quietly get on with life without burning buses or blocking highways. And they still get treated like foreigners in their own nation."

A Wound That Keeps Reopening — And It’s Getting Worse

This incident is not an aberration. Northeast Indians living or travelling in mainland cities have documented years of slurs, housing discrimination, workplace bias and casual othering — all underpinned by the same dangerous assumption: that if you look a certain way, you must be explained.

The Patna incident is only the latest. Over the past few months alone, the attacks have been relentless:

• December 2025, Dehradun: Anjel Chakma, a 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura, died after being stabbed in a racist attack. He and his brother were shopping at a local market when a group of men began hurling racial slurs, calling them “Chinese." The verbal harassment escalated into violence, and Chakma was stabbed and later succumbed to his injuries.

• January 2026, Karol Bagh, Delhi: A youth from Arunachal Pradesh, identified as Arun Rimo, was brutally assaulted following a verbal altercation at a meat shop where racial slurs were allegedly used.

• February 2026, Malviya Nagar, Delhi: Three women from Arunachal Pradesh were racially abused and criminally intimidated by neighbours after a dispute over construction dust. Two accused were arrested. Delhi CM Rekha Gupta condemned the incident, saying the capital “belongs to everyone."

• March 2026, Saket, Delhi: A woman from Manipur and her transwoman friend from Assam were attacked with a knife by teenage boys while taking an evening walk near the Saket District Court complex. That same month, Delhi alone recorded three separate incidents of racial attacks on Northeast citizens — all in posh South Delhi.

A dance team. A public washroom. An ID check. A laughing woman with a bag full of slurs. And a country still struggling to recognise its own face in the mirror.

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