Indian pushes Korea to right race wrongs - Bonojit Hussain
Seoul academic Bonojit Hussain whose crusade pressured Korea to enact anew anti-racism law will address its Parliament today.
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Archana
New Delhi
September 30, 2009UPDATED: September 30, 2009 10:22 IST
An Indian academic who was the victim of a racist attack in South Korea has succeeded in moving that country's lawmakers to set its race relations record straight.
On Wednesday, at 2 pm South Korea time (about 10.30 am in India), Bonojit Hussain, a 28-year-old research professor at Seoul's Sung Kong Hoe University, will address the consultative public hearing of the South Korean Parliament as it debates a bill against racism triggered by a movement started by him.
It will be a victorious moment for this alumnus of Delhi's Ramjas College who has braved abuse and assault, and did not succumb to a gentle hint from the Indian embassy in Seoul to back off from his single- minded campaign for racial tolerance.
Hussain was the target of a racist slur on July 10 this year. He took the matter to the police and the National Human Rights Commission of South Korea. And now the country's lawmakers are proposing to pass a bill on the subject.
"Both the ruling party and the opposition have proposed a bill to tackle racism in Korea," said an ecstatic Hussain, who has been living in South Korea since 2007. "On Wednesday, they'll debate the issue at the public hearing, which is not a formal session of the nation's parliament," he said over the phone from Seoul.
After the spate of racist attacks on Indians in Australia, this case puts the spotlight on another country where an Indian has faced racist insults.
The case of this young man from Guwahati may have forced the highest powers in South Korea to work towards a law on racism, but support from India has not been as forthcoming. "The day my story appeared in the English media-August 3-I got a call from the consular division of our embassy in Seoul and the official implicitly tried to discourage me from taking my fight forward," said Hussain.
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On July 10, Hussain and a female colleague, Jisun Han, were travelling in a bus in Seoul when a fellow passenger, 41-year-old Chang-Woo Park, abused him, calling him a "dirty son of a b****". Recalled Hussain: "He abused my companion, asking her, 'Are you the chosen b****?' The word chosen has a derogatory meaning. It was the term used by the Japanese to describe South Korea when the country was their colony. He also asked her, 'Does it feel good to date a black guy?'" Hussain proceeded to lodge a complaint with the police, accompanied by both Han and Park. "The police, instead of taking the issue seriously, asked me to apologise and end the matter," he remembered.
"They didn't believe I could be a professor, despite my I-card issued by their government. They took me to be a migrant worker, a category of people the Koreans really look down upon." Hussain approached the country's National Human Rights Commission a month later "to complain against police behaviour". The case was picked up by the South Korean media for the "sensationalism" that it offered-to use Hussain's words.
Since then, he has been getting threat calls. In fact, on September 10, he was assaulted. The police have been deployed at his home ever since this incident and Hussain has given up going out at night.
The young professor, coincidentally, coordinates the 'Racism and Hegemony in Asia' programme at his university. He said that he was aware of the reasons behind the problem and had also been in close touch with migrant workers who are the "worst sufferers of racism". "South Korea has 1.1 million migrant workers who do the 3D-Dirty, Difficult and Dangerous-jobs that no Korean would do as this society is highly educated. But, these workers can raise their voice only at the risk of losing their jobs. Most of these workers are in a difficult situation because once they change their jobs, they are declared illegal," Hussain said.
Clearly, Koreans resent the presence of migrants though they are also vital for keeping the Tiger Economy roaring, as South Korea is an aging society.
In December 2008, a UN report had revealed that at 1.2 children per couple, Korea had the world's second lowest birth rate.
Hussain said that politicians in Korea try to earn mileage out of the issue by claiming that migrants were taking away the jobs of Koreans.
"They don't realise that political gimmickry has serious implications in the society." According to Hussain, the reasons for racism in South Korea, which has traditionally been a homogenous society, are deeprooted.
"The contemporary history of South Korea has been turbulent and the only people they have been exposed to are Americans," he said.
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Then from the mid-1990s onwards, because of its booming economy, migrants from Asia, Africa and even the West started coming in. But South Koreans had double standards, he said, as they consider the whites superior and look down upon the non-whites.
Hussain also said that the image of Seoul being a world city was a "myth" and only downtown Seoul, with a radius of about 5 km, could be regarded as a world city.
"I am talking to you sitting at a caf in downtown Seoul where my skin colour doesn't matter-I may be taken to be a techie from India. But, in the rest of Seoul, browns are referred to as 'black' and blacks are called 'Nigger'," he said.
There is the gender issue as well. For most societies, women represent their national honour, Hussain said. "So, seeing my Korean companion with me, the perpetrator of racist slur against me must have got agitated. I'm going to bring this issue up in my speech on Wednesday." Hussain received letters from Korean women married to non-Koreans after his story became public. They said they had been called 'prostitutes' for having married non-Koreans, he said.
The young man has dug in his heels and is ready to fight to the finish. "The judgment is going to be in my favour and it should be out in the next 10 days. I will continue staying in Korea as I chose to come here. I will come to India for a break after this issue is resolved," he said.
Hussain, who studied History at Delhi University, had moved to Seoul in February 2007 after he was selected by the Song Kong Hoe University for a one year advanced master's programme in Inter-Asian Studies.
Before his term ended, the university offered him a job. He has been living in Seoul on an E1 visa and his contract with the university is renewed annually.
And now, the university can legitimately claim to be the employer of a real hero.
Courtesy: Mail Today
Seoul academic Bonojit Hussain whose crusade pressured Korea to enact anew anti-racism law will address its Parliament today.
ADVERTISEMENT
Archana
New Delhi
September 30, 2009UPDATED: September 30, 2009 10:22 IST
An Indian academic who was the victim of a racist attack in South Korea has succeeded in moving that country's lawmakers to set its race relations record straight.
On Wednesday, at 2 pm South Korea time (about 10.30 am in India), Bonojit Hussain, a 28-year-old research professor at Seoul's Sung Kong Hoe University, will address the consultative public hearing of the South Korean Parliament as it debates a bill against racism triggered by a movement started by him.
It will be a victorious moment for this alumnus of Delhi's Ramjas College who has braved abuse and assault, and did not succumb to a gentle hint from the Indian embassy in Seoul to back off from his single- minded campaign for racial tolerance.
Hussain was the target of a racist slur on July 10 this year. He took the matter to the police and the National Human Rights Commission of South Korea. And now the country's lawmakers are proposing to pass a bill on the subject.
"Both the ruling party and the opposition have proposed a bill to tackle racism in Korea," said an ecstatic Hussain, who has been living in South Korea since 2007. "On Wednesday, they'll debate the issue at the public hearing, which is not a formal session of the nation's parliament," he said over the phone from Seoul.
After the spate of racist attacks on Indians in Australia, this case puts the spotlight on another country where an Indian has faced racist insults.
The case of this young man from Guwahati may have forced the highest powers in South Korea to work towards a law on racism, but support from India has not been as forthcoming. "The day my story appeared in the English media-August 3-I got a call from the consular division of our embassy in Seoul and the official implicitly tried to discourage me from taking my fight forward," said Hussain.
ADVERTISEMENT
On July 10, Hussain and a female colleague, Jisun Han, were travelling in a bus in Seoul when a fellow passenger, 41-year-old Chang-Woo Park, abused him, calling him a "dirty son of a b****". Recalled Hussain: "He abused my companion, asking her, 'Are you the chosen b****?' The word chosen has a derogatory meaning. It was the term used by the Japanese to describe South Korea when the country was their colony. He also asked her, 'Does it feel good to date a black guy?'" Hussain proceeded to lodge a complaint with the police, accompanied by both Han and Park. "The police, instead of taking the issue seriously, asked me to apologise and end the matter," he remembered.
"They didn't believe I could be a professor, despite my I-card issued by their government. They took me to be a migrant worker, a category of people the Koreans really look down upon." Hussain approached the country's National Human Rights Commission a month later "to complain against police behaviour". The case was picked up by the South Korean media for the "sensationalism" that it offered-to use Hussain's words.
Since then, he has been getting threat calls. In fact, on September 10, he was assaulted. The police have been deployed at his home ever since this incident and Hussain has given up going out at night.
The young professor, coincidentally, coordinates the 'Racism and Hegemony in Asia' programme at his university. He said that he was aware of the reasons behind the problem and had also been in close touch with migrant workers who are the "worst sufferers of racism". "South Korea has 1.1 million migrant workers who do the 3D-Dirty, Difficult and Dangerous-jobs that no Korean would do as this society is highly educated. But, these workers can raise their voice only at the risk of losing their jobs. Most of these workers are in a difficult situation because once they change their jobs, they are declared illegal," Hussain said.
Clearly, Koreans resent the presence of migrants though they are also vital for keeping the Tiger Economy roaring, as South Korea is an aging society.
In December 2008, a UN report had revealed that at 1.2 children per couple, Korea had the world's second lowest birth rate.
Hussain said that politicians in Korea try to earn mileage out of the issue by claiming that migrants were taking away the jobs of Koreans.
"They don't realise that political gimmickry has serious implications in the society." According to Hussain, the reasons for racism in South Korea, which has traditionally been a homogenous society, are deeprooted.
"The contemporary history of South Korea has been turbulent and the only people they have been exposed to are Americans," he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Then from the mid-1990s onwards, because of its booming economy, migrants from Asia, Africa and even the West started coming in. But South Koreans had double standards, he said, as they consider the whites superior and look down upon the non-whites.
Hussain also said that the image of Seoul being a world city was a "myth" and only downtown Seoul, with a radius of about 5 km, could be regarded as a world city.
"I am talking to you sitting at a caf in downtown Seoul where my skin colour doesn't matter-I may be taken to be a techie from India. But, in the rest of Seoul, browns are referred to as 'black' and blacks are called 'Nigger'," he said.
There is the gender issue as well. For most societies, women represent their national honour, Hussain said. "So, seeing my Korean companion with me, the perpetrator of racist slur against me must have got agitated. I'm going to bring this issue up in my speech on Wednesday." Hussain received letters from Korean women married to non-Koreans after his story became public. They said they had been called 'prostitutes' for having married non-Koreans, he said.
The young man has dug in his heels and is ready to fight to the finish. "The judgment is going to be in my favour and it should be out in the next 10 days. I will continue staying in Korea as I chose to come here. I will come to India for a break after this issue is resolved," he said.
Hussain, who studied History at Delhi University, had moved to Seoul in February 2007 after he was selected by the Song Kong Hoe University for a one year advanced master's programme in Inter-Asian Studies.
Before his term ended, the university offered him a job. He has been living in Seoul on an E1 visa and his contract with the university is renewed annually.
And now, the university can legitimately claim to be the employer of a real hero.
Courtesy: Mail Today
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