Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and the North East Students' Organisation (NESO) Saturday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure security for students from the northeast in the national capital and other parts of the country.

 

 "The government of India should take up this matter as a national problem, or else it will be impossible to create a sense of belonging in the minds of people from the northeast, and it will be difficult to overcome the alienation felt by them," Rio said in a letter to Manmohan Singh.

 

 Condemning the killing of 19-year-old Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania in Delhi, the Nagaland chief minister urged the central and Delhi governments to take up the investigation with utmost sincerity.

 

 He reminded the prime minister that political parties from the northeast had urged the central government to address special issues concerning the people of the region, including frequent racist attacks.

 

 "We had demanded the government of India to take up stringent measures to protect the students, especially girl students and working women from the region being subjected to physical attacks, indecent behaviour and insults in various metropolis," Rio said.

 

 The NESO also urged Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to take adequate measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents to ensure safety of students from the northeast.

 

 "Such cases have been happening in Delhi and other cities. They have shown that people in mainland India have refused to integrate people of the northeast in their hearts and minds," said NESO chairman Samuel Jyrwa.