4 min readFeb 26, 2026 02:04 PM IST
First published on: Feb 26, 2026 at 02:03 PM IST
Delhi loves eating momos. But when it comes to insulting someone from Northeast India, selling momo becomes a racist slur. The recent incident of racism in Delhi, where three women from Arunachal Pradesh were racially attacked by a couple in Malviya Nagar, who used the twin tools of food and occupation to humiliate them, reveals a lot about this racist mentality. This incident not only highlights India’s attitude towards the Northeast and its people, but also makes us think about labour, gender and care.
Food has been a historical tool for the marginalisation of oppressed communities, especially from Northeast India. Anthropologist Dolly Kikon looks at how food becomes a site to reproduce racism and police marginalised bodies. Food from Northeast India is often ignored from hostel menus, state functions and public ceremonies. On top of that, there is misrepresentation. The much-loved momo is seen as a northeastern delicacy, with a homogenous understanding of its food culture. However, it is simultaneously used as a tool to humiliate people from the region. Over-availability of momo across Delhi’s street corners strips it of the labour that goes into its production. With that labour invisibilised, the whole process is reduced to the ethnic identity of the producer.
The other slur used by the couple – “Rs 500 me massage parlour me kaam karnewaali” is a telling commentary on how caste and ethnicity are connected to occupation in India. The occupational division of labour is a crucial characteristic of how the caste system has been traditionally practised. People from lower castes have historically been forced to engage in occupations that are considered low in the social hierarchy. Even with increasing modernisation, growth of cities and technological advancements, this hierarchical division of labour continues. The recent incident highlights how women from Northeast India are seen to occupy service jobs in metropolitan cities like Delhi, which are not considered worthy of respect. Historically, Dalits have faced the brunt of casteism through slurs like “chamar” and “bhangi”, which connect their caste with their occupations. Connecting occupations like selling momo and working in the massage parlour has similar implications and racist undertones. How is it perfectly fine to consume momo and get massages but not engage in selling or providing the service?
Several studies, including Duncan McDuie-Ra’s works on race and Northeast Indian migrants in Delhi, have shown how migration from the region to metropolitan cities has increased in recent years. But employment opportunities have not necessarily meant dignity. While racism against people from the region takes multiple forms, the women continue to face disproportionate challenges. This is reproduced by how work such as giving a massage, which involves bodily contact, is connected to sex work, another vilified form of labour. The National Data Innovation Centre (NDIC) Measurement Brief 2024 states that migrant women from Northeast India are absorbed in service sector jobs such as the retail and hospitality industries. But they continue to live without dignity. These jobs are seen as skillless. Thus, racism is not only about mindset, but it is also about economic and material realities. Labour from Northeast India sustains the urban economies; still, the same bodies and labour continue to be racialised.
The writer teaches Sociology at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati
