Seoul: A racial attack against an Indian
professor in South Korea has led to the drafting of the
country's first anti-racism law.
28-year-old Bonojit Hussain, who is researching on the
issue of racism in Asian society, took on a South Korean man
who racially-attacked him by filing a racial discrimination
suit against him.
A court here had recently indicted Park, the man, for
calling Hussain "smelly" and "dirty" while he and his Korean
friend were travelling on a public bus.
Hussain was today invited to speak at a "Consultative
Public Hearing" organised by opposition Democratic Party and
NHRC to debate the proposed Anti-Racism bill.
"I was disturbed and hurt by what Mr. Park did on that
bus. But I am more disturbed and shocked by how the police
behaved. They were clearly but implicitly racist towards me
and they were totally gender insensitive towards Han," he
said.
There is one aspect of the incident on that bus which
has not been paid enough attention. The incident was not only
racist in nature but it was also much gendered, he said.
He also said the bill for anti-racism is a welcome
step at least for the country's 1.1mn strong migrant community.
Hussain came to South Korea in early 2007 as a
graduate student.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 20:51