Almost a year after he stirred up a hornet’s nest by calling himself a victim of racism in India, Lal Thanhawla reminded "politicians in New Delhi" and "people in mainland India" that "Dravidians live in the south, Aryans in the north and Mongolians in the Northeast".
Speaking at a seminar on ‘Separate Time Zone for the North East’ here, he said, "You continue to ask for our passports at hotels and airports... It means you don’t accept us (northeasterners) as one of you, the Indians. It’s sad that only a few people accept the Mongolians in the Northeast as Indians."
In June last year, he had told a seminar in Singapore that he was a victim of racism. "In India, people ask me if I am an Indian. When I go to south (India), people ask me such questions. They ask me if I am from Nepal or elsewhere. They forget that the Northeast is part of India... I have told many that ‘See, I am an Indian like you’," he had said.