NEW DELHI: The home ministry has taken note of cases of harassment of people from northeastern states by linking them to COVID19 and asked the police in all states and Union territories to take appropriate action in this regard.In an advisory sent to chief secretaries and police chiefs of all States and UTs on Saturday, the home ministry said it had come to its notice that people from the Northeast were facing harassment and racial slur after the occurrence of COVID-19 in the country. Those subjected to harassment, it added, included athletes and sportspersons from the northeastern states.“This is racially discriminatory, inconvenient and painful to them,” the home ministry said while asking all law enforcement agencies in the states and UTs to be sensitised to take appropriate action in cases of harassment as and when these are reported.On Sunday night, a woman from Manipur was racially abused in Vijay Nagar area of North Delhi . A man came on a two-wheeler and in a racial slur allegedly calling her 'corona'. As per reports, the man also spit 'gutka' (tobacco) on the woman's T-shirt, a photo of which has also gone viral. Many activists from the northeast are calling it an open case of racial discrimination. An FIR has been filed in the case.