Karnataka assures protection to people of North-East
Government opens call centre to help people register complaints
Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Thursday held a high-level meeting to review the security situation in Bangalore 24 hours after nearly 5,000 people from Northeastern (NE) states fled the city fearing threat to their lives.
He gave instructions to the state home secretary, chief of police staff Lalrokhuma Pachau, who himself is from North Eastern state of Manipur, and commissioner of police, Bangalore to ensure safety of the people of NE states. The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called up Shettar last night and enquired about the situation. Shettar told him that the state government was taking necessary steps to ensure protection to the people of NE states, officials in the chief secretary’s office said.
Earlier, this morning the chief minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi and Nabam Tuki of Arunachal Pradesh also called up Shettar and sought protection to the lives of the people of their states in Bangalore.
“Mass exodus of people from Northeastern states following rumours of attack is a serious issue. However, no violent incidents of any sort are reported. There is no room for feeling of insecurity. I have assured the Prime Minister who spoke to me last night that the situation in Karnataka is totally peaceful and there is no threat to the people of NE states including students,” Shettar told reporters.
The chief minister has instructed the senior police officials to increase patrolling in sensitive areas especially where Northeastern states’ population is thick. Police pickets have been posted. Regular review of the situation is being conducted, he said.
The government has also appointed V S D’Souza, DCP, Intelligence as nodal officer to oversee safety measures. Special squads with senior officers have been formed. Help lines have also been established. The state government has opened a call centre and people affected can call up and register their complaints. “We assure full protection to the Northeastern people including the student community and the working class. Religious heads have been briefed about the situation. We will initiate strict action against rumour mongers,” Shettar said.
The chief minister also spoke to the representatives of North Eastern States Students Association in Bangalore and assured them total protection.
“Karnataka is safer than Assam and therefore I appeal to the panicked people of Northeastern states to stay back in Karnataka,” the chief minister added. “We are taking all measures to ensure people’s safety across the state and protect them from being attacked or harmed by anyone, as security of citizens is our foremost duty. We request all, including the media to allay fears of any attack on students from the north-east region or any part of the country and report to the nearest police station on rumour-mongers who are trying to create fear in them,” Pachau told reporters. The sudden over-crowding of platforms late Wednesday and frantic calls by railway officials for deployment of additional personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the city police to prevent any untoward incident forced even State Home Minister R Ashoka and Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister Suresh Kumar to rush to the city station and plead with the frenzied students and workers to desist from leaving the city.
“We are using SMS (short messaging service), social media, television channels, radio and print media to spike the rumours and assure the people from the north-east region, especially its students reading in Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore and other cities not to believe in rumours and fear any attack on them,” D’Souza said.
Meanwhile, the Railways operated two special trains to Assam last night in addition to the regular service to clear the sudden rush of passengers.