Govt. taking attacks on NE students very seriously: Kiren Rijiju

Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju today assured that the government was taking the issue of attacks on Northeast students very seriously and with sensitivity.

Rijiju also held a meeting with senior police officials today to take stock of the situation.

"I have also talked to the Prime Minister and National Security Advisor, and have decided to hold a high level meeting on the matter. What steps must be taken to avoid such incidents from taking place in future will be discussed. The Government has taken issue very seriously with sensitivity, actions are on line, and no stone will be left unturned," assured Rijiju.

He also added that a dedicated helpline and police force will be set up for the students from Northeastern region.

"I have decided to have a dedicated helpline and police force to deal with issues of students from Northeastern region. Anti racial provisions are already there in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), if it's implemented properly, adequate provisions are there. We will look into strengthening it further," Rijiju added.

Yesterday, the Gurgaon Police had nabbed three persons accused of assaulting two northeastern students in the city's Sikanderpur area on Thursday. The police had also confirmed that the attacks had an element of racial bias.

Two youths from Nagaland, Aloto Chishti and Awang Newmei, were beaten up and assaulted by a gang of seven in the Sikanderpur area of Gurgaon on Thursday. The attackers were reportedly inebriated and badly assaulted the duo. Chishti and Newmei were later admitted to a private hospital with severe wounds.

Prior to this attack, a 26-year-old engineering student from Manipur was roughed up in Bangalore by a group of men who reportedly abused and then attacked him for not speaking Kannada.