PM assures protection to northeast people as thousands flee cities

NEW DELHI/BANGALORE: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said miscreants spreading rumours that have led to people belonging to northeast flee from Bangalore, Pune and other parts of the country, should be brought to book.
Making a statement after Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari suspended Question Hour to take up a discussion on the issue, Singh said at stake is not just unity and integrity of the country, but also communal harmony.
"Any miscreant fanning rumours should be brought to book," he said.
"Whatever may have happened in Kokrajhar (in Assam) should not be used as an excuse to fan rumours. The government will create a feeling of security among people of northeast in any and every part of the country," he said.
"This country belongs to them as much as it belongs to others. We must curb all the elements which are out to create trouble on this sensitive issue," he said, adding a message has to be sent out to all those who want to disturb peace in the country.
Lok Sabha for action against northeast rumour mongers
The Lok Sabha on Friday rose as one to apply balm to people from northeast who are fleeing parts of the country driven by rumours of impending attacks on them and demanded strong action against those creating fear psychosis.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj stressed on the need to rise above party lines and send a clear message that people from the northeast have the freedom to live, work and study wherever they wish in the country.
She said the government should create helplines to address grievances of the people from the northeast and step up patrolling across cities, particularly in areas and hostels where they reside in large numbers.
Ninong Ering (Cong) said reports of attacks on people from northeast send a wrong signal and action must be taken against those spreading rumours. "We are sad. We think ourselves as Indians .... but after incidents in a small area of Kokrajhar in Assam .... people of Mongoloid features are attacked .... It sends a wrong signal," Ering said.
He appealed to the home minister to treat this matter very seriously and take strict action against those spreading these rumours.
"Strict action must be taken against those involved in spreading rumours as they are trying to create instability... China, Pakistan, Myanmar whosoever is trying to drive a wedge in the country should be dealt with firmly," he said.
Ering, who represents Arunachal Pradesh in the Lok Sabha, said Parliamentarians must take a personal interest in removing the fear psychosis among the people of northeast.
After Bangalore, northeast people flee Mysore, Mangalore
Appeals and assurances of safety by the Karnataka government notwithstanding, people from northeast continued to flee the state in hordes for the third consecutive day on Friday, driven by rumours of impending attacks.
The exodus so far confined to Bangalore has now spread to some other parts with people of the northeast region living in Mysore, Mangalore and Kodagu arriving here in trains and buses and rushing to railway counters to buy tickets.
More than 15,000 people have fled the city in the past two days following the rumours, official sources said on Friday.
The railways had sold 9,718 tickets for the two special trains that headed to Guwahati on Thursday night, divisional railway manager, Bangalore, Anil Kumar Agarwal, said on Friday morning.
Officials estimate the number of people from the northeast, including students, residing in Bangalore in the range of 2.5 lakh and 2.75 lakh.
The government continued to reach out to the community urging them to stay on and assured them that it is committed to safeguarding their lives and property in Karnataka.
"We on behalf of people of Karnataka and government once again reassure the people of the northeastern community that they are safe and welcomed in Karnataka", the government said in an advertisement, signed by chief minister Jagadish Shettar and home minister R Ashoka, published in newspapers on Friday.
The government said no violent incidents have been reported. "We thereby urge not to heed to rumours and rest assured that stringent security measures have been deployed to prevent any untoward incidents".
Strict action would be taken against anyone spreading rumours. "We also request the north-eastern media not to go by unconfirmed reports which can create further fear and confusion," Shettar and Ashoka said.
"The exodus of northeast people from the city is not due to threat factor, but due to anxiety to be with their parents at a time when Assam has been gripped by violence," law and parliamentary minister S Suresh Kumar said. Official sources said railways have arranged a special train to Guwahati which would leave in the afternoon. "Looking at the demand for tickets to northeastern states, we may arrange some more special trains," a railway official said.
Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, home minister R Ashok, DGP Lalrokhuma Pachau, himself from the north eastern state of Mizoram, and Bangalore police commissioner Jyotiprakash Mirji have repeatedly assured the north eastern people of their safety, but rumours have overwhelmed them.
The Intelligence Bureau and state police are yet to ascertain the source of the rumours.
The state home department has ordered surveillance of social media sites to check for people who are distorting facts and circulating false information.
Suresh Kumar also requested Shettar, who is in Delhi on Friday, to urge railways to arrange for as many special trains as possible to clear the rush as he expects more people from the northeast to leave.