Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE RUMOUR ATTACK! RUMOURS- WORSE THAN TERRORISM, RESULTS IN EXODUS OF NE PEOPLE

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE RUMOUR ATTACK! 

 RUMOURS- WORSE THAN TERRORISM, RESULTS IN EXODUS OF NE PEOPLE 

All of a sudden, thousands of people from North Eastern states fled from Bangalore fearing for life. Nobody knows the reasons for their sudden home going, except that they have been threatened by vested interests to leave the city in the wake of the Assam and the Mumbai protest violence. Most of the threats were through SMS and MMS which are based on hearsays and rumours. Despite the assurance by the state about their safety, these migrant people from NE fled. Hundreds of students of NE also followed suit spoiling their academic career. It is another matter the state tried everything possible, but the rumour mills did not allow the people to have faith in the state. This is worse than a terrorist attack. The Chief Minister, Home Minister and the government machinery in addition to social groups implored the NE people not to fear and guaranteed their protection. More than anything else, the state has Pachau, hailing from NE as the DG of police. What more confidence measures can one take other than these? But the irony is that the NE people did not give in to the state’s assurances. 

 Arguably, Bangalore is the safest place in India. The Law and Order situation, the job opportunities and the peace loving nature of the state is better than the best of the states in India. In Bangalore alone, there is an estimated population of more than 3 lakh NE people. From IT-BT to hospitality to construction, these people are eking out their livelihood in Bangalore. In Addition, there are hundreds of students from NE who are pursuing their education in the state. More than anything, these people are known to be least troublesome among other migrants from North India. 

 But still, the NE people were targeted so much so that they were forced to go back home. There are absolutely no organisation or terrorist outfits which have created the terror. Rather it is the high tech gadgets that spread the fear. Truly, the SMS, MMS and other hi-tech communication gadgets spread fear psychosis among the people. 

 Of course, the genesis of the trouble can be attributed to the Assam where the local Assamese population is at loggerheads with Bangladesh migrants who outnumber the locals. The Bodos and other tribals are protesting against the Bangladesh Muslims migrants who dominate the politics and also the economy. In the last few days, Assam has witnessed large scale violence where hundreds of tribals and Muslims migrants have lost their lives and properties. 

 The second major reason was the Mumbai protest against the violence on Bangladesh migrant Muslims. The protest meet issued a dire warning to the NE people that they will become targets of Muslims all over the country if they do not withdraw the agitation. The protest turned violent and a couple of lives were lost. And the third is the failure of the Assam state government to contain the violence and the destructions. 

 Normally, all such things have little impact on the people in Bangalore. At the maximum, some migrants may stage a protest rally in league with some organisation of self styled intellectuals and there ends the matter. People in Bangalore, as a rule, do not oppose any Dharnas or rallies held by people, for whatever reasons. They will be forgotten the moment it ends. 

 But, that is not the case in the present situation. The NE people were flooded with SMS messages from unknown sources warning them to leave Bangalore before the 20th. Some attribute it to few fundamentalist forces who claim monopoly over their religion. Naturally, the NE migrants who are always submissive and peace loving and eke out their living working, were threatened through messages and there were a couple of incidents where few people personally threatened them to leave the city. 

 But that cannot be reason for the mass hysteria that engulfed the NE migrants. In fact, many Muslim organisations came forward openly to protect these people and in some mosques, even prayers were held for the safety of the NE people. One should not doubt the motives behind these moves except treating it as an assurance to those people. Peace meetings too were held in areas where these people are concentrated to assure them of the safety. 

 Of course, even the Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogai asked the people not to leave Bangalore as it is a peaceful city and the safety was being assured by the state government. The Prime Minister also had discussed the matter with the CM Jagadish Shettar. It is to be recalled that Law Minister Suresh Kumar, Home Minister and Dy. CM R.Ashoka met the NE people at the railway station to assure them of protection. Arguably, the whole of Bangalore backed these people. 

 No government or citizens can do more than this and the people who fled Bangalore should understand this. Did they think that the volcanic situation in Assam is safer than Bangalore? It is because of the insecurity and lack of opportunity in NE states that these people migrated to southern states especially Karnataka. And now they feared for their lives merely over rumours. They did not listen to the CM, Home Minister, DGP, Muslims, and people of the Bangalore as a whole for their protection and safety. They also did not listen to their own CM Tarun Gogai. There was no answer from them except that they are going home for the time being. 

 Apparently, their fear is ill founded. Just because they received threatening messages, does not mean that they had to flee Bangalore. They have become the victims of rumours. The rumours were so strong that they sidelined the assurances of the governments, Muslims and even Bangaloreans. This makes one wonder whether the rumours are powerful than the state and its machinery? In a way, the rumours have become the nascent form of terrorism. 

That is all.