'Deadline' SMS sparks Exodus

The PuneHowrah Azad Hind Express departing at 625 pm yesterday was suddenly converted into an lsquoAssam specialrsquo train as around 2000 Assamese mdash from workers and professionals to students and visitors mdash left the city in it The reason for the exodus was a rumour about more violence against people from that state in the coming days In the wake of recent attacks on people from the Northeast mdash most of them not even from Assam but mistakenly identified as such mdash that are believed to be hate crimes following violence between two communities in Assam a rumour has begun spreading in the city that August 20 is the deadline for all Assamese to leave the city Wersquove had enough People hailing from Assam and other parts of the Northeast wait their turn to board the PuneHowrah Azad Hind Express at the Pune railway station yesterdayu00a0PicKrunal Gosavi ldquoWe are not feeling safe hererdquo an Assamese person said ldquoOur parents are very worried for usrdquo Several people in the crowds of Assamese at the Pune railway station said the same thing besides claiming they were going back to ensure the safety of their families back home Kitesh 24 who is from the violenceaffected Kokrazar district of Assam said ldquoI am not at all willing to come back to Pune My district was worst affected and I am worried for my parentsrdquo A crowd of Assamese people and others from the Northeast anxiously wait for the PuneHowrah Azad Hind Express at the Pune railway station yesterday Sanjay Vasumatari 22 from Udalgiri district of Assam who is a security guard working with a private firm said ldquoI am scared because of the recent attacks Fortunately I and my friends didnrsquot face anything but my parents are repeatedly asking me to come backrdquo Sooraj Dora a worker hailing from Teensukhia district of Assam was returning home with his sister Aneesha ldquoI have a farm there I will prefer to do farming with my mother than coming back to Punerdquo he said The crush as people board the train to which the Railways added two additional coaches Deepak Musahari a security guard who hails from Udalgiri district of Assam said ldquoI am staying in Pune from last 12 years Not a single time I faced such panic situation Some people are appealing us not to go back but we canrsquot take a riskrdquo While the station was flooded with people from all states of the Northeast at the station by 4 pm to catch the Azad Hind express most of them were from Assam Considering the massive rush the railway administration decided to increase two coaches on the train but still the train with 23 bogies was packed with people form the Northeast u00a0Suneel Kamthan station manager said ldquoWe have added two coaches to the Azad Hind Express The additional coaches will accommodate 400 passengersrdquo A jampacked coach PicsKrunal Gosavi and Zang Aier The Government Railway Police GRP provided five armed guards for the Azad Hind Express ldquoOur security will remain till Nagpur the last station in Maharashtra for this expressrdquo Senior Police Inspector GRP Mahendra Rokade said Political and other outfits like the Shiv Sena the Akhil Bhartiya Viyarthi Parishad ABVP the Vishwa Hindu Parishad VHP appealed to the people of the Northeast to not leave the city u00a0ldquoWe have decided to provide every kind of support to themrdquo a former Shiv Sena corporator said ldquoHenceforth not a single attack will be tolerated Our shakha pramukhs are surveying the city and will give all helprdquo Delegation meets CP A delegation of more than 200 students working professionals from the Northeast and their local guardians met Commissioner of Police Gulabrao Pol and expressed their concern over the rumour of more violenceu00a0They informed Pol that the rumour was being spread by way of an SMS that had been widely circulated and said that the attacks in the city would be resumed after Ramzanu00a0 Flight Lt Retired W J Singh who hails from Manipur and has been living in the city for the past 42 years spoke to the media after the meeting with Pol and other police officials saying ldquoAfter these incidents there is a great fear in the minds of Northeast Community but now the police and the local religious leaders have assured us that such incidents will not be repeated again and asked us not to get panicked anymorerdquo he said ldquoDue to these incidents parents are getting worried back in the home states and are asking their children to come back but I appeal to the parents and the students and working professionals not to believe in any rumour and to not leave the city I think that the Northeast community should not feel alienated and desertedrdquo He also appealed to the local Muslim youths not to resort to violence and to maintain peace Pol assured the community that it was the responsibility of the police to provide adequate security to the community and appealed to them to not believe in rumours u00a0ldquoIf anyone wants to go back we can not stop him or her but we want to assure them and their parents back in their state that there is no need to get worriedrdquo Pol saidu00a0