GUWAHATI, Aug 25 � Under a confidence-building initiative, the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka today reassured the people of the North-east of tight security and hassle-free accommodation into their jobs and educational institutions in his State.
Ashoka, on a visit to the State, today met Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and informed him about the steps taken by the Karnataka Government to tackle the situation and ensure the safety of the north-easterners working or studying in the State.
More than 3.5 lakh people of North-east origin live in Karnataka of which 2.5 lakh people live in Bangalore alone � maximum of those being from Assam. After the spurt in hate messages against the NE people through various multimedia channels, nearly 34,627 people left from Bangalore city to Assam.
�Of the NE people living in Karnataka, majority is a working population and the exodus has affected the hospitality and security sectors of the State,� Ashoka said, while addressing the media here.
�Today, we also met people who left Karnataka out of fear, and after our assurance they expressed their willingness to go back to their respective works,� he mentioned.
Special trains would start from Guwahati to Bangalore from September 1 to take back the people that had left the south Indian State following the rumours.
He also informed that the NE students studying in Karnataka would be given special consideration in regard to their examinations and attendance and the employers have also been informed to take back their employees hailing from the region owing to the special situation.
�After the reports of mass exodus of more than 6,000 people, the Karnataka Government took immediate action and the police machinery was activated on August 15. High-level meeting of police officers, setting up of 24x7 helplines, and meetings with the office-bearers of various organizations of NE States were organized to tackle the situation. Advertisements were also given in the newspapers appealing to people not to heed rumours,� he added.
Asserting that Bangalore of Karnataka did not record a single major incident of violence due to the rumours or hate messages against NE people, Karnataka DGP�Lalrokhuma Pachau said that the police machinery of the State is very active and cyber experts are working to find out the sources of hate messages. Total 17 cases have been registered and 22 accused were arrested in this connection.
The Karnataka Government�s delegation would go to Manipur tomorrow and would apprise the Manipur Government about the security measures.
