New Delhi: A team of seven Joint Secretaries will visit Assam to monitor the rehabilitation situation in the state. Thousands of Northeast Indians had fled Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai to reach Assam after they received SMSes threatening them of retaliatory attacks over Assam violence.
After four days of panic-driven exodus of the Northeast Indians, the situation eased on Monday with police and railway officials saying it has stopped in Karnataka and reduced to a trickle in Tamil Nadu.
In contrast to the scenes of the Northeast Indians fleeing over rumours of backlash over Assam violence, it was a normal situation in Bangalore which was turned into a virtual fortress with tight security in place. Over 30,000 Northeast Indians had fled the country's IT capital since late last week which abated on Sunday after the government went into an overdrive to instil confidence in them.
Railways, which ran additional trains to Guwahati after the sudden rush of the fleeing Northeast Indians, did not operate any special services for the second consecutive day.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R Ashoka, announcing 24-hour duty for himself on Monday, undertook rounds along with top police officials last night and visited places inhabited largely by Northeast Indians.
In Chennai, after four consecutive days, the number of Northeast Indians leaving the city by trains noticeably reduced. "There were very few people from the Northeast today at Chennai Central station. It is far less compared to earlier and it has reduced from Tamil Nadu," a senior railway official said.
UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had on Sunday sought strict and swift action against those "spoiling harmony" in Assam. "The Centre and state governments should take stern action against those disturbing social harmony," she said on Assam violence and exodus of Northeast Indians.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said that India can progress only when all the countrymen can live together with peace, tolerance and harmony.
Meanwhile, on the occasion of Eid, security was tightened in riot-hit Assam, especially in the sensitive districts of Kokrajhar, Dhubri and Chirang that witnessed a spate of clashes between the Bodo tribal groups and Muslims at the end of last month.
(With additional information from PTI)
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