Thousands flee violence threats in Indian city of Bangalore

August 16, 2012: Nearly four to five thousand people were gathered at the Bangalore railway station on Wednesday, joining the exodus of people from India's north-eastern states fleeing the south Indian city amid fears that they are to be the target of attacks. Correspondents say the rumours of attacks may be linked to recent clashes in the north-eastern state of Assam.

There has been tension between indigenous groups and Muslim Bengali migrants in Assam for many years. The main railway station in Bangalore was flooded with migrant workers from north-eastern states after rumours spread on Wednesday. The railways ran special trains to the north-east to cope with the rush, officials said.

There are 250,000 people from the north-east living and working in Bangalore, which is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India. Many of them are students, security guards and workers in the hospitality sector. Around 4,000 fled on Wednesday, a senior police officer in the city told the BBC. He said that rumours about possible violence were spread by intimidating text messages which have frightened the migrants from the North Eastern states. "We will soon catch hold of people who sent out these messages," said the police officer.

Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar said that he had reassured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that there were "no untoward incidents or any threat to people of north-eastern states living in Bangalore." He added: "I promised that necessary steps would be taken to give protection to these people."

Manoj, a security guard from a north-east state, told the BBC that residents of the region were "all frightened". "My friend [from the region] was threatened by a knife-wielding man saying that he should leave the city if he cared for his life," he said.

A worker at a city restaurant from the region said there were "rumours that people from the north-east would be attacked". The rumours came a day after a 22-year-old Tibetan student was allegedly attacked in Mysore city near Bangalore by two people who suspected him of being from the north-east.

Many young people from the north-east have migrated to the cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore in search of better jobs and education. A large number do manage to find a better life, but this sometimes comes at the cost of racial abuse. Several cases of racial violence against north-eastern youths have been recently reported in these cities in the past. It is believed that most have been targeted because of their distinctive appearance and different culture. The Indian home ministry recently asked state governments to take stern action against those who racially abuse students from north-eastern states.