The Exodus Theories
There are various theories doing the rounds about why there was an exodus of Northeasterners from Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, and other cities to their hometowns in the week India was celebrating(?) its independence. Bangalore's fear-driven flight triggered the exodus from other cities. The most popular theory is that it was engineered to divert attention from scams and inflation. The theory favoured by Bangaloreans is that the BJP/ Congress orchestrated it to polarize the electorate before next year's assembly polls
But, a seasoned journalist discards all this saying that it was a rumour that triggered a flurry of calls from anxious parents that led to the exodus. He also says "people from Assam said they want to go back and join the fight after the Assam conflagration." He adds, "We followed the trail of rumours calling everyone down the line to ask whether they had a firsthand experience of attacks but came up with nothing." DGP Larokhuma Pachau told me, "There is only one real case of physical attack linked to the threatening calls. One person (Lia Lia Poo) was beaten up in Wilson Garden." Five youth including a Christian, Hindu and Muslims have been arrested and investigation is on to find the motive, he said.
The journalist added that the government, police and other authorities acted quickly to nip the rumours carried via SMS and the MMS (which was gory and really panicked people) in the bud: "The exodus, which happened anyway is something I cannot understand," he says.
But the incident has given the opportunity for several ministers from the North east states to rush here so they can look good for their electorate. Karnataka's deputy CM (who also happens to be the Home Minister) R. Ashoka has been the crisis manager, touring troubled areas during the night, conducting peace meetings. Now he is all set to go to Manipur and Guwahati. He says, "I am 100 percent sure that those who fled will return. In fact more will come here. I will meet the CMs and home ministers and visit the homes of some people who fled Bangalore and I'll explain the measures taken by the government to provide safety."
Magnet for Migrants
"I like Bangalore. The people are very nice and humble. The weather is good even during summer. I like it so much that I want to settle here after my career." If this Garden City was looking for a stamp of approval after nearly 30,000 fled (of the 3.5 lakhs in the state) last week, then it came from newly-minted Olympic bronze medallist and boxer Mary Kom, who was here on Wednesday. The fact that she is from Manipur added gravitas to the endorsement even as the city is slowly recovering from the tsunami of terror that led to the exodus by Northeast migrants who have come here to work — as security guards, at restaurants, beauty parlours, even in the IT industry — or to study.