[For much of last week,
India experienced a panicked exodus by tens of thousands of northeastern
migrants working in major cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Pune — a mass
departure linked to ethnic violence between Bengali Muslims and the indigenous Bodo tribe in
the northeastern state of Assam. The violence in Assam, rooted in a complex
local dispute over land, immigration and political power, has
claimed at least 78 lives as more than 14,000 homes have been burned. At least
300,000 people have fled to refugee camps in the state.]
By Jim Yardley
NEW DELHI — India’s top domestic
security official on Sunday called on the Pakistani government to investigate
Indian claims that “elements based in Pakistan” had orchestrated
a fear-mongering misinformation campaign using text messages and social media
that helped set off last week’s nationwide panic among migrants from India’s isolated
northeastern states.
Home Minister Sushil
Kumar Shinde, speaking by telephone with his Pakistani counterpart, Rehman
Malik, asked for “full cooperation” in “checking and neutralizing such
elements,” according to a Home Ministry statement.
His telephone call came a day after a senior ministry official said that
doctored images of dead bodies had been sent to thousands of northeastern
migrants living in several of India’s major urban centers.
“We want people to know
that the bulk of this was done from Pakistan,” Home Secretary R. K. Singh told
reporters in New Delhi on Saturday night. He added, “A total of 76 Web sites
were identified where morphed images were uploaded, and the bulk of these were
uploaded in Pakistan.”
The Indian news agency,
IANS, quoted an anonymous Pakistani official denying any involvement.
Describing India’s claims as “cooked up,” the official told IANS that “instead
of indulging in mudslinging and the blame game, it’s time for India to address
its internal issues.”
For much of last week,
India experienced a panicked exodus by tens of thousands of northeastern
migrants working in major cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Pune — a mass
departure linked to ethnic violence between Bengali Muslims and the indigenous Bodo tribe in
the northeastern state of Assam. The violence in Assam, rooted in a complex
local dispute over land, immigration and political power, has
claimed at least 78 lives as more than 14,000 homes have been burned. At least
300,000 people have fled to refugee camps in the state.
The conflict in Assam,
which started in July and worsened in early August, was initially contained in
the state, but tensions have rippled outward. A protest by Muslims in Mumbai,
the country’s financial center on the western coast, turned violent. Attacks on
northeastern residents in the city of Pune spread alarm among other migrants
from the region.
Then, authorities say,
misleading cellphone text messages and other social media messages began
circulating on Wednesday with warnings that Muslims would attack northeastern
students and migrants. Tens of thousands of people hurriedly boarded overcrowded
trains to the northeast as leaders pleaded for calm.
By Sunday, the panic had
eased. In Pune, near Mumbai, the number of northeastern students and migrants
rushing to train stations to leave had declined, news outlets reported. In
Bangalore, the country’s technology capital, an estimated 30,000 northeastern
migrants and students fled last week, but the authorities said the situation
had stabilized.
“A sense of security is
prevailing in the city,” said V. S. D’Souza, deputy commissioner of the
Bangalore police. “The exodus has stopped.”
Mr. D’Souza said the
Bangalore police had arrested 22 people on charges including assault and
intimidation against northeastern natives, as well as the spreading of
inflammatory messages. Some of the threatening text messages sent last week had
warned that northeastern migrants would face reprisals if they had not left by
the start of the Muslim festival of Id al-Fitr, which has just begun.
As a precaution against
any possible trouble on Monday, Mr. D’Souza said, the police were planning a
huge security presence, with 17,000 police officers, along with paramilitary
and other security forces.
Antarikhya Deka, 21, a
student at a university in Bangalore, said she was one of the northeasterners
who had received text messages or saw Facebook postings last week warning of
violence against northeasterners. Many of her peers fled, but Ms. Deka said she
had decided to remain in Bangalore. She said northeastern students at her
college had been excused from classes this week.
“I will stay indoors for
the next two days,” she said. “Everyone says these are rumors, but it is better
to take precautions.”
Meanwhile, in New Delhi,
Sonia Gandhi, president of the governing Congress Party, expressed her “deep
pain” over the violence in Assam and called for legal action against those
responsible.
Niharika Mandhana contributed reporting from
Bangalore, India.
[``We totally reject these allegations and insinuations. They are totally baseless and unfounded. Such unsubstantiated statements are not very helpful in creating a conducive environment necessary for improving the relationship between our two countries,'' the Foreign Office spokesman told The News.]
AP
Pakistan has
rejected as ``baseless and unfounded'' the Indian allegation that social media
networking sites here were responsible for whipping up communal sentiments in
India; triggering a panic exodus of people from the North-East from various
cities.
While Interior
Minister Rehman Malik said he had asked his Indian counterpart Sushil Kumar
Shinde to provide evidence to back up the allegation, the Foreign Office was
quoted by The News as describing the charge as baseless and detrimental to the
effort to improve bilateral ties
Mr. Shinde had
asked Mr. Malik on Sunday to rein in those elements in Pakistan who are
allegedly trying to create trouble in India with fear-mongering on social
networking websites. The two ministers spoke to each other when Mr. Malik
called Mr. Shinde on Sunday to greet him on the occasion of Eid-ul Fitr.
``We totally
reject these allegations and insinuations. They are totally baseless and
unfounded. Such unsubstantiated statements are not very helpful in creating a
conducive environment necessary for improving the relationship between our two
countries,'' the Foreign Office spokesman told The News.
Maintaining that
the tools of modern technology are not in the hands of a single person or
capital, the spokesman further added that India was perhaps trying to
``externalise'' a very serious problem by pointing fingers at Pakistan. This,
he pointed out, would not help anyone in the long term.
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