The shameful incidents of Assamese being attacked in Mumbai, Pune and Andhra Pradesh have been widely reported, but such incidents have also taken place in Bengaluru, though on a smaller scale and have gone unreported. Many Assamese work as security guards and say they have been facing similar threats and abuse.
Twenty-year-old Sunil Hazarika (name changed), who works as a security guard with a private firm, said: “I stay at Brigade Road with three other friends from Assam. We ran out of cooking gas and so, around 1 pm on Sunday, I went to Neelasandra to get a refill. There was a group of youngsters at the nearby meat stall. One of them called me and asked me where I was from. When I told him that I was from Assam, he picked up a knife from the stall, and pointing to it, he said, “Ye dekha hai nai? Agli bar se yaha nahi aana. Jaldi se apna gaon chala ja” (you have seen this knife, right? Don't come here again. Go back to your village quickly), and then he pushed me out of the stall."
Sunil was terrified as he told Deccan Chronicle: “I got really scared. I told my friend what the person told me. We hurried back to our room without filling the cylinder.” Asked why they did not report the matter to the police, Kesar, (name changed) Sunil's friend who had accompanied him to Neelasandra, said: “We were very scared and just ran away from the spot. We just had in mind that we have to reach our room fast and save ourselves. What if we complain to the police and these people come and beat us up? Back at home, all are worried. My mother called up in the morning asking how the situation was in Bengaluru, as they heard of the incidents in Pune, Mumbai and Andhra Pradesh.” It is believed that some Assamese working as security guards in the city have gone back to Assam. Figures obtained from the North East India Sampark Cell, show that after Delhi, Bengaluru has the highest number of people from the north-eastern states, a majority of them from Assam.
There are about two lakh people from the north-east living and working in the city, 40,000 from Assam, 25,000 from Manipur and around 15,000 from Nagaland. Others come from Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and a very small number from Sikkim. Sunil Deodhar, national convener of the North East India Sampark Cell told Deccan Chronicle: “Citing this instance I will be speaking to the Home Minister as well as the Chief Minister of Karnataka seeking protective measures for people from the north-eastern states. The miscreants are creating unnecessary trouble without knowing the exact problem in Assam. If they want any justice they should do it democratically. Right now I have a fear that these people might create some bigger trouble after Ramzam.”
Groups representing the north-eastern population in the city are planning a meeting and sending message to members to stay alert.