Title - Healing touch for fleeing north east natives

New Jalpaiguri/HOWRAH: Some 6,000 panic-stricken northeast natives passed through Howrah station on Friday, but there was no one waiting to show solidarity here, unlike the placard-bearing RSS workers and Muslims in Bangalore, where the trains originated.

But when the two trains reached New Jalpaiguri at night, there were volunteers to hand out water and food to the fleeing migrants.

In a heartbreaking case of mass panic, thousands gave up whatever they had in Bangalore and packed into two trains on Independence Day to rush for home. Men slept on the floors, allowing the women and children to use the berths. Some spent the last 48 hours crushed against the walls near the toilets. The fear was so intense that very few dared get down at the stations for water or food until they reached Howrah and NJP.

"The train left without any food or water," said Rajiv Pegu of Assam's Dhemaji district.

Such an exodus has probably never been seen since Partition.

At Howrah station, they were reluctant to speak about their fears but at NJP, they opened up a bit more, possibly emboldened by the fact that they are that much closer home.

Tapan Bhattarai of Udalguri, Assam, said that the panic first struck on the night of August 13 when they saw a vehicle carrying a corpse. Then, rumours of attacks being planned against northeast natives terrified them.

"My family and friends asked me to return to Guwahati immediately. I shall not go back to Bangalore till the situation improves even if it means giving up the course," said Raj Payeng, a 20-year-old Guwahati resident who has left his hardware engineering course midway. He was accompanied by classmate Jyoti, also a resident of Guwahati. Another student, Suraj, said he was not sure when he could go back and resume his studies in Bangalore.

Many of them quit their jobs in the rumour-fuelled panic. "I have been working with a security agency in Bangalore since 2009 and lived in Electronic City. There was no problem till now. Suddenly, things got really bad and I started fearing for my life," said 22-year-old Udit Nath, a resident of Barpeta.

Dhuruba Deka, 40, another resident of Electronic City, was leaving with his family. "I have lived in Bangalore since 2001, but now it is better to leave the city. There are a lot of rumours going around. I can't take a risk with my family," said Deka, a Malegaon native.

"We assembled at Bangalore station on Wednesday and are waiting anxiously for the train to enter Assam," said Mitinga Brahma of Kokrajhar as Rangila Najoria of Jorhat nodded. They work in production units in Bangalore.

The Railway Board has directed that the trains should not be detained anywhere, said an official.

There was tight security at NJP to prevent any untoward incident. Security has been beefed up along the railway tracks in North Bengal and Assam, say sources. The rail connection to the northeast was cut off for some time after the clashes.

"Our duty is to ensure that the people reach their destinations without any harassment. The state governments must take steps to control the situation. We don't want services to be disrupted again," a Northeast Frontier Railway official said.

Taser Ali Heckpal of Karnataka, used to work as security guard, "There was some rumour that they would be attacked. Thus we left the place," he said.