| Panic: Packed trains leave city by puneetmafia on 16 August, 2012 - 09:00 AM | ||
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puneetmafia | Panic: Packed trains leave city on 16 August, 2012 - 09:00 AM | |
It was an Independence Day they will not forget. Some 10,000 people from the country’s North-East – students, techies and other professionals who had made Bengaluru home -- rushed to the City Railway Station on Wednesday night, eager to board trains to Guwahati, to “get back to safety”. As fears of violence against them spread, many said they were not even thinking of what would be an anxiety-filled four days on the train.The exodus began after several of the students allegedly received threats of violence against them. The South Western Railway quickly arranged two special trains to Guwahati. One left at 11.15 pm on Wednesday night and another 25 minutes later, a combined 30 coaches between them, all jam packed. “Apart from these two special trains, daily trains to destinations in the North East are running as per schedule,” said a Railway official.Anshuman Malakar, a BBM student from Assam left to Guwahati with some 60 of his friends. “What is the guarantee of security? We do not trust the government to save our lives. Our classes are going on, but our parents have been urging us to get back home as they fear for our lives.” Partha Pratim quit his job as a techie at a company in Electronic City to start his journey to his hometown, six hours away from the capital of Assam, Guwahati. “I am not the only one to have quit the job. Many others have, too. We are all going back home.” A married couple was so desperate to board the first train leaving to Guwahati that the wife burst into tears when they could not manage to get on the train. They waited anxiously for the second train. Railway officials expected the exodus to continue on Thursday, too. | ||