- Northeast Students say they will not leave Pune. Attack is perpetrated by MUSLIM GROUPS on Northeast students who don't have any relation with Assam.
- More Northeast Students assaulted in Pune.
- Northeast Groups Setup Helpline
“I was on my way home. At 10.30 pm, when I reached Vaiduwadi, some six to seven youths, armed with sticks accosted me and started thrashing me. When I tried to resist their attack, they started abusing me and mistook me for an as Assamese. I showed them my identity card and driving licence, and told them that I am from Manipur,” said Khondram. “The moment I told them I am from Manipur, they released me and fled the spot. I then called my local acquaintance, D R Ramanand, who is a professor in a city college and narrated him the incident.”
Ramanand said, the moment he was informed about the attack, he reached the spot and rushed Khondram to Sasssoon Hospital. “After receiving medical treatment I took him to my residence in Katraj.” Premanand then approached the Hadapsar police station officials and lodged a complaint against the unidentified assailants. He said that Saturday’s attackers were different from those who had assaulted him on Thursday.
In the second incident, which occurred in Kondhwa, five to six people assaulted 25-year-old Roko Jetiv Ltu, a resident of Whistle Cascade, who hails from Kohima in Nagaland. Ltu’s assailants, who were armed with iron rods and sticks, attacked him at his residence around 8 pm. The Kondhwa police officials arrested and booked Nadim Ansari (18), Imamuddin Kanwade (20), Wasim Shaikh (22), Muzaffar Jamadar (19), Sarvar Gulam Rasul Shaikh (33), Ejaj Shaikh (23), Rafiq Shaikh (21), Martin Pathan (19) and Adnan Chaudhary (19) under relevant sections of the IPC yesterday.
“Ltu, who is pursuing his MCS programme from a city college, resides at Whistle Cascade in Kondhwa. On Saturday night at 8, around five to six youths arrived at his apartment and knocked the door. As soon as Ltu opened the door, they assaulted him with sticks,” Assistant Police Inspector S G Thopte of Kondhwa police station said.
He said the assailants then took him to the parking lot and continued their assault. “However, when the other residents of the society started coming in, the assailants fled the spot,” Thopte said. “Ltu, who sustained minor injuries, approached the police station and lodged a complaint against the youths. In the wee hours of Sunday, all the nine youths were nabbed. We produced them in the court and they have been remanded in police custody till August 18.”
Stay together: Cops
Former president of Naga Students Union Dihem Panmei said after these attacks, they had the police and demanded protection. “We had a meeting in the Kondhwa police station and was attended by some organisations. They too have assured full cooperation and protection. Cops have advised people from Seven Sister States to stay in group and not to step out alone in the night,” said Panmei.
Mistaken identity
Police Inspector Prasad Hasabnis of Kondhwa police station said that soon after the attack on Ltu, the police officials immediately held a meeting between people different communities and appealed them to maintain harmony and peace. “We have also advised them to appeal the youths not to succumb to violence, and maintain law and order,” Hasabnis said.
Former president of Manipur Students Union Mohamad Raees Ahmad said students from Northeast in Kondhwa and Camp area were living in fear. “Fortunately, I didn’t hear about any attack today. The police and local leaders are helping us. Police have increased the security,” Ahmad said yesterday.
Thopte said that the attacks on Northeast Indians in the city were result of violence in Assam. He said that attacks on students and professional from Nagaland and Manipur were the outcome of mistaken identity as their assailants presumed they were Assamese.
“We have intensified patrolling in Kondhwa and Hadapsar area. We appeal to the people not to resort to violence and maintain harmony and peace,” DCP (Zone IV) Sanjay Jadhav said.
President of Indian Muslim Front Munnawar Kureishi said attacks on Northeast Indians was handiwork of some anti-social elements who were instigating young adults by circulating provocative MMS clip of clashes between Bodo and Muslim communities in Assam. “We have conducted meetings with the police and the members from our community, and appealed them to maintain law and order and not to believe in rumours,” he said.
Helpline
My Home India, an NGO, has started a helpline for students hailing from Northeast. Mayur Karjatkar, a volunteer from the organisation, said that students seeking help should contact the NGO on 9011017918.
Over a dozen helplines for northeast students, working professionals
PUNE: Several helplines have been started to assist students and working professionals from the northeast living in the city in the aftermath of the attacks on them on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Northeast Students' Welfare Association of Pune and Sarhad, an NGO, have set up 24-hour emergency helplines. The Mizo Students' Union, Kuki Students' Organisation, Manipur Students' Union, Arunachal Students' Welfare Association and three others have also started separate helplines to connect with students from the region.
Convenor of the helpline Rock Lungleng told the TOI that they had established helplines for students who face trouble. "We have established contact with Pune police. As soon as we receive calls from the students, we will inform them to enable immediate action," he said.
Likha Rajum, president of Arunachal Students' Welfare Association, said, "It is a serious matter and we want peace in Pune and among our community. It's time for us to unite as we do not want to isolate anybody from our region. Hence, we established these helplines so that whoever is in trouble can immediately seek help by dialing the emergency numbers." The Northeast Students' Welfare Association is trying to create awareness about the helpline numbers through social networking sites so that as many students get to know about it. They have also planned to put up notices on college notice boards mentioning the numbers.
Meanwhile, Sarhad has established area-wise helplines for students from Manipur, Assam and Nagaland. Founder president Sanjay Nahar said, "The students will be provided instant support if they call the helpline numbers. We will ensure that tension does not build up in sensitive areas. We have appealed to students from the northeast to stay united and inform us of any danger." 'My Home India', another NGO for northeast students, has also started a helpline for students. Volunteer Mayur Karjatkar said that students seeking help should contact the NGO.
Helplines
Mizo Students' Union
Jacob V.Khiangte 9762310520
Daniel V.Renthlei 8600955278
Kuki Students' Organisation
Thangboi Haokip 9096977715
Lamkhohen Guite 9665925312
Meghalaya Students' Representative
Salesa N.Sangma 9975925094
Arkin Kharwanlang 9975155426
Zomi Students' Federation
Tuang Hatlangh 9766492304
Gin Munsong 8055769573
Arunachal Students' Welfare Association
Likha Rajum 8600088463
Jyotilu Manyu 9762943225
Manipur Students' Union
Alam M.K 9960343965
Gyanba Meitei Koiram 9890736927
Naga Students' Union
Peimingam A. Zimik 9890097458.
Thotngachan Khongreiwo 9158830275
Sarhad helplines
Sachin Jamge (Pune city) 9921693175
Tejas Washilkar (Kothrud) 9890432332
Hrishikesh Bhadirge (Yerawada) 9665658585
Santosh Shedge (Katraj Kondhwa) 7385758028
'Northeast students won't leave Pune'
PUNE: Members of the Interim Forum on Monday said students from the northeast will not leave Pune since the city police, religious representatives and the state government have assured them of full support and protection.
However, some of the students from the northeast living in the Kondhwa area have temporarily shifted to other parts of the city like NIBM Road and Sangvi, they said. The Interim Forum is an organisation of students from the northeast.
"Local leaders have given their names and numbers so that they can be contacted if need be. We have told the students to stay put and not to shift, since the police and local leaders have assured us of full support and protection. All the students are continuing to live here," said Rock Lungleng, former president of the Naga Students' Union and convenor of the forum, while addressing a news conference here on Monday.
Lungleng said the recent attacks on students from the northeast are a fallout of misunderstanding between social groups in the city rather than racial discrimination. On behalf of the student community from the northeast living in the city, the members of the forum have expressed the need to co-exist. "An understanding between the two communities is the lasting solution," he said.
Peimingam A Zimik, president, Naga Students' Union, said, "As representatives of students' unions, we have personally not seen students from the northeast shifting out of Pune. However, we have just heard of a few students shifting to other places such as Sangvi and NIBM road. But that is a temporary arrangement, where students are staying with their friends for the time being. They will return to their original houses once the situation cools down."
Lungleng said the forum also got in touch with C M Chang, the local MP in Nagaland, asking him for assistance in the current situation. "He spoke to the Maharashtra government authorities personally and told them to ensure that students from the northeast are safe here," he said.
The members of the forum also wanted to convey to the students and their parents that the police and the state government have assured the community of their protection and assistance. "About 60-70 elders from the Muslim community have come forward to help us and we are satisfied with the police investigations," Lungleng said.
Women's body flays Pune attacks on 'NE people'
SHILLONG: The Meghalaya-based Civil Society Women's Organization (CSWO) has expressed concern over the Bodo-Muslim clashes in Assam, which, they said, "has given rise to attacks on students and people of the northeast who are studying in Mumbai and Pune."
"Many students from the region studying in Pune are being targeted and beaten up by groups in Kondhwa and Camp Area of Pune as a backlash to the conflict in Assam," the CSWO maintained.
"The Centre and the state governments of Maharashtra and Assam should address the situation immediately so that people from the northeast are not made victims. The authorities seem to have failed to ensure security to many students studying in and around Pune and Mumbai," the organization said in a media statement.
The CSWO said on August 8 that a 17-year-old Manipuri student was badly assaulted by a group of 30 persons near Poona College Camp Area, MG Road, Pune. "The following day, another group came to beat up boys in the library of the Poona College, and when asked for the reason, it was the conflict in Assam," the organization said.
"These acts are condemnable and the authorities should ensure that protection is provided to people from northeast and the culprits apprehended immediately," CSWO demanded.
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