Northeast Students, Professionals Panic After Assault in Pune

Pune, Aug 13 : There is a sense of insecurity and fear amongst students and working professionals from the northeast in Pune and other places as well after the attack on some northeastern people in Pune on August 8 and 9.

Some people from the northeast were beaten up at Kondhwa near Poona camp by some miscreants belonging to a particular minority community. Approximately 10 students and working professionals were attacked in the Kondhwa area and Poona camp area. The incident can be termed as a backlash of the ethnic riots in western Assam.

"The miscreants were saying 'Kisi Chinki Logon Ko Chor ne Ka Nain' (Don't leave anyone with Mongoloid features'. The incident occurred some three days ago when we were assaulted at Kondhwa by miscreants of a particular community for no apparent reason. Kondhwa is inhabited by people of that community," Kahomdai Panmei, one of the victims and a working professional at a noted software company said.

He added, "The incident has left a sense of fear amongst us as we are being targeted for the happenings in western Assam. We are in constant touch with higher authorities and they are taking stock of situation, which may occur again."

He said people from the northeast are staying indoors after the incident to avoid attacks on them. "The police are being very cooperative, but most of us work in IT companies and have to return home late at night. I have also heard that the principal of Poona College has urged the students from the northeast not to attend classes for sometime. We are in touch with northeast students' unions," said Panmei.

Meanwhile, the state secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyathi Parishad (ABVP) Krishna Kanta Borah said, "This is a serious issue and we condemn the incident vehemently. We ask the government to provide security to the students of the northeast and ask the authorities in Pune to arrest the miscreants as soon as possible."

"We got to know about the incident and we are very worried. If this happened in Pune, it can happen elsewhere too. It is a backlash to the ethnic strife that happened in western Assam as such clashes creates a sense of paranoia in the hearts and minds of people," said Bedanta Das, a working professional in Bangalore.

The Northeast Students' Union, Pune and the Pune Police held a meeting in connection with the assault on Saturday. Police condemned the violence on the community.