Fear grips: Tibetan traders suspend business in city

A stretch of footpath on Sri Harsha road looks deserted

The footpath of Sri Harsha road that was chock-a-block till recently, now wears a deserted look, thanks to the attack on a Tibetan youth by unidentified miscreants.

Those were the landmarkplaces with Tibetans in majority having set up make-shift shopsselling garments of types, besides footwear among others.

When Deccan Herald did a realitycheck, following the attack, the Tibetans shut shop andhave stayed away from business. 

The remaining locals, especially those belonging to aparticular community, who had been trading along with Tibetanson the footpath opposite Opera talkies on Sri Harsha road too vacated, but following instructions from the police.

 With the city too having a good number of Tibetans andalso of north eastern states with students in majority, police commissioner K L Sudheerconvened an emergency meeting.

 The meeting that lasted two hours deliberated on the pros and cons and decided to collate the data of those peopleand if needed, provide security to the educational institutions.

The police have collected the list of such students from every college. Going a step ahead, the police have also collected the residential addresses of northeastern students, and have been visiting them to ensure their safety.

Said principal K S Suresh of JSS Law College: The students of north eastern states havebeen a worried lot and had sent SMSes expressing fear. Following this, the I-Day celebration at the college was made use of to address the query of such students. He admitted that students are on tenterhooks, so much so that there is also delayin admissions.

 Some of the students who were scheduled to return, have stayed back. Anamika Devi a native of Manipur and studying final year LLB at JSS Law College said they petitioned police commissioner K L Sudheer for safety.

In reply, the officer has given the emergency telephone numbersto be contacted at the time of crisis, including the local Kuvempungar police. The police have advised them to be cautious on move, especially when they come across any suspicious persons and pass on the info.

Her classmates, Sangam Kayang, Sangey Tsering, Mama Bagang and Horbi Lollen all from Arunachal Pradesh had different stories to narrate with the information collected from their friend studying in different colleges in the city, and also Bangalore.

While the college has hostelfacility for girls, the boys have rented houses in SharadadeviNagar and Bogadi.

The north eastern students and also Tibetans have been pursuing higher education inSBRR Mahajana’s First Grade College, Teresian College, St Philomena’s College, JSS College for Arts, Science and Commerce on Ooty road, JSS Medical and Pharmacy Colleges and All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) in the city.