Mass migration from Hyderabad too

For the past three days, all trains bound for Kolkata onward to the north-east have been overcrowded, signalling a mass exodus from the city.

Following Saturday's violence in Mumbai, there is panic among migrant workers from the North-East settled in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and the coastal belt.

Over 10,000 people hailing from the North-East have fled the city fearing attacks. More are likely to leave in the coming days. “What happened in Mumbai has scared us... it appears we cannot escape the terrorists’ claws wherever we go,” says the Hyderabad Assamese Association former president Sarbeshwar Sahariah. The exodus was triggered by few isolated incidents in the colonies around Hyderabad’s IT corridor. Last Saturday, a security guard, 21-year-old Milal Saiki, was assaulted at Anjaiah Nagar near Cyber Towers, Madhapur. Quoting Saiki, police said the attackers yelled at him: “What are you doing here and why have you not left for Assam?” The city police have identified one assailant and booked cases.

The targeted attack has triggered a massive reverse migration to the North-East.
Police sources said certain inputs from local intelligence indicated that the Assam violence and the subsequent riots in Mumbai, had cascading impact on the migrants, especially the Bodos, living in clusters in Hyderabad and other parts of Andhra Pradesh.

On Wednesday, MIM leader and MP Assaduddin Owaisi visited the migrants’ colonies in old city of Hyderabad and assured them of protection and security during nights and daytime patrolling.

Nevertheless, migrants living in bastis such as Siddique Nagar and Anjaiah Nagar in Hi-Tec City left for their home state on Wednesday. The exodus commenced on Monday and continued on Thursday.“Why the panic, we have migrants from Lebanon, Bangladesh, Iraq, Iran, Burma and Nepal living in peace and unity in Hyderabad,” says a baffled city police commissioner Anurag Sharma.

Though no official statistics are available, many Assamese security guards deployed at malls, restaurants and software companies have deserted the city and their work without notice amidst rumors doing rounds that Assamese guards were beaten up by unidentified persons in Madhapur and Gachibowli region which house IT companies. Some said they received  phone calls from their local MLA from Assam who directed them to return home.