Stay vigilant, maintain peace at any cost: PM

Decrying rumours about attacks on people from the North-East living in other states, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday made an appeal to remain vigilant and maintain peace at any cost.

"We must work together to ensure that all people from other states do not feel threatened by rumour-mongering and SMSes. We have to maintain peace at any cost," Singh said at an Iftaar hosted by him when asked about the exodus of people hailing from the North-East from Karnataka.

The prime minister said he had spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister, Jagadish Shettar, and Maharashtra Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan, and was constantly in touch with Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi. He said he was yet to speak with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Kiran Kumar Reddy.

"We have to maintain communal harmony. We have to be vigilant," he said to a question on whether he was concerned about the effects of the violence in Assam spreading to other states.

On his talks with Shettar on Wednesday night, the prime minister said that he asked him about the rumours going around that people from the North-East are wanting to leave the state.

"All political parties must work together to give a feeling of confidence to all affected people," he said. Singh said that the Karnataka chief minister was good enough to send his Home Minister to the Bangalore railway station, where people from the North-East had gathered to board trains to Guwahati.

"They (Karnataka government) are taking all steps to quash rumour-mongering," the prime minister said. The stabbing of a Tibetan student by two motorcycle-borne men in Mysore on Tuesday had added to the fears of the north-eastern people.