Nitish speaks to Rupani over attacks in Gujarat

Concerned over the on-going attacks on non-Gujarati people, particularly those from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar spoke to his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani and asked him to stem the rot.

Condemning the rape incident, which triggered attacks on those who had migrated from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to Gujarat, Nitish said on Monday that the guilty must be punished but "don’t paint the entire community with the same brush."

One migrant worker from Bihar has been arrested in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district on the charge of raping a 14-year-old girl. Ever since this incident on September 28, attacks have intensified on non-Gujaratis following hate messages reportedly being circulated on social media.

Meanwhile, the JD(U) has blamed the Congress for the attacks. The spokesperson of the ruling party in Bihar, Neeraj Kumar, wrote a two-page letter to Rahul Gandhi holding his aide Alpesh Thakore responsible for the attacks.

"You have appointed Alpesh Thakore, an MLA from Gujarat, as one of the national secretaries in-charge of Bihar. Thakore’s outfit – Gujarat Kshatriya Thakore Sena – is driving out migrant Biharis," charged the JD(U) spokesperson.

The Congress took umbrage over Neeraj's charge. "Instead of writing a letter to Rahul Gandhi, Neeraj should have spoken to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is running his coalition government with the help of BJP. The BJP is ruling Gujarat as well," Prem Chandra Mishra, one of the AICC media panelists and Congress legislator, told DH here on Monday.