Race against rumour

People from the Northeast living in Bangalore have experienced a heightened sense of vulnerability in the aftermath of the strife between Bodos and migrant Muslim groups in Kokrajhar,Assam,and the later violence in Mumbai. A combination of rumour and scare-mongering led to a crush at the railway station as thousands tried to return home. In tightly connected migrant communities,hearsay can acquire force very rapidly. Technology cellphones and social media that helped spread an allegedly incendiary MMS,phone calls from worried families in the Northeast made the threat more vivid. In our networked times,nothing travels as fast as fear.

And yet,baseless as it may be,a rumour of this kind is also a statement on social structures and tensions. If students and workers from the Northeast did not feel unsettled in Bangalore,and alert to the possible repercussions of the Assam violence,this panic would not have spread with such velocity. The fact that they reacted to that fear so viscerally,and felt that escape was the only option,speaks about the states inability to inspire trust. Still,though it was inevitably slower to move than the panicky people themselves,the Karnataka government and the police extended themselves to assure the public that no one from the Northeast has to worry,with the home minister personally taking over the public address system in the railway station. The Centre has also been relatively limber,with the PM speaking to the chief minister,and the home ministry allaying fears. Helplines have been set up in Hyderabad,where similar rumours have circulated.

But maintaining social calm is not the governments job alone. Political parties must share some of the responsibility. The BJP,to its credit,has led the conversation on Karnataka. With Sushma Swaraj taking the lead,the party has asked people from the Northeast to stay in Karnataka without anxiety,and said that every BJP and ABVP worker would protect citizens if needed. Gujarat CM Narendra Modis speech on August 15,however,had a different aim he tried to compare the governments reaction to the violence in Assam and Mumbai,implying that it was driven by communal considerations. That kind of rhetoric self-serving,divisive and irresponsible is unacceptable and avoidable in such a fraught situation. If we are to put a final stop to the Kokrajhar violence and its ripples,political leaders across the board must be and must be seen to be invested in peace.