E-Paper
'I don't want to be here'
The private security guard in Shivajinagar area got jittery after a friend forwarded him an SMS (in Hindi), stating all Assamese people in Bangalore would be attacked if they did not leave by Ramzan.
Navin Rongu
Age: 31
Kokrajhar, Assam
The private security guard in Shivajinagar area got jittery after a friend forwarded him an SMS (in Hindi), stating all Assamese people in Bangalore would be attacked if they did not leave by Ramzan.
"I have been here for six years, but the circumstances now forced me to send my wife and two children home. I don't want to be here and invite trouble," said Rongu.
"My old parents need my help because of the violence."
He said beyond sympathetic words, the police and government officials were not offering much help to people from the northeast gripped by fear.
Rongu is among the thousands of poor people waiting to escape.
Many of them have little money after sending a chunk of their salaries to families. The prospect of losing bonus payouts in the coming festive season (Dussehra and Diwali) is troubling most of them.
