It was an Independence Day they will not forget. Some 10,000 people from the country’s North-East – students, techies and other professionals who had made Bengaluru home -- rushed to the City Railway Station on Wednesday night, eager to board trains to Guwahati, to “get back to safety”. As fears of violence against them spread, many said they were not even thinking of what would be an anxiety-filled four days on the train.

The exodus began after several of the students allegedly received threats of violence against them. The South Western Railway quickly arranged two special trains to Guwahati. One left at 11.15 pm on Wednesday night and another 25 minutes later, a combined 30 coaches between them, all jam packed.
“Apart from these two special trains, daily trains to destinations in the North East are running as per schedule,” said a Railway official.

Anshuman Malakar, a BBM student from Assam left to Guwahati with some 60 of his friends. “What is the guarantee of security? We do not trust the government to save our lives. Our classes are going on, but our parents have been urging us to get back home as they fear for our lives.” Partha Pratim quit his job as a techie at a company in Electronic City to start his journey to his hometown, six hours away from the capital of Assam, Guwahati. “I am not the only one to have quit the job. Many others have, too. We are all going back home.” A married couple was so desperate to board the first train leaving to Guwahati that the wife burst into tears when they could not manage to get on the train. They waited anxiously for the second train. Railway officials expected the exodus to continue on Thursday, too.

Tibetan boy in Mysore critical
A 20-year-old Tibetan, who was stabbed here on Tuesday night in a suspected hate crime targeting North-East citizens, has suffered severe injuries in his large intestine and is being treated at the ICU in KR Hospital here. Tenzin Dhargyal, who was accompanying two ailing Buddhist monks to the city to help them with hospital admission, told the police that he was stabbed by two men from behind and could not see their faces properly. The incident occurred when he was standing near a hotel on Irwin Road. Mr Cheluvaraj, ACP, Devaraja subdivision, said. “We have no clues on the attackers.

The weapon has pierced through his stomach, injuring his large intestine severely. We removed the weapon through a surgical procedure. He is now in the surgical ICU and is on oxygen support. He is alert, but his condition continues to be critical,” Medical Superintendent of KR Hospital, Dr B.G. Sagar said. Tenzin is from one of the Bylakuppe Tibetan settlements near Hunsur. He is a student at SOS TCV College in Bylakuppe. “Tenzin had arrived at the camp just two months ago. He is here to study computer science.

As he is well versed with English, the two monks, who were very ill, brought him to Mysore to help them with hospital admission,” DCP, Law and Order, Mr Basavraj Malgnt, we held meetings with Tibetans and North-Easterners, and assured them that they would be given adequate security. We have deployed our men near Tibetan settlements and organised constant patrolling,” he said.

He said there are 21,000 Tibetans in Bylakuppe and Gurupura Tibetan settlements near Mysore. Every day, at least 1,000 of them come to Mysore. Some Tibetan businessmen stay in the city. We have told them not to venture out at night. We have also asked people from the Tibetan settlements not to come to the city for a while,” he said.