Rebel attacks trigger migrant exodus in India
Source: Reuters
By Biswajyoti Das GUWAHATI, India, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Huddled in buses, trucks and trains, thousands of poor migrant labourers fled revolt-torn northeastern India on Tuesday, the second day of an exodus triggered by the killing of scores of workers by separatists. Militants have killed 72 people, most of them Hindi-speaking migrants, across the state of Assam since Friday, sparking widespread fear in a community that comes to the state for eight months a year to work at brick kilns. On Tuesday, they headed back to their homes in the eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, carrying their meagre luggage and accompanied by their wives and children. Many flocked the train station in Guwahati, the main city of Assam, while others pooled money and hired trucks or buses to get away from the worst violence in the state in years. "We are leaving, we are no longer safe here and have no faith in the police," said Raghu Nath Jha, a middle-aged labourer from Bihar, who worked in one of the dozens of brick kilns in eastern Assam. "We have told our employers that we no longer feel safe despite the presence of security guards," he said. The attacks have been blamed on the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which has been fighting for the independence of Assamese people in a conflict that has killed thousands of people since it began almost three decades ago. Last week, the ULFA warned non-Assamese businessmen and labourers of dire consequences if they continued to live in Assam, accusing New Delhi of flooding the state with outsiders to reduce the indigenous Assamese population to a minority. Hundreds of troops have been deployed across the state and authorities are sheltering labourers at government buildings at night while police keep vigil at brick kilns during the day. Yet, some migrants said their faith had been shaken. "I am leaving Assam for good with my family. Nobody can protect us," said Parameshwar Yadav, speaking from inside a hired vehicle on a highway near Guwahati, on his way to Bihar. Yadav said he had closed his kiosk in Tinsukia district in eastern Assam, grabbed whatever belongings he could and left with his wife and two children. Violence has surged in Assam since the ULFA walked out of peace talks with the central government in September after New Delhi called off a truce saying the rebels had violated it. Security analysts said that, with the attacks, the ULFA had sent a message to New Delhi that it was still a force to be reckoned with and wanted talks on its terms. The rebel group carried out similar attacks in 2003 on migrant labourers, killed more than 70 and burned hundreds of shelters used by the migrants.
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