A protest against attacks on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar held at Azad Maidan on August 11 turned ugly with 45 policemen injured in the violence.
Fearing attacks on them in the wake of ethnic violence in Assam, hundreds of Assamese youth left Mumbai and reached Guwahati by train on Friday. Though none of them was attacked in Mumbai, the youth, mostly Bodos, said last week’s violence in Azad Maidan and talks of possible attacks on Northeasterners after Ramzan prompted them to leave the city.
A protest against attacks on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar held at Azad Maidan on August 11 turned ugly with 45 policemen injured in the violence.
The Assamese community said they were leading a decent life in Mumbai, but now fear has gripped them so much that they are unlikely to return to the city. Dharmen Basumatary, 22, who worked in a bakery in Vashi, said he was threatened by local Muslims whenever he stepped out of his house. “They said enjoy Mumbai as much as you can till Eid, but after that you will have to face dire consequences,” said Basumatary, who is from Dhekiajuli, Assam. He said 100-300 youth have fled Mumbai. “Communal riots are dangerous. We have only one life and I don’t want to take a risk,” said Basumatary.
Babul Basumatary, 29, from Udalguri said he and his friends from Assam were threatened. “The local Muslim youth told us to leave Mumbai if we loved our lives,” said Babul, who was working in a company in Navi Mumbai. Manoj Kumba, 26, said he left Mumbai after the management of the glass factory where he was employed expressed its inability to give him protection. “Twelve of us from Assam were working there. On Tuesday, the management told us to leave as they feared we would be attacked,” he said.
However, not everyone, was intimidated. Some said they left Mumbai only because of fear. Bodo teenagers Anita Goyari and Udangshri Narzary who worked in a dairy farm said their parents wanted them to return home. Jogeswar Bodo, 22, from Rowta and Dinesh Bodo, 25, from Tangla said reports of imminent attacks forced them to leave the city. “I was working in a hotel. After the Azad Maidan violence, I got to hear from my friends in Mumbai that we would be targeted,” Dinesh said.
Jogeswar, who worked as a security guard, said his co-workers persuaded him to stay back, but he turned down their pleas. “We were living happily in Mumbai. We will miss the city,” he said.
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