Amid the exodus of northeast people from various States, in the light of incidents in Assam and other places, people from the region who live here have begun going back home.“How do we trust anyone’s assurances? Despite military presence, there are riots in Assam. My employer said he will make arrangements for my safety, but when? When I die? We are feeling unsafe. We saw what happened in Azad Maidan. In Bangalore, a Tibetan woman was knifed. What is the guarantee that we are safe here? It’s not safe back home either, but at least we will be with our family. We will be together,” Rupchik Mahaliya, a Bodo from Sonitpur district told The Hindu . He is a contract worker at a bread factory on Mumbai.
Around 150 Assamese workers from this factory planned to get on the Guwahati Express on Saturday morning.
“We will get on somehow. We have to go. My family is calling me back. My mom has not eaten for four days,” said Kenadhar Bosmudari.
Most of them are returning despite their jobs being jeopardised. “My employer said he won’t take me back. But we are afraid to stay,” said Monish Sor Ramsheri.
“We are leaving out of fear. We have seen what’s happening in Assam,” said a restaurant worker from IIT Bombay.