Opposition parties expressed concern over the exodus of fear-stricken people hailing from the northeast region leaving Bangalore, following rumours of attacks on them in the wake of ethnic clashes between Bodos and Muslims there.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah told the media on the sidelines of the launch of Yuvadhwani, Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee’s campaign against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, asked the State to take immediate confidence-building measures.
The Home Minister should take steps to contain mischief-mongering in the social media. “The development is detrimental to the federal system,” he noted.
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Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara said that the exodus was a testimony to the failing law and order situation in the State. “The government has to consider the High Court’s concern over the exodus,” he said.
Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Kumaraswamy dubbed the development as a major intelligence failure.
He told presspersons that the government should have taken enough precaution following the unrest in Assam.
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Instead, he said, “we saw the Home Minister going to the railway station appealing to panic-struck people not to leave. Such a situation was bound to tarnish the country’s image.”
The Communist Party of India (CPI) urged the Chief Minister to extend all security to the community. Bangalore District Secretary of the CPI M.D. Hari Govinda said in a press release that the party was in solidarity with them.