<div>Chinese whispers, a Tibetan youth being murdered outside of Mysore this week and fear of violence in Assam spreading across the country seemed to have caused a major exodus of citizens from the north east working in major cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad. These people are the backbone of the hospitality and retail industries; without them many such businesses have come to a standstill.<br /><br />Arjuna Raju, CEO of the Eden Park chain of restaurants in Bangalore, had a rude shock when he visited his office. Around 30 staff members, hailing from the north east were standing with their luggages packed. "They wanted to go back home fearing security issues and they wanted to protect their families," says Raju. He had to close one of his restaurants, but he fears that it would be difficult to replace them. Same is the case in other major restaurants, saloons and major hotels.<br /><br />The situation became much worse when reports of violence meted to the north eastern community, on 16 August morning in Mumbai, spread like wildfire. Around 7,000 people left Bangalore on the same day. Retailers in Bangalore had to serve their customers with one or two local employees. Even a larger outfit like the Mantri Square Mall was not spared. "We have had our labour contractors bring in new people quickly and it is difficult to comprehend why this sudden exodus happened," says Jonathan Yach, CEO of Mantri Square Mall.<br /><br />The sight at the Bangalore Central Railway station was unlike anything seen in the city. The police tried to control a mob of youngsters jumping on the trains going to Kolkata and Guwahati.<br /><br />A source at the Central Railway says that only five per cent of their workforce were from the north east, but complaints kept pouring in about their safety. "We have had to assure them of their safety and let our store managers across the city to rubbish the rumour and keep them from feeling insecure," says the source. The chief minister of Karnataka Jagadish Shettar tried to calm things down, but more people were pouring in to the train stations as the evening went by.<br /><br />By evening, many hospitality centres such as spas and saloons in posh areas of Cunningham Road, Kormangala and Brigade Road, were working at 50 per cent capacity. Also shops in high street M G Road had lost most of their staff. Each of these service centres need to make at least 25,000-30,000 a day to pay their expenses and remain profitable. The problem will worsen if these people do not return as over the last six years, new retail and hospitality busineses in the city have depended on the people from north east. The reason being, as employees they could speak in English and naturally took to the service industry, tasks which local populations could not perform or fulfil for a business.<br /><br />Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured migrants from the northeast of the country that they were safe as thousands fled Mumbai, Bangalore and other cities on 17 August, fearing a backlash from violence against Muslims in Assam. The government has also banned bulk SMS and MMS messages to stop spread of rumour-mongering.<br /><br />Railway authorities have laid on extra trains from Bangalore and other cities for the two-day journey back to Assam, a northeastern state famous for its tea and oilfields. Some media reports said that by 17 August as many as 15,000 had left cities in the south and west.<br /><br />"What is at stake is the unity of our country. What is at stake is communal harmony," Singh told parliament.<br /><br />Two people were killed and dozens wounded last week when about 10,000 people rioted in Mumbai, the country's financial capital, following a protest by Muslims against the violence in the northeast.<br /><br />Rumours of revenge attacks by Muslims have been swirling, many of which have been carried on social media and mass mobile phone text messages.<br /><br /><br /> </div>
_20241010001905_original_image_2.webp)
