A little prayer in Assam

With the clashes between Assamese and Biharis taking an ugly turn with every passing day, there is palpable fear in Bihar where relatives of...

With the clashes between Assamese and Biharis taking an ugly turn with every passing day, there is palpable fear in Bihar where relatives of the estimated 12 lakh Biharis, engaged in menial jobs and small trades in Assam, are keeping their fingers crossed.

Mohd Kasif, who had been running a saloon in Assam’s Dispur district for the last 12 years, has boarded a train to head home along with his family. ‘‘I hope to come back once the tension is over. Though there were no threats to me particularly, I do not feel secure here,’’ he said before leaving.

Saying a prayer for him is Mohd Munna, Kasif’s cousin, who runs a telephone booth in Chapra. Munna hopes that the train, which has not been provided escort within Assam, is not targeted. All trains from the North-East are being given police escort in Bihar since the day passengers from the region were attacked on November 12.

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While most Biharis want to leave Assam, at least for the timebeing, many of them have decided not to in view of the insecurity of travelling by train in such a situation. Officials at Patna Railway Station say trains coming from Assam do not bring an unusual number of passengers as would have been expected in such a situation.

Most people are also avoiding taking the train to Assam. ‘‘We have several berths going vacant since last week. It has never happened like this before,’’ a conductor of the Guwahati-bound Brahmaputra Mail said. The same train was attacked on November 12 at Jamalpur in Bihar.

RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav had a busy day today, talking to Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

Laloo sought the PM’s direct intervention to have more forces dispatched to Assam. He also called up the SPs of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh who told him that large-scale arrests were made today in connection with the attack on Biharis yesterday.