West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee promised to provide continued shelter and aid to all Assam refugees who didn’t want to leave Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.
Speaking on the occasion of Eid at a massive congregation at Red Road here, Mamata said, “Those who have taken shelter in Jalpaiguri district are our guests …
We have given them shelter. If any of them don’t want to return now, we will continue to provide them shelter.”
Thousands of people from Assam had trooped into the border district in the aftermath of the Kokrajhar violence.
Didi also urged people not to pay heed to rumour-mongers on the back of exodus of Northeast people. “Do not listen to rumours. Please maintain peace and harmony,” she added.
Mamata also stated that her government had worked for the welfare of minorities by increasing the budget allocation by 80 per cent, passing the West Bengal Backward Classes Bill, 2012, which gives 17 per cent reservation in jobs for OBCs.
‘Tripura People Safe’ The students, professionals and other people from Tripura staying in Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states were safe and there were no reports of any attack on them, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was quoted as saying by the IANS in Agartala on Monday.
“All the students, professionals and other people from Tripura are safe in Karnataka, Maharashtra and other states in India. There are no reports of attack on them,” said Sarkar, reacting to rumours of attacks on people from the northeastern region of the country.
He said Tripura’s Rural Development Minister Jitendra Chowdhury and Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar Panda spoke to their counterparts in Karnataka and urged them to ensure security of students and other people from the northeast in Bangalore and other parts of that state.
Terming the recent Kokrajhar (in Assam) violence as painful, Sarkar said “opportunist forces are trying to destroy the peace in the country, especially the mixed populated northeast region”.