LETTER TO HON'BLE CJI

Sri C H Kapadia
Hon'ble Chief Justice of India
New Delhi

Respected Sir

I read a news item in Sunday Times of India ( Bangalore Edition) dated 26th August 2012, with a headline "Hounding out NE youth from Bangalore brought tears" attributed to your speech in New Delhi. The news item quoted you saying " It was said because days before that young people from north east were being thrown out of Bangalore . The way the exodus was happening , it had brought tears in my eyes".

Sir, I am holding the portfolio of Law and Parliamentary Affairs as a minister in the government of Karnataka . Though it is true that thousands of persons - especially youth - moved out of bangalore for four days , it is not correct to say that they were 'hounded out' of Bangalore . The people of Bangalore and the entire Government Machinery did it's best to prevent their moving out of Bangalore. In fact, on 16th August I myself stayed at the railway station for nearly 14 hours making all efforts to prevent their moving out. When it could not give us result, we facilitated their smooth travel with food , drinking water and special trains. It may be  pertinent to mention here,  that  on 19th August,  the two honorable ministers from Assam who came to assess the situation first hand,  wholeheartedly praised the swift action taken by our government to give protection and our attempts to prevent their moving out . Even the central government has acknowledged our quick and sincere efforts in this regard .

Sir. It is essential here to mention the reasons for this temporary - what can be called as - reverse migration .

A) Most of the persons , at least 60% of those who wanted to go back have on record said that they want to be with their parents when Assam is facing serious conflict . In fact, it was the fervent appeals from their parents to return that made these youngsters to rush back.

B) Few SMSes  which were sent to this particular section created a sort of apprehension about their safety after a particular date i.e, August 20th.

C) In very few isolated incidents some individuals were threatened by some anti-social elements .

Sir, these  are the real reasons. With full humility I want to reiterate  that north east youth were neither 'hounded out from Bangalore' , nor were 'thrown out of Bangalore'. The people of our  state have full faith in the rule of law and we adhere to the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India . We have never allowed and we will never allow any such attempt to throw out any Indian - more so, persons from north east from Bangalore, because we feel all of us are Indians first.

Respected Sir. I request you to appreciate  the spirit behind the words in this mail. I request you further, not to mistake me for writing this. I honestly felt that the real picture should also be brought to your lordship's notice.

With regards

Sincerely, 

S.SURESH KUMAR.
LAW MINISTER

GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA