[dropcap]A[/dropcap]fter a lull certain elements in Manipur valley have started targeting the migrant labourers again. In the past few days already five non-local labourers have been killed in bomb blast in the heart of Imphal. These elusive elements are using bombs in their pursuit in most cases. Such off-on attacking incidents on the migrant workers have been there in the valley districts for the past 10 years or so.
These attackers would never identify themselves. They would neither reveal the reason why they are attacking migrant workers. They use small guns in some cases. At times over a dozen people would be killed. Whenever the attacking starts it would continue for few months. In such situation one would see migrant workers fleeing from the valley districts either to the tribal dominated districts of Manipur or outside the state. But these migrant workers would return to the valley districts once things become normal. This has been the routine.Now, things to ponder. Has the racial discrimination on the North East people in the metros of India anything to do with the attacks on the migrants workers in Assam and Manipur? There have been cases of attack on the Hindi speaking people in Assam too by certain militants. There were also cases of attacks on the Hindi speaking people in Meghalaya sometimes ago though the magnitude was lower when compared to Manipur and Assam.
These incidents of targeting the Hindi speaking people are not new happenings but the government is yet to come up with strategies to address the problem. The authorities are letting the problem to go on and today things are getting complicated. We cannot dismiss altogether that the racial attacks on the North East community in Delhi and other metros by the mainlanders have nothing to do with the killings of migrant workers in Manipur and Assam. Intensification of frisking is one common method the government employs every time such attacks on the migrant workers in the North East region occur. The government has no long term strategy to deal such problem. It appears the resources of the government have exhausted.
