Manipuri student attacked in Bangalore for not speaking Kannada

IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, October 15, 2014 | UPDATED 22:05 IST

 

T Michael Lamjathang HaokipA Manipuri engineering student was attacked late on Tuesday in Bangalore by a group of men who demanded he "speak Kannada".
According to reports, the attack took place around midnight in Kothanur, where many outstation students, particularly from the northeast states and Africa, live.
There have been similar attacks in the area in the past.
In the latest attack, T Michael Lamjathang Haokip, president of Thadou (Manipuri tribe) Students' Association, Bangalore, sustained injuries to his head and back. The 26-year-old is out of danger.
Two other members of the students' association who were with him when he was attacked escaped with minor injuries. The trouble started when they were at a roadside eatery.
"They kept asking me to speak in Kannada. They said, 'If you outsiders know how to eat food that is produced in Karnataka, you must also know to speak Kannada. This is India not China'," a report quoted him as saying. "I tried to reason with them but they were hysterical," he said.
In his complaint, he alleged that people who were attracted by the commotion immediately took the side of the attackers.
The report further quoted him as saying, "A friend from my community was passing by on his motorbike. I jumped onto the bike and we started racing towards the police station. But mob followed us on their bikes and one of them crashed into us. We fell down and I started running for my life towards the police station. Just then a police patrol car arrived and the mob scattered."
Meanwhile, the police have arrested three people and investigations are on to ascertain if it was a hate crime.

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