Having been born, worked and retired in the capital city, the developments of the past few days is both surprising and shocking to say the least. Still there are reasons to remain optimistic as, despite the best, well-orchestrated efforts of vested interests, one can confidently conclude from history, personal experience and media reports, the attacks on Biharis do not have the blessings of the majority Assamese community.

The same, however, cannot be said about the administration, which was late to react to the emerging situation after the shameful attacks on train passengers from the Northeast in Bihar in retaliation to the assault on candidates from Bihar appearing in a railway recruitment test on November 9. It actually began here on November 17. Though it has stepped up efforts to restore normalcy, it will take time for the unrest to ebb. From reports appearing in the media, the government’s task is cut out.

However, to expect that the government alone can restore normalcy under the present circumstances will be like asking for the moon. It is an internal problem and has to be resolved internally. It is the local populace that has to rise against the ongoing madness and complement the efforts of the administration. The goodwill visit of Laloo Prasad Yadav is at best cosmetic. For, the affected are the ones who have nothing to do with Bihar or with the jobs that is said to have triggered the unrest in the first place. Leading citizens and organisations, like the powerful All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), have to reach out to the Hindi-speaking people to undo the damage done to the image and economy of the state. Already a few have spoken against the unrest and in the days to come, the clamour for sanity, one is sure, will rise.

At the micro-level, the attack is against one particular community but at a macro-level, it is a calculated attack on the federal structure of the nation. The idea of India as a nation is at stake. The local populace has to understand that peaceful inter-states relations are a must for growth and prosperity. The forced displacement of people will invariably create more problems than solve them. If one examines the Bihari community in Assam, one will find that it is not exploitative by nature, have co-existed peacefully and made substantial contributions to the state in various capacities, which sadly never get highlighted.

Here it will not be out of place to mention an incident which took place 10 days back in the Sarabbhatti area of Guwahati, involving a local and a suspected Bangladeshi rickshawpuller. Annoyed with the steep fare charged by the rickshawpuller, the commuter not only slapped him but also gave half of what had been charged.

Though the rickshawpuller did not hit back or create a scene, he simply stopped the passenger and said a line, which should be an eye-opener to all of us, “In 10 years’ time we will be hitting you back!”

All said and done, only a collective effort from all of us can help us tide over the crisis. Like most tragedies, some good will also emerge from these attacks, which we have to latch onto and move on.