'Don't Panic': Tamil Nadu Guv Reassures Migrants As Rumours Of Attack Raise Fear

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Sunday reassured migrant workers in Tamil Nadu that they were safe in the state and asked them not to panic in the wake of startling rumours about some of them being attacked. The governor said that the people of Tamil Nadu were nice and friendly and that there was no need to panic.

“Governor urged the North Indian labourers in Tamil Nadu not to panic and feel insecure, as the people of Tamil Nadu are very nice and friendly, and the state government is committed to provide them security,” the Raj Bhavan tweeted.

The Tamil Nadu Police had earlier clarified that the video circulating on social media was “fake”.

What we know so far:

1. The Chennai Police has registered a case against Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai for inciting violence and promoting enmity between two groups after he linked the ruling DMK to the spread of rumours about migrant workers. 

2. In a series of tweets, Annamalai shared a video and termed the case against him ‘false’ and dared the police to arrest him. “You think that you can suppress democracy by filing false cases. I give you 24 hours and dare you to arrest me," he said, roughly translated from Tamil.

3. The police also registered cases against two journalists of a Hindi daily, Bihar BJP spokesperson Prashant Patel Umrao, among a few others for spreading rumours.

4. On Saturday, a four-member team of officials from Bihar on Saturday left for Tamil Nadu to look into the allegations despite chief minister MK Stalin having assured his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar that all migrant labourers in the state were safe. 

5. Two members of the team, D Balamurugan and P Kannan, hailing from Tamil Nadu, have reportedly been chosen so that "internal feedback" could be obtained, without facing problems of language.

(With PTI inputs)