NEW DELHI // The Indian home secretary has accused websites in Pakistan of spreading false rumours that caused thousands of people from India's remote north-east to panic and flee from southern and western India. They feared they would be attacked in retaliation for ethnic violence in their home state.
Home Secretary R K Singh told reporters late on Saturday that investigators had found that most of the websites used images of people killed in cyclones and earthquakes and passed them off as Muslims killed in violence earlier this year to spread fear of revenge attacks. He said most of the images were uploaded from Pakistan. The sites have now been blocked.
Mr Singh said India would discuss the matter with officials in Pakistan but gave no other details about the websites. The two countries routinely blame each other for fomenting domestic strife.
There was no immediate reaction from officials in Pakistan.
The exodus followed clashes in Assam state in recent weeks between ethnic Bodos and Muslims settlers that killed more than 50 people and displaced 400,000 others. The largest number of people fled the southern city of Bangalore. News reports said people also left some other cities in southern and western India. Those fleeing said they had heard text messages had been circulating threatening retaliatory attacks by Muslims.
India also banned bulk mobile-phone texting for 15 days.
Ninong Ering, a ruling Congress party lawmaker from the state of Arunachal Pradesh, in parliament on Friday, demanded action against those spreading rumours.
"We will do our utmost to ensure that our friends, our children and our citizens from the north-east feel secure in any part and every part of our country," Mr Singh said in parliament. "We must curb all the elements that are out to create trouble."
*With additional reports from Bloomberg News
