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A concerned Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that he has spoken to his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani and expressed concern over attacks in the western state on non-Gujarati people, including those from Bihar.
Condemning the alleged rape of a 14-month-old girl, which triggered the violent attacks, Kumar said the guilty must be punished but an entire community should not be “tarred with the same brush”.
“Our government is aware and alert. I spoke to the Gujarat chief minister Sunday. Our chief secretary and director general of police are also in touch with their counterparts in Gujarat,” Kumar told reporters here.
“If somebody has committed a crime, he must be punished severely. But on account of one incident, people should not generalise and hold a grouse against an entire state,” he said.
Non-Gujaratis, especially those hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, have been targeted by locals following the alleged rape of the girl by a native of Bihar, in Gujarat’s Sabarkantha district on September 28.
The attacks intensified following the circulation of hate messages on social media. Police have arrested 342 people from various parts of Gujarat for allegedly attacking non-Gujaratis.
