Exodus, a blemish on Karnataka's image: Veerappa Moily

Mangalore, August 20: The recent mass exodus of people from the northeast from Karnataka to their respective states is a major blot on the state's rich legacy that has always given shelter to people, according to Union minister for power M Veerappa Moily. "While the state government has handled the situation well by taking series of steps, the exodus could have been prevented if they had acted on Centre's advisory on providing protection to the people from those states in time," he added.

He added that the state police's intelligence apparatus should have been on the alert following the advisory. "The state has to be on the alert in the future to prevent recurrence of such incidents. Karnataka has always prided itself on being a state with a large heart and this rich legacy has been tarnished a wee bit," he added.

Karnataka has never discriminated against anyone. "We have a history where poet-saint Sri Ramanuja took shelter in Melkote after he faced trouble in Tamil Nadu. The state wholeheartedly welcomed Tibetans when they faced problems by setting up camps for them. Even Sri Lankan Tamilians were accommodated here and Kashmiri students were given special privileges when I was the CM," he said.

Decrying attempts in certain quarters to politicize Assam riots and the resultant exodus, Moily said the UPA government has taken steps to prepare the National Population Registry, which will set to rest questions on illegal migrants.

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