Tag: Tamil NAdu migrant workers

Backstory: It’s Media Information That Keeps India as a Country Together – or Apart

A fortnightly column from The Wire’s ombudsperson.

Riots can be tweeted. Election rigging can be facebooked. Communal murders can be whatsapped. The last fortnight brought disturbing reminders of how far we have gone down the road to a mediatised dystopia when, to adapt an evocative McLuhan phrase, we found ourselves once again driving into the future guided by the rearview mirror.

Recent images of Bihar migrants working in Tamil Nadu desperately clambering on to trains headed back home brought back memories of another time, a decade ago, when something similar happened to migrants from the Northeast. In mid-2012, morphed images of attacks on the Rohingya population perpetrated by the Burmese army a month earlier, had made their way to Assam’s Kokrajhar, opening a fresh vein of blood-letting between the Bodos and the Bengali Muslims by July 20. This, in turn, triggered a destabilising arc of events that traced a trajectory from Assam to Mumbai, where large-scale protests against anti-Muslim violence fuelled by social media messaging broke out after a rally held in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan on August 11. It soon spread to Pune and other places.

Shortly thereafter, threatening messages travelled to cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, triggering panic among migrants from the Northeast located there. So high was the threshold of fear that, according to the Railways, at least 25,000 passengers from Bengaluru caught trains for Assam, and other northeastern destinations between August 15 and 17 – just three days.

Both sets of panic reactions separated by a decade were fuelled by the media and social media; both were enormously disruptive in a country as large and variegated as India, unleashing chaos and anxieties on a mass scale; both involved migrants and were quickly framed as outsider-insider confrontations. They also demonstrate that the faith the public vests in the veracity of images and texts that reach them on digital platforms has remained steadfast over this last decade.

But there were also differences between then and now. The first aspect we need to register, of course, are the significant changes in information technology. The SMS, or short messaging service, sent in bulk, which had wreaked havoc in 2012, has been completely overtaken by tweets and WhatsApp messages. Earlier it was the static image that did the rounds on the mostly simple mobile phone of those days, this time the videos curated to send a chill down the spine made it to internet-enabled smart phones, achieving a higher level of virality which hastened the pace of developments. In 2023, the fake material made to circulate had a level of sophistication that was missing in the earlier case. To take one example, what appeared to be screenshots of a report on Bihar migrants being asked to leave Tamil Nadu along with the masthead of Dainik Jagran, the largest selling newspaper in Bihar, lent huge credibility to what was patently false.

Two very striking differences this time, however, also need to be acknowledged. First, while in 2012 the untruths in the toxic messages swirling around were never conclusively established or called out; this time the forensic analyses of fact-checkers like Alt News of videos showing murder and assault on figures projected as Bihari migrants, conducted in almost real time, stood out. This was important transparency work and needs to be acknowledged as such by every Indian committed to a credible public sphere (‘Multiple Unrelated Videos Viral as Attack on Migrant Labourers in Tamil Nadu’, first appear in the AltNews website on March 2 and in The Wire on March 4). Take the step-by-step unpacking of Video #1 which showed masked assaulters attacking a man on the street with sickle and machete. Alt News, through a process of reading signage on the street, conducting keyword searches, breaking down the video into key frames while performing a Google reverse image searches on them and by syncing tweets and newspaper reports with the image, was able to establish that the footage which was now being passed off as an attack on a Bihari migrant on a Tamil Nadu street, was actually related to an incident involving a local gang war in Coimbatore. Other falsities also surfaced through the investigations of the Tamil Nadu police. For instance, the alleged “killer of a Bihar labourer”, turned out to be man from Jharkhand, Upendra Dhari, whose personal enmity with one Pawan Yadav had driven him to murder the latter. The video of that killing had fed the fake-news fuelled spiral of panic.

While in 2012 there was an array of interested political parties, including those driven by communal and ethnic ideologies, doing the mischief; this time there was evidence to suggest that much of the toxic disinformation was driven by forces aligned to the Hindu rightwing. This appears to be motivated by two politically partisan objectives: One, to ensure that the BJP emerges as a protector of Bihar’s interests in a state where it is looking to plant its flag of one-party dominance. As the Wire article, ‘On the Lookout For an Emotive Issue Ahead of LS Polls, BJP Suffers a Setback in Bihar’ (March 6), points out, “Bihar’s alliance parties suspect that the Sangh Parivar is plotting to build the narrative that migrant workers of Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the Hindi heartland are not safe in Tamil Nadu… in order to reinforce that idea that a strong Centre headed by Modi is what is necessary to protect workers in other states.” The moment the fake news began to circulate, it was BJP politicians in Bihar who were the most assiduous in circulating it and stridently raising the issue in the state assembly. In time, one of them – the BJP spokesperson Prashant Patel Umrao – even confessed to have fallen victim to fake news. It’s another matter that he did this only after the Tamil Nadu police had booked him for intentionally causing a breach of public peace.

The second political objective of the Hindutva forces was to discredit the DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu because it is seen as a lynchpin of oppositional unity. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin pointed out that the rumours came thick and fast after he had appealed to opposition parties to unite against the BJP. Fortunately, the chief ministers of both states, Bihar’s Nitish Kumar and Stalin, were quick to reach out to each other, issue public statements, ensure that their police took the necessary steps to bring the situation under control and set up fact-finding teams. This prompt action made a huge difference. In 2012 when the violence against people from the northeast, which was triggered by events in the Rakhine province in early June, took at least three months to subside. In the latest case, the situation was controlled within a few days thanks to the pro-active steps taken by the authorities.

Establishing the untruths behind the narrative, which required the efforts not just of individual journalists but state agencies as well, put an end to a divisive campaign that would have done immeasurable damage to the country. The OpIndia disclaimer after it had posted fake reports, said it all: “Update: The claims about murders and killing as well as the fingers of the Hindi-speaking migrant labourers being chopped and the labourers being locked in a room and hanged, which were reported by Dainik Bhaskar were retracted after the incident caused nationwide controversy. Since our reports were based on Dainik Bhaskar’s report and were reproduced here crediting them explicitly, we have removed those claims as well because Bhaskar doesn’t seem to be standing by it anymore.”

The latest V-Dem report (‘India Is ‘One of the Worst Autocratisers in the Last 10 Years,’ Says 2023 V-Dem Report’, March 7) saw disinformation “as a tool to ‘steer citizens’ preferences’ that is actively used by autocratising regimes to increase political polarisation.” The recent cynical panic-creation in Tamil Nadu provides more evidence of this.

Asianet fracas

There are ways to oppose problematic media coverage but unleashing a group of energetic, slogan-shouting men into newsrooms is not one of them. On March 3, a group of activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) forced their way into the offices of Asianet News in Kochi to stage a protest against a series that had been aired by the channel (‘Narcotics is a Dirty Business’, aired in November 2022) on the ground that it was based on fake content.

As the student wing of the ruling party, these SFI cadres were possibly driven by anger over what they saw was an attempt to cast the Kerala’s LDF government in poor light, but the impunity that marked their actions caused outrage across the country with several media bodies – in Kerala and elsewhere – issuing statements condemning their actions. Meanwhile the Pinarayi Vijayan government of Kerala did itself no favour by sending in police personnel to the Kozhikode office of Asianet News later for alleged violations in the same case and filing cases against the news channel as well as its executive editor and resident editor. All this was strongly reminiscent of the strong arm tactics of the Modi government against the BBC just a few days earlier and this in itself should have held the Kerala government’s hand.

There is a political angle to this story of course. The ruling party has been boycotting primetime discussions on Asianet News for a while now. According to a report carried in the New Indian Express, “The CPM has been complaining that Asianet News has an agenda to destabilise the LDF government at the behest of the ruling party at the Centre. The channel has aired many stories that were embarrassing for the government and the CPM. The fact that Rajiv Chandrasekhar, a minister in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, owns the channel was cited to be the reason for the channel’s antagonism towards the CPM.”

While all this may or may not be true, it would have been far better for the Kerala government to have made its case to the public after citing the required evidence. It was a fact that the series had carried an interview with a 14-year-old child who had been tutored to deliver some lines. It was also a fact that nowhere in the telecast was it mentioned that this interview was “representational” – the intention seems to have been to pass it off as an authentic interaction, which is of course a big no-no. The state government missed a chance to do the right thing in this case and ended up providing ammunition to its political opponents. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala put it pithily, “Pinarayi Vijayan is acting like Modi…”

Hopefully, the fracas will come as an object lesson to other state governments raring to unleash their cadres and police to “discipline” media they consider biased and intractable: there is a limit to impunity.

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Ads that speak

An ad put out by a matrimonial website, Bharat Matrimony, subtly highlighted the importance of what constitutes a “safe Holi”. It faced a huge backlash from those who saw it as an attack on “Indian values”. How perverted such a line of reasoning came across when Holi celebrations this year saw a spate of cases of the sexual targeting of women — as they do every year.

Meanwhile, a feminist observer in a published reaction drew attention to a Tamil advertisement put out by Prithvi Inner Wears which celebrated International Women’s Day by capturing the multiple realities of women’s lives without exhibiting a need to actually display its products. Don’t miss the song that undergirds it: ‘En Virupam’, translating as ‘My Wish’ and the opening line: “Our sincere thanks to …the real life women who gracefully and enthusiastically accepted to be part of this production to serve as an inspiration to others.”

 

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Readers write in…

Leicester violence

Kamal Joshi has sent in a rather delayed response to a piece published last September: “Good day The Wire. I found several objectionable aspects of the piece entitled, ‘At the Heart of the Leicester Unrest Is Not Religion But Chauvinist Community Politics’ (September 21, 2022).

  1. According to the writer “peace can be shattered when ‘new’ factors emerge. That new factor is the ascendant global Hindutva which in itself is protean…” My objection to this line is that this is biased and false allegation against ‘Hindutva’ because there is no evidence in any of the Leicester Police’s official tweets that these incidents were caused by ‘Hindutva’. Rather all the evidence, arrests and official police’s tweets and report prove that it was fake tweets and fake news on social media that caused the violence. To support my argument please read follow the BBC link below: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-62965416
  1. The author or the editor took outrageous liberty of publishing an image in their article of a person brandishing pointed object/weapon. I object to it because nothing like that was brandished in Leicester or carried by Hindus. That image is out of context and does not bear any truth to it.
  2. The author has written and I quote again ‘…. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) in the UK and has been playing a crucial role in community mobilisation in British cities including Leicester…’ I object to this sentence because again there is no evidence.”

My response: While I don’t want to comment on the veracity or otherwise of Kamal Joshi’s observations, it has been reported that during Leicester  violence a rally had been taken through a Muslim neighbourhood by processionists shouting slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’, which seems to suggest that Hindutva elements were active in that campaign. However, I do agree with Joshi’s objection to one of the images carried with the piece, depicting an angry mob brandishing trishuls. It is indeed out of context and does not reflect the events at Leicester. I would in fact want that image to be removed from the piece.

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Error

An alert reader responded to my last column to point out a mistake: “Just wanted to bring to your notice that a sentence in a tailpiece carried in ‘Backstory: What They May Not Have Taught You at Journalism School’, February 25), referred to Tanzil Asif, editor, Main Media, and introduced him as an engineer by training who is now handling a news portal in the Seemanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. Asif works in Seemanchal in rural Bihar, not rural UP.”

My response: Thank you for the correction, which is regretted and has since been rectified.

Write to ombudsperson@cms.thewire.in

Was Fake News About ‘Attacks’ on Migrant Labourers an Attempt to Malign Tamil Nadu?

DMK leaders and other political observers say the narrative was generated to counter the state’s “inclusive model” of growth, with an eye on the 2024 general elections.

On March 1, several non-BJP leaders – including Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejaswi Yadav – descended in Tamil Nadu. The occasion was Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin’s 70th birth anniversary and the meeting turned out to be a massive show of opposition unity. The leaders were keen on setting up a strong national-level front to counter the BJP and promised to fight against “divisive forces”.

The next day, when journalists asked Stalin if he was eying national politics, he said he was “already there”. Hours later, rumours and fake narratives about “attacks on migrant labourers” from North India in Tamil Nadu began doing rounds on social media.

While several fact-checkers have debunked the claims about these videos, observers see a political motive behind the narrative.

“For one, the Tamil Nadu chief minister sharing the dais with national leaders is surely a reason for these fake news factories to do this. That there is a political alignment against the BJP is a cause of concern for them,” says DMK spokesperson Manu Shanmugasundaram.

He also claims that Tamil Nadu’s “model of inclusive growth” is another reason. “This has obviously hurt them. Tamil Nadu is ranked as the most urbanised state and has one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the country. It provides livelihoods for millions. There are reasons for those who promote the Gujarat model to feel envious of Tamil Nadu.”

While the Tamil Nadu police swung into action and filed cases against those who spread the fake news, the government machinery reached out to the migrant labourers by way of introducing a helpline for the specific purpose. Stalin also spoke to his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar and assured him of the safety of migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu.

On March 7, the chief minister visited a glove manufacturing unit at Kavalkinaru in Tirunelveli district and assured the migrant labourers working there of safety and security. In a tweet, Stalin said that there was a feeling of fraternity and safety among them and that the state government remains committed to protecting labourers.

Attempts to ‘malign’ Tamil Nadu?

Observers see the attempt to create a fake narrative as part of larger efforts to “malign” Tamil Nadu at the national level for electoral purposes.

“This has been happening for quite some time. The BJP and the right-wing groups have been doing it,” says Iyan Karthikeyan, a Chennai-based journalist and fact checker. “When a student died by suicide in Thanjavur in March 2022, right-wing groups said she killed herself because the school forced her to convert. They also released a clipped video to establish this. But when the full video was released, the reason was entirely different. She even responded in the negative to questions on whether she was forced not to wear a bindi or not to celebrate Pongal. It became a national debate.”

Similarly, when DMK leader T.R. Balu spoke about removing religious structures to make way for highways, the clip was “maliciously edited” to say only temples were being removed, the journalist said. But Balu had in fact said that even mosques and churches were removed, and in this particular incident, the temple was rebuilt in a bigger way. “But it was twisted out of context. More recently, the national media made a debate out of the murder of an army person. He was killed due to a family dispute. But the debate hinged on him being an army man. Clearly, there is an attempt to show Tamil Nadu as an anti-Hindu, anti-national state. But this did not hit home until the issue of migrant labourers came up. It could lead to a law-and-order issue and a serious crisis,” Karthikeyan said.

He says the narrative is being rolled out with the aim to be used in the 2024 general elections. “While it might still have no impact in the state, the BJP could well use it at the national level – show Tamil Nadu as an example, and say, ‘Look, if we don’t rule you, you would end up being discriminated this way.’”

Also Read: On the Lookout For an Emotive Issue Ahead of LS Polls, BJP Suffers a Setback in Bihar

Tamil Nadu BJP in a fix

But the narrative put forth by the BJP’s Bihar unit has put its Tamil Nadu counterpart in a fix. In an interview with SouthFirst, Tamil Nadu BJP vice president Narayanan Tirupathy said he condemned the fake news, even if it was spread by the BJP in Bihar. He, however, added that several leaders in Tamil Nadu – including from the ruling party – have “degraded” migrant labourers, which lead to panic among them when the fake news of attacks was spread.

The state police have also filed a case against BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai, allegedly for “airing similar views” to those who spread the fake news.

DMK leaders say that the Tamil Nadu BJP was drawing false conflating the party’s struggle against the imposition of Hindi in the state and the presence of Hindi-speaking migrant labourers. “The DMK has always been vocal about opposition to the imposition of Hindi. We have also expressed concerns about Hindi-speaking people taking up a chunk of jobs in various Union government departments. But to misconstrue these ideological issues as hatred for migrant labourers is a vicious campaign,” says Salma, a writer and DMK spokesperson. “The DMK government will continue to protect the migrant labourers, as it has always done.”

To Move Beyond the Binary of Language Politics, Teach Migrant Workers Tamil

The struggle against Hindi imposition should not be abandoned, but a new imagination beyond politicking this binary is necessary.

Tamil is back on the political centre stage in Tamil Nadu once again. A clumsy move by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer at the Chennai airport questioning the ‘Indianness’ of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi for her inability to express herself in Hindi was the most recent trigger.

A widespread condemnation from the political class and popular protest ensued in the state, which was followed by routine official apologies and knee-jerk corrective measures from the federal airport authorities. As unwise as the act of the CISF officer may be, it is high time that Tamil Nadu breaks out of such unhelpful linguistic loop, and strengthen its progressive politics as a developed state in India. In this context, teaching Tamil to migrant workers offers a window of opportunity to energise and advance Tamil politics, and counter the imposition of Hindi proactively.

Three decades of economic growth and development engined by automobile, information and communication technology (ICT), and textile industries and the concomitant construction boom in Tamil Nadu has attracted a good deal of unskilled and semi-skilled workers from across India in search of jobs to the state. A survey by Tamil Nadu’s labour department puts the number of intrastate migrant workers at about 10 lakhs, especially from Orissa, Bengal and Northeastern states. It is a considerably large pool of the populace for any policy experimentation or political action.

Volunteers serve food to migrant workers from Tamil Nadu. Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Roli Srivastava

Enormous scope for education

As most migrant workers are illiterate or semi-literate, it presents enormous scope for education and empowerment. The government of Tamil Nadu can open migrant night schools to teach Tamil, possibly some basic arithmetic, to migrant workers from non-South Indian states in districts like Chennai, Kanchipuram and Erode, where they are concentrated. Tamil Nadu has precedence and experience in undertaking such initiatives earlier. For example, one may recollect the role of Ari Oli Iyakkam (night schools) in the late 1980s and early 1990s in improving the literacy rate in the state.

It will be in the interest of the migrant workers to learn Tamil, as their livelihood depends on it. Their knowledge of the language will increase their ability to bargain with their employers and fight against exploitation by seeking legal recourse. The employers can manage the workers and workplace efficiently, and it can help reduce unwanted tension with local communities that often arises due to language difficulties. The end result will be greater interaction and amity among Tamils and other regional and linguistic communities and the creation of a conducive environment for developmental activities. So, it will be a win-win situation for the Tamils and the country as a whole.

Also Read: Pushing Hindi as Politics, Not Hindi as Language

Migrant night schools would require the participation of multiple stakeholders for their success. The Tamil Nadu government can involve various departments including labour, education and finance, to design the structure, allocate requisite resources, and implement the initiative. It serves well to partner with legitimate and notable non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to utilise their policy inputs as outside experts and exploit their access to the grassroots, particularly among migrant workers. Not to forget the traditional trade unions, although their presence is limited in the new industries.

Resource management can be a cause for concern. The Central government should be obliged to fund this programme, apart from the state government and the industries that employ migrant workers. Many government schools, both in urban and mofussil areas, that are on the verge of being closed/merged due to the migration of students to private schools can be used for conducting these migrant night schools. In addition, inactive teachers from those schools can be reassigned here, or other qualified candidates can be recruited for this purpose, if sufficient funding is made available.

Indian languages need to get online. Credit: Wikipedia Commons.

Tamil Nadu has been the only state in the Indian union that is steadfastly opposed to the imposition of Hindi. Photo: Wikipedia Commons.

Steadfast opposition to Hindi

Tamil Nadu has been the only state in the Indian union that is steadfastly opposed to the imposition of Hindi. Successive Central governments’ unrelenting attempts to impose Hindi in various guises and Tamil Nadu’s opposition to it in the form of polemic and protest defines that politics. But, this protest politics as a political strategy seems to have become less sanguine in the 21st century, because it is reactive in nature, and has been unable to preclude the persistency to impose Hindi, though it has served its purpose well in the past. Yet, this is not to suggest that the struggle against Hindi imposition should be abandoned, rather it calls for a new imagination in politicking beyond this binary.

In the digitised world, image is the arbiter. It is imperative that Tamil Nadu strengthens its image as a progressive and developed state through calibrated responses for its own good, and counter the negative portrayal of its legitimate right within the federal polity to oppose the imposition of Hindi by a large section of the mainstream media outside the state. Teaching Tamil to migrant workers would be a proactive and enabling response to both these concerns. The migrant workers armed with their knowledge of Tamil language and lived experience can become great ambassadors for the language and the state across boundaries.

Also Read: Making Sense of Tamil Nadu’s Anti-Hindi Protests

The narrative for teaching Tamil in migrant night schools should be presented as an endeavour to educate and empower the migrant workers as well as to aid the cause of the ‘nation’, since Tamil is one of the scheduled languages in India. Far too long consecutive Central governments have spent their energy and resources on promoting Hindi at the cost of other official languages. Promotion of Tamil in its own right and as a language that can increase economic opportunities for the needy may balance the sheet to some extent. Similarly, it will serve as an inspiration for other official languages to claim and secure their due. It is an opportune moment for Tamil Nadu as a developed state to spearhead the 21st century progressive politics by teaching Tamil to migrant workers and proactively resisting the imposition of Hindi.

A.D. Gnanagurunathan is a non-resident fellow, Taiwan Center for Security Studies (TCSS), National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan. He can be reached at: gnanagurunathan@gmail.com.

As TN Refuses Help, Workers From Bengal Ask Families to Send Money to Return Home

Construction workers stuck in Coonoor with no access to free rations say private bus operators are charging as much as Rs 2 lakh for a bus with 30 passengers.

Coonoor: Construction workers in the hill town of Coonoor in the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu are asking their families in West Bengal to send them money to pay for their journey home. With no sight of a return of public transport and with the likelihood of an extension of the nationwide lockdown, workers have been making informal arrangements with private bus operators.

Zakir Hussain from Murshidabad in West Bengal has been told by the district administration not to expect any help from them or the Tami Nadu government to facilitate their return home. Hussain has been working as a mason for four years in Coonoor, sending home about Rs 10,000 every month. He never expected to be in a position where he would require his family to send back money.

Bus operators are charging Rs 2 lakh for a bus with 30 passengers. This is because the government has ordered that physical distancing be maintained through the journey. Four buses are slated to leave on Sunday, May 17. Hussain tells me the district administration has given permits to leave town, but he fears that the West Bengal government might not allow them to enter. Two buses have already left in the past two days.

Local police have kept constant tabs on them, sometimes visiting them twice a day. The police took down names and numbers and have been actively encouraged the workers to make their own arrangements to return home.

Also read: ‘They Have Given Up’: Desperate Workers in Tamil Nadu Attempt the Long Journey Home

As the workers do not have local ration cards, they have been unable to access the free rations that various state governments have provided, and neither have they received the Rs 1,000 relief from the Central government.

Hussain and his friends have been accepting any work that comes their way at construction sites to make ends meet. They have not yet figured out how their families would send across the money they need for their return journey.

Listen to them explain how they have been attempting to get home for nearly two months now.

Kunal Shankar is a freelance journalist.

Note on May 19, 2020: Responding to this report by The Wire, the Nilgiris District administration contacted the construction workers from Murshidabad in West Bengal, assuring them that transport will be arranged for free within the next ten days.

This was confirmed by the workers as well. The labourers have also been assured of food and essentials for the next ten days. The Wire has been attempting to reach the District Collector for her response and will update this story once it receives it.

‘They Have Given Up’: Desperate Workers in Tamil Nadu Attempt the Long Journey Home

“No one has helped us till now and I don’t think anyone is coming to our rescue anytime soon,” said a 30-year-old Sameer Kumar, a construction labourer.

Chennai: On Wednesday, around 2,000 migrant workers were spotted in Gummidipoondi in Thiruvallur district which lies on NH-16 that connects Chennai and Kolkata. They had already walked 45 kilometres from Chennai to Gummidipoondi towards their homes in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Kolkata, Odisha and Himachal Pradesh.

A child from a migrant family walking towards Howrah receives relief material from volunteers at NH 16 in Chennai on May 14. Photo: Ariwarasan

Ever since the lockdown has been announced, migrant workers in the country have been waiting hopelessly for the government to help them reach their homes. While in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, the governments have tweaked labour laws for three years, the Karnataka government has meanwhile, meekly requested the migrants to stay back and revive the economy.

“I can’t wait anymore. I don’t know when I will reach Ballia, Uttar Pradesh. We have neither money nor faith in the government. No one has helped us till now and I don’t think anyone is coming to our rescue anytime soon. I used to earn Rs 4,000 per month and was paid only until March. My elderly parents, wife and children, who depend on me are waiting. The train services are limited. Police from Tamil Nadu lathi-charged us. We 19 people have to undertake this journey,” said 30-year-old Sameer Kumar, a construction labourer who had limped 340 km from Hosur, Tamil Nadu despite being physically challenged as a result of the police attack.

Clubbing their bare necessities into a sack, those who ran the city, at construction sites, small scale industries, restaurants and several other key places walked away from the source of their livelihoods with infants, kids and pregnant women.

“How can you expect them to believe the promises of the government that had unfailingly failed them, even as the fourth phase of lockdown is nearing. They cannot sacrifice their lives waiting for the government to make their move. They haven’t received their wages. They can’t pay rent. Why should they be here? At least let them stay alive to feel the betrayal,” said Thilak Raj, founder of Sevai Karangal, an NGO that works for the marginalised and now provides food packs and water bottles for migrant labourers en route.

On April 22, one of the first batches of around 40 migrant labourers had covered 800 kilometres from Chennai to Visakhapatnam in ten days. When they reached their destination, the workers reported to the state government, where some of them were quarantined in government shelters and others were put on home isolation.

Also read: Auraiya: 24 Migrant Workers Killed, 36 Injured as Two Trucks Carrying Them Home Collide

Migrant workers walking on the Chennai Howrah NH 16 on May 13. Photo: Ariwarasan

“On Wednesday, another group of workers from the factories in Sriperumbudur had started walking towards Andhra Pradesh and already covered a distance of 40 kms with toddlers and a pregnant woman, all in a day. A group of ten workers had been walking to Madhya Pradesh and another to Kolkata. If they have not been taken care during this entire period, why do you expect them to stake their lives in believing that change is just about to come? ” said Thilak.

“There were also three migrant labourers from Himachal Pradesh, which included two elderly and a physically challenged man, who could not even catch the train to their hometown despite carrying a travel pass as the police could not understand their language. As a result, when they were five kms away from the Dr MGR Chennai Central Railway Station, they were sent back. As the trio was unable to reach their state government officials for a month, they have now decided to walk home maintaining social distancing on the highway like other migrants,” he said.

Also read: Life After COVID-19: Decommodify Work, Democratise the Workplace

“As the tickets for Shramik Express are booked, a few of them had got bicycles instead of depending on the government, pedalling on hope rather than food,” said Ananthoo, founder of Organic Farmers Market who along with other volunteers is arranging food for the migrants walking home in Gummidipoondi.

Migrant workers walking home to Lucknow, Budaun and Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh on May 13 at the Noida- Greater Noida Expressway receiving relief. Photo: Author Provided

The Ministry of Home Affairs had directed state governments to ensure that migrant workers board the ‘Shramik’ special trains and do not walk home. Each train can carry a maximum of 1,200 passengers. On May 11, Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswamy said that around 9,000 migrant workers had been sent home in special trains.

Migrant workers walking home to Lucknow, Budaun and Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh on May 13 at the Noida- Greater Noida Expressway. Photo: Author Provided

“According to the official claims, there are only 50,000 workers in Chennai. Whereas, there are 15 lakh migrant workers in Tamil Nadu and 5 lakh in Chennai alone. It clearly shows that they don’t want to acknowledge the presence of these workers and forget helping them. The government is keeping its records clean on paper whereas at the ground level we are arranging pit stops every 60 kms so that the basic needs can be met,” said Dilip Srinivasan from The New Face of Society, a Facebook community of volunteers previously called Tamil Nadu Flood Support, with over 75,000 members.

“When we criticise the government in these aspects, we are looked at as impractical people. Even though we live in a democracy, inclusivity has been made a far-fetched idea. Is it fair to hold back migrant labourers compulsorily at gunpoint, because they have no voice, no money and you need them for economic development? Isn’t this bonded labour?” said Jayendra Bhupathi, a volunteer.

T.Venkat, a volunteer from the Chennai Citizens Covid Fund for Migrant Labour said that the situation across the state is tense, with at least 200 migrant labourers walking off the border checkposts every one hour from districts especially Kanchipuram, Tirupur and Coimbatore.

“We cannot ask them to stay back too, because the number of trains running to their hometowns is far and few. They are tensed, because most of them are not able to get the tickets and they know the trains are off without them. We don’t know how the government is prioritising who gets to travel. We get frantic calls from migrant labourers but we are unable to help as we there is complete lack of information. Initially, when North India saw an exodus, it was not the case here. But now they have given up and the last three days have seen a sharp spike,” he said.

On May 15, the migrant workers who had walked till Andhra Pradesh from Tamil Nadu were dumped into lorries and dropped back at random places in Tamil Nadu and finally lodged at a college in the states’ Tiruvallur district. The Andhra Pradesh police had whacked the youngsters with lathis before sending them back to Tamil Nadu’s side of the border. They came back hungry and when offered food, requested for a pain balm for relief.

Also read: Lockdown Diary: This Is the Time to Learn of the Smallness of Humans…

Around 300 migrants who walked all the way till Vijayawada were picked up and put in three trucks and sent back to Tamil Nadu side. One truck had dropped them at the Chennai Central Railway Station where they were lathi-charged again because the station was overcrowded. “Though government officials have assured them that they would be sent back in trains to their hometowns, assurances are mere words, till they reach home safe. Meanwhile, the migrant workers have absolutely no trust on anyone even as the borders are being sealed, ” said Ananthoo, from the Organic Farmers Market, who has been helping migrant workers reach their home.

As on May 16, Tamil Nadu became the third state in India to report over 9,000 coronavirus cases. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state now stands at 10,108 and 71 deaths.

Meanwhile, near the capital, the script remains unchanged. Anas Tanwir Siddiqi, an advocate on record at the Supreme Court is helping migrant labourers moving along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway by feeding them.

Migrant workers walking on Chennai Howrah NH 16 on May 14. Photo: Ariwarasan

“This movement of workers is as unsettling as the lockdown. The first wave of migrant workers, you might attribute to panic. But why are they still walking back? Just as the lockdown was enforced waiting for the pandemic to settle, in the same manner, these workers had been waiting for help which never arrived. They have been hungry for the entire lockdown. It is also the collective failure of those who could help, both the middle and upper class which could afford to continue their wages but chose not to. Also, corporates which have otherwise used their deep pockets to make their business grow, are now asking charity for their employees in the lower rung. It makes one realize the harsh truth that these workers were always the means to an end, ” he said.

Anas is also the founder of ‘Iftar For All’ initiative which was started in 2018 to celebrate Ramzan by providing free Iftar meals to the underprivileged across faith including patients and their family members in hospitals, due to the lack of equitable food distribution in the society.

This Ramzan has been all the more special for Anas and his team members, who have been getting hunger calls from cities to the most remote areas of India. In the initial phase of lockdown itself, they had converted a few mosques into community kitchens and distribution centres. “The police authorities were extremely helpful in this initiative,” he said.

“During the lockdown, a migrant family of eight members had left on a jugaad scooter rickshaw for Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. I never heard back from them,” Anas said.

Nalini Ravichandran is an independent journalist who has worked with The New Indian Express and Mail Today and reported extensively on health, education, child rights, environment and socio-economic issues of the marginalised. She is an alumna of the Asian College of Journalism.

‘We Are in a Crisis’: Fear of Uncertain Employment, Livelihood Grips Migrant and Sex Workers

“If they [sex workers] are ready to risk their lives by throwing social distancing to the wind and risk police beatings, does it not show how desperate they are for food?” said a sex worker.

New Delhi: “We cannot even complain against the violence that has been meted out against us,” said Rohini Chhari, an activist working with members of nomadic and denotified tribes in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. “Because the government is the perpetrator. People not getting access to food is a form of violence, is it not?”

One migrant worker from West Bengal, who works at a garment factory in Gurgaon, said he and his family of six were among 30 households in a slum cluster living on one meal a day. While an NGO has tried to provide them with cooked meals everyday, the uncertainty ahead is unnerving for him.

Like him, people from across the country shared their grievances and apprehensions, in the aftermath of the imposition of the nationwide lockdown, through a series of webinars in mid-April promoted by civil society organisations led by the Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices.

The experiences were varied. Some could access government relief or receive help from local NGOs, but that was barely enough.

Venilla, a garment worker in a village in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district, highlighted the problem inherent in borrowing money. “For the first few weeks, the rice we received from the ration shop was helpful. We are people who work everyday to make ends meet. We have many loans to pay off. If I don’t work for so many days, I don’t know how I will cope once the lockdown lifts.”

The situation is worse for people from the Nat, Bediya and Bachchda denotified tribes who work in the entertainment sector. A rapid study by researchers of the National Action Group for Denotified and Nomadic Tribes in five states – Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Delhi – found that of the 106 families interviewed, only four had received three meals a day. A majority of 61 had only two meals a day; 38 received one meal and three families had to go hungry.

The plight of interstate migrant workers is worse. “We got 10 kg of rice, some dal and oil from a school that my child attends,” said Rabin, a migrant from West Bengal stranded in Erode district of Tamil Nadu. He was already running out of supplies and wondered what his family would do over the next few days.

Also read: HC Tells Delhi Govt to Keep Ration Shops Open, Disburse Food to All

“We have to purchase water at Rs 40 a day. This is at a time when we have received money only for the 17 days we worked in March. We have had to spend it on our rent and daily necessities.” He added that some of the families living in the cluster of 50 households in the area were having to manage with only one meal a day.

The families, from different states like Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, worked at a garment supply chain in Erode. They had not received any support from their respective state governments or from Tamil Nadu at the time of the webinar.

“When we asked our manager about pay for the lockdown days, he said the mill owner would decide after the lockdown. But we need support now. We are in a crisis now,” Rabin said.

For workers who returned home just before or during the lockdown, the primary concern is over the payment of wages. “We have not received our wages for the days worked. My employer owes me Rs 50,000 in salary for the last two months that I worked. I hope he will pay me. I have worked with him for 10 years and I trust him,” said Giri, a migrant worker from Bengal employed in construction work in Kerala.

On the one hand are people who have the luxury to self-isolate or stay at home with essential supplies home-delivered, while others have a one-room house where they are expected to self-quarantine with several other members of their families, including vulnerable senior citizens.

Ashis Behera of New Hope India NGO in Bhargarh said that the Odisha government had set aside Rs five lakh for one house in every panchayat to function as a back-up hospital and measures for isolation in Gram Panchayats. But there were no guidelines on where migrants were to be quarantined. Hence, returning migrant workers are afraid of exposing their families to the novel coronavirus.

A majority of the people in Giri’s village in the Sunderbans in South 24 Parganas in West Bengal migrate for work. While some, like him, go to Kerala to work in the construction sector, many others migrate locally to districts such as Burdwan to work in potato manufacturing units as head loaders for a daily wage.

Also read: Lockdown: Lives vs Livelihoods Debate Can’t Be Settled By Analytics Alone

“There is a woman here whose husband and son are stuck in Burdwan. She is extremely worried about their well being and safe return and has been pleading for help in facilitating their return,” an NGO worker from the area said. Many of Giri’s colleagues are stranded in Kozhikode, Kerala. They have access to food but have to buy it. Given the meagre resources, this is proving to be increasingly difficult.

Interstate migrants from Bargarh in Odisha face similar problems. The difficult times of the present may pass, but the uncertainty of the future lingers. “We spoke to 22 people whose immediate relatives had migrated and were now asking them for money for survival. But when they are in such a desperate situation themselves, how will they be able to send any money?” Behera said.

“We are the ones who used to earn money and send it to our families back home in Cuttack. Now that we are out of a job, who will take care of them?” said Deepali Das, who works as a fabric finisher in Erode, Tamil Nadu.

Those who face the additional burden of stigma rue that they have always been at the receiving end of distress. “If Amitabh Bachhan or Deepika Padukone sent out a message [of distress], there would be crores of people behind them. But that is not the same with sex workers. These actors are celebrated, while these women are discriminated against. Aren’t both entertainment workers?” said Chhari.

The irony of the question is not lost upon those who have been plagued by the contrast in how disparate the effects of lockdown have been. While some are enjoying time with families, others are desperate to sustain their livelihood. Chhari pointed out that, during the initial days of the lockdown, 150 women from the red light area in Morena had marched to the district collectorate during the lockdown.

“If they are ready to risk their lives by throwing social distancing to the wind and risking police beatings to do that, does it not show how desperate they are for food?” Chhari said.

Distribution of relief supplies to Sabars in Purulia district. Photo: Author Provided

“Many sex workers do not have identity documents such as ration cards. The police target this community even on ordinary days. Now, during the lockdown, anybody who is seen on the street in these red-light areas is beaten without reason,” Mohammad Kalam, who works with women from the Nat community of traditional sex workers in Araria, Bihar, said.

Also read: Will COVID-19 Intensify the Fault Lines of India’s Already Unequal Society?

“The situation is bad for girls like me. The dance bars are closed. Where will I get money to buy medicines?” a bar dancer from Mumbai, who lives with her ailing mother, said. Kalam added that the Nats in Bihar have to face the added burden of Islamophobia that is currently rife in the country. “In towns and villages, barring a few people, most have no access to means of survival,” he said.

The future is bleak, said Prashanta Rakshit, who works with the Paschim Banga Kheria Sabar Samiti. “The Sabars will be forced to sell their land and livestock to make up for the income lost. We have worked hard for more than three decades to address the stigma that this community faces. But there are chances that this will return. The Sabars might be forced to brew illicit liquor to cope with hunger and earn a livelihood, but it will only end up stigmatising them further.”

Note: All interactions with the workers occurred through the COVID-19 Pandemic Voices from Margin Webinar series hosted by an NGO, Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices and in the run-up to it and a series of rapid surveys carried out by Praxis and its partner organisations. 

Anusha Chandrasekharan works with the development support organisation Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices. Views are personal.