India is going through the longest lockdown in its history, with least amount of notice given to its people. After the lockdown was extended a sense of panic gripped the nation, especially among those who were staring at job loss due to the lockdown--the migrants to be precise, not just in Maharashtra but all over the country.
On Tuesday afternoon, over 1,000 labourers gathered outside Bandra station demanding transport arrangements to go back to their native places. Most of them also complained of having no food. Similarly, hundreds of migrant workers protested in Surat's Varachha area on Tuesday evening, demanding they be sent home. This was the second time within four days that Surat witnessed protests by migrant labourers. On April 10, as many as 80 migrants were arrested for going on a rampage and setting on fire several vegetable carts.
This lockdown has become a cause for anxiety, hunger and restlessness for them. In fact, if the lockdown continues, such flare-ups maybe on the cards considering the uncertainty, frustration and helplessness of our unorganized labour force.
While both the protests (Bandra and Surat) were similar in the sense that the migrant workers in both these cities wanted to go to their respective native places. What comes as a surprise though is while the protest in Mumbai received a lot of attention from media, the Surat incident was hardly reported by many mainstream news channels and websites. This brings us to the question: why the differentiation, when the agenda of both these protests was the same, and was, in fact, held by the same section of society—migrant workers.
Is it because Gujarat is a BJP-rule state, and Maharashtra isn’t? And in order to show PM Modi’s in good light, many chose to brush the Surat protest under the political carpet? Or was because since Mumbai has the highest number of COVID-19 positive cases and Surat less, the focus was more on the former given that particular aspect? After all, Mumbai can’t afford the coronavirus situation go out of hand.
While a few news portals did cover the Surat incident, the fact that it was neglected by many does raise eye brows. Shouldn’t both the protests receive equal coverage and important? Yes, they must. This shows that, not just in Maharashtra, but the migrant workers are becoming anxious all across India (Surat protest proves this point).
Several instances of protests have been met with high handedness instead of empathy. Counselling these workers, giving them a sense of security, meeting their basic needs of food, water, and healthcare is the need of the hour. Political leaders must work in that direction, if they wish to put an end to such protests in the future.
On Tuesday, when PM Modi addressed the nation, people were hoping that the lockdown would be lifted. But, hopes were shattered. And not that the lockdown has been extended till May 3, efforts should also be taken to minimise these migrant labourers’ hardships. While both the Prime Minister and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray have appealed these workers to remain calm and stay put in their respective states and cities, there is still a sense of restlessness among these workers.
