Migrant's Saga

Heart Yearns for Love & Understanding - Praying for Peace - During these trying times - Part 5

A hard hitting truth. It has always been the poorest people who pay the highest price. Before shut down, the well to do migrants were brought back, and there are discussions to bring back the rest; but what about the poor? What are they to do, living in a place where social distancing is next to impossible, and they are robbed of their daily lively hood? Instead of blaming them, what could have been done are as Pattabhi Ram Sir said: " Planned evacuation could have been one option. These were done in some cases. Assurance could be a second. This is where leadership comes, in terms of telling what would be done and doing it. Three, if this was handiwork of propagandists, find them and penalize." Between, where are the intelligence?

There are three types of migrant - and their issues; which are dealt with three different ways:
1) The rich - who have all means, to reach wherever they want; by hook, crook or influences. Even emergency air transport is made available in the name of export/import for them.
2) The middle class - who move out of state/country for jobs - among them some came back home, before the shut down, making calculative judgement, some decided to stay back wherever they are and go with the law of the land and yet others, wanted to come back; but with last minute preparations, and immediate announcement got stuck with where they are - of these some are alone, some with families and yet others with friends. A few of them do not have cooking provision where they stay, and find it difficult to manage; therefore would want to come back ASAP.
3) The poor, who live a hand to mouth existence, who had no clue of what was coming; and was worried only of their next bread. That becoming an issue, the the means of livelihood having come to a standstill, they prefer going back to their hometowns as soon as possible.

Courtesy Darshan Mondker. Well articulated.

"The migrant issue was like a ticking timebomb waiting to explode in our faces, from the moment Modi announced the first lockdown with a 4 hr warning and then conveniently cut off all means of long distance commute.

Some people are now talking about how the migrants are creating a nuisance for the people by coming out on the streets, breaking the lockdown and wanting to go back home even when they are being provided with food and rations by the respective State Govts.

Some have even suggested that the Army should be called in to control these migrants and keep them under lockdown!!

But the fact is that most of us who are making random comments about the migrant issue come from a privilged position and are doing so from the comforts of our home.

These migrants are 100s 1000s kms away from their homes and families.

They usually live in small rooms of 10X10 with anything between 6 to 8 people living in one room, with a common toilets at the end of the corridor which is used by 20-40 people.

Their rooms are in areas where the sewers line their streets and the streets themselves are not more than 3ft wide. To give you an idea, that's just about the width of your bedroom door.

They have meagre means of survival even on a normal day and earn their bread based on their daily wages.

Their bank balances are zero and most of their savings are sent to their families back home.

Back home, in their villages, they at least have a decent sized house, their families living together and in some cases a small piece of land with a bare minimum agriculture produce which can suffice their family.

At the moment, with the forced lockdown in effect since the last 21 days, they are strapped for cash, tired, fighting a daily battle of survival, with the help from State Govts falling quite short.

They Just Want to Go Home..... So excuse them for being poor, hungry, defeated and thinking that their village is a better place for them to be, at the moment.

They do not understand what's happening around them, most of them are uneducated, don't have the intelligence to check WHO sites or understand the terminologies being thrown at them.

They are not the ones having BBQ parties at home and posting "My New Recipe" videos on their social media profiles while cribbing about the Covid19 statistics as if this is the biggest disaster ever. For them every day that they don't make money is a disaster.

They are confused, agitated and uncertain of their future.

So, it might be a good idea for all of us privilged people to first try and have some empathy towards them.

The sudden lockdown, while entirely necessary was done without any planning.

It was perfectly possible to anticipate the woes of the migrant workers and have a solution ready to send the migrants back home even during the lockdown with proper screening at the exit points, had the States and the Center worked together.

But unfortunately their plight was completely ignored, probably because the ones taking these decisions also came from a similar privilged position and were unable to anticipate their plight.

Now, it is of utmost importance to sort this issue of migrants either by sending them back home or by ensuring their comfort wherever they are and this is our number one priority.

But do stop blaming the migrants for coming out on the streets.

They have as much right to survive as you, me or anyone else does. Their right to survive does not reduce because of them being underprivileged, uneducated or poor.

Disclaimer: The main reason why privileged people are blaming the migrants for coming out on the streets is because they are afraid to die themselves because of the migrants, they don't really care how many of those migrants die in their slums. That's the fact... Face it."

For lighting diya and clapping on the streets modi gives 4 days notice but just 4 hours notice for lockdown. He is a FAST PM - First Action, Second Think.

I wonder what else has been swept under the carpet that is waiting to blow in the face. Wait and watch. When it blows up it could get covered; like the near zero news on Surat.

We had protest in Kerala, Kottayam the day after lock down was announced, and the CM immediately arrested the leader of the migrant worker and quarantined the whole participants, with food provided. They asked that they be given uncooked food and provision for cooking their own, and arrangements were made for that even. Migration issue is a global phenomenon. The rich gets sanctions while the poor pay the highest price, falling prey to petty Politics.

https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/coronavirus/news/kerala-congress-functionary-migrant-worker-arrested-for-spreading-rumours-violating-lockdown-regulations-in-kottayam/articleshow/74885974.cms?fbclid=IwAR1SO1hdWDkjWyQGZOy-4XyHMsFTMKpcZha297w_H8wR0gwkrmxEd0-xIQ4

Migrant workers issues in New Delhi - it was highlighted and Arvind Kejriwal blamed, saying he did not provide water and electricity to only the workers from UP and Bihar!! That was soon after the first lock down announcement.

Now after the second announcement, the same issue has popped up in Mumbai. Why?

Was it the Anti CAA protesters?
Was it the Anti Islamophobia?
Was it Anti BJP?
Was it the act of congress?
Was it out of genuine need?

Why was it in Bandra near the mosque?

Hope and wish these kind of activities do not spur up, and we have the virus under control soon.


‘but why, all of a sudden?’
‘It’s never all of a sudden. Nature bears all, suffers for centuries before attempting such catastrophes. The eternal war between the sea and the land. When men forget to take care of his land, the sea finds its own ways.’
~ Sethu, ‘Marupiravi’