‘Tryst with destiny’ were the words used by the first Prime Minister of Independent India, Jawahar Lal Nehru while giving a speech on the eve of India’s independence. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world was sleeping, India woke up to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.
However, in one stroke on 25 March this year, the above stated historical account was repeated but in reverse order, wherein at least 140 million (14 crore) migrants working in the organized and unorganized sectors, builders of the nation at grass root level were shockingly uprooted, at a notice of just four hours at 8.00. PM. Factories and business establishments, mega construction projects, and the house building activities at the small scale were also put to an unprecedented end. Most of them (migrants) lost their source of livelihood and did not know where to go, except back to their villages. But lockdown snatched their liberty and mobility right to travel, as inter-state bus services, trains, and air services were also shut. Low-level eateries and shops, dhabas, and tea shops were closed. These migrants, who were sustaining themselves on economical eateries, were left with no place to have their meals.
The collective conscience of the nation did not come alive even after the news of 24 migrants sleeping on a rail track, after having completed 100s of miles journey towards their villages, were ran down by the fast-moving train. Some died due to hunger and scorching heat of summer after walking without food and water, carrying children on their shoulders. No one gave serious thought to count how many died in road accidents or mowed down by trucks and cars. Only newspapers report the deaths on way to their sweet homes. Many people have to travel 700-800 kilometers to reach their ancestral homes from where they come for working as labourers, in between facing cruel beating of police lathis, many of them were kept in police custody in Kotwalis before reaching home.
For the first month, some generous industrialists paid them a one-month salary but those working in the non-formal sector doing petty -self-employed jobs did not find much/or no financial support. They, however, waited for the first phase of a three-week-long lockdown to end. Finding no mode of traveling back to their villages, the migrant workers carried their bundle of household possessions/items on their heads and marched on their journey to their villages in small groups.
The Indian establishment has done great hurt to their dignity and crushed their self-esteem with just one order that appears to have not been given much thought.
The collective conscience of the nation did not come alive even after the news of 16 migrants sleeping on a rail track, after having completed 100s of miles journey towards their villages, were ran down by the fast-moving train. Some died due to hunger and scorching heat of summer after walking without food and water, carrying children on their shoulders. No one gave serious thought to count how many died in road accidents or mowed down by trucks and cars. Only newspapers report the deaths on way to their sweet homes. Many people have to travel 700-800 kilometers to reach their ancestral homes from where they come for working as labourers, in between facing cruel beating of police lathis, many of them were kept in police custody in Kotwalis before reaching home. Several women migrants could not control the delivery date but delivered the babies on roadsides on their way to fastly each their sweet homes. These brave women with fresh deliveries and no medical support continued their journey clinching the child to their chest towards their villages. the women continued their journey without cleaning the child or self as washing stuff as well as facilities were nowhere seen on the National Highways or on link roads. No one cared to even know as to how these hungry mothers without drinking even drop of water breastfeed their newborns. Newspapers continued making headlines about newborns. if the land of sears and sages have an answer to these roadsides human developments. Would the announcement of Rs 20 lakh crores for boosting and energizing the Indian economy to counter the impact of coronavirus make any difference for these traveling migrant workers' families?
Ram Saran , a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh waiting for the last 60 days to go to his village
The Indian establishment has done great hurt to their dignity and crushed their self-esteem with just one order that appears to have not been given much thought. No one thought that they are human beings like us and have some minimum requirements to sustain themselves. This peace living migrant workers without any protest left their homes from their workplace because they were unable to pay rent of shanties in the urban areas built by some land grabbers under the patronage of various political parties, thugs, and gangsters. Unable to face or bear the onslaughts of these owners of clusters of unhygienic shanties, the workers without any choice, carried their children, some of them on breastfeed, and marched back home. This is the situation of the citizen of the largest democracy of the world, wherein its constitution provides the right to live a dignified life. Even in such deplorable conditions, these migrants did not ask for special privileged trains or buses but routinely run transport system for Indian citizens.
Fifty-five days of lockdown have passed but the government has shown little interest in arranging trains for the migrants. In the end of the third phase and beginning of the 4th phase lockdown scores of special trains were put into service when the waiting migrants are in scores of millions waiting to go home. Online booking makes their life more difficult as many of them do not own smart mobile phones and those who have smartphones some of them even do not know how to book a rail ticket online. Amid all this chaos created by the government, I remember a joke, I once shared with my friend that “Indian the government would have arranged special flights if I had been labourer in the USA or any other foreign country, contributing nothing to the development of the country, not even franchise voting rights. But the same government is elusive to those Indians, who have contributed to the nation-building in all ways”.
This indicates that the ruling BJP governments in the country do not carry much sympathy with these workers and laborers. This may be the reason that trains are still not pressed into service at normal times. Now it appears that this nation has divided itself into two sections middle classes and above and working-class including those working in non-formal sectors that even cover agriculture.
Rich migrants’ labourers to European countries and North American countries-United states and America and Canada-, from gulf countries such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Muscat, and many more were lifted back in special planes especially send by the government of India. When Ram Saran, a domestic help from the village Gordian Ka Parve, about 80 Kilometers from Lucknow says “if I was a migrant worker in the United Kingdom, the Indian government would have brought me back in the special plane but now I am stranded in Chandigarh, surviving on the charity of a Sikh family could not return home when trains are halted on railway yards and buses are parked in Bus stands. Why this discrimination with me? I am also born Indian citizen. I am nationalists and never thought of leaving my country to do labour in gulf countries or anywhere else. I am so frustrated and disappointed with the leaders of India”. He says his village has passed a resolution to not allow politicians of any political party to enter into the village for votes in the next general election. There are thousands of migrant labourers caught in serious life crisis after 25 March Lockdown.
16 Migrant Workers Run Over By Goods Train In Aurangabad (MP) While Returning Home
For the middle-class working and professional women in metropolitans and urban areas whose household work sustains on the domestic help from the families of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and many more farthest rural areas providers of laborers and domestic help feel cheated and betrayed by their employers for the domestic worker when these millions of women alone the countries middle classes asked them not to visit their houses again.
As if it was not enough of discrimination with the working class of formal and non-formal sectors. (Officially announced strength is said to be 140 million) Many Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states like Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and some other states have taken the protection (shelter) under the Disaster Management Act 2005, now under implementation (following novel coronavirus) all over India preventing people from holding protests, demonstrations, and strikes, these BJP government have suspended the 22 labours and workers protection acts for three years period or more. The workers have lost almost all their protection of rights under these acts. This indicates that the ruling BJP governments in the country do not carry much sympathy with these workers and laborers. This may be the reason that trains are still not pressed into service at normal times. Now it appears that this nation has divided itself into two sections middle classes and above and working-class including those working in non-formal sectors that even cover agriculture. Now comes the announcement that the pairs of 200 AC and Rajdhani Express, all for the high-end travelers, trains will start running from Ist June for which booking has started from 21st May at 10.00.a.m. The domestic-air services will start from 25 May with some advisories to observe, and with 50 percent of the booking allowed on each plane. Let’s hope better sense prevails in Indian administration and migrants shall be treated equal among equals.
The writer is a senior journalist and Indo-Pak peace activists