Bharat Singh Thakur (in red), from Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, has been having a harrowing time ever since the violence against migrants in Gujarat erupted late last month. It was his day three in the state.
“I have come here to earn. I want to make some money and live peacefully. I am here by myself. All my relatives are in MP. The locals are like brothers and sisters to me. If I feel threatened by them, where do you think I will go?”
Bharat Singh Thakur (in red), from Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, has been having a harrowing time ever since the violence against migrants in Gujarat erupted late last month. It was his day three in the state.
Thakur is one of lakhs of workers who feared for their lives when messages went viral on social media that migrants would ‘not be spared’, with images of many being manhandled and bussed out of the state.
Thakur migrated to Ahmedabad because monsoon in his native place of Damoh is capricious and agricultural production is expected to drop significantly. “We sow foodgrains and this year rains played truant. But I still have a family to feed,” said Thakur. He said he obviously protested the rape of a 14-month-old by a migrant worker — the incident sparked the riots — but said not all workers can be punished for that.
Sanjay Gupta, a local contractor who supplies close to 2,000 workers to industries in Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara, said that close to 300 workers left for home out of fear, though there was no violence in their locality. Gupta was instrumental in assuring migrant workers, including Thakur, that they would be safe. Thakur was one of those who could be persuaded to stay back.
“Close to 5,000 workers from Vatva have left. Some of them did not even bother to inform me that they were leaving. We have maintained contact with them. Most of them will return,” said Gupta.
Thakur said those who left wouldn’t find livelihood in their native places. “Agriculture has failed. There are no factories. What could they do?”
Another migrant, Deepchand Raj (in black), from Baliya in Uttar Pradesh, said it was for the first time in his three years in Gujarat that he was worried about migrants’ safety. “Even my relatives are concerned. I was about to leave, but the contractor assured me of my safety,” said Raj.
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