Police in Gujarat’s Surat fired tear gas shells on Saturday to disperse angry migrant workers, who had taken to the streets at Mora demanding that trains be arranged for their return to their homes in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Bihar. This is the fifth such protest in Surat over the last month amid job losses because of the national lockdown that was imposed in March to check the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Thousands of workers gathered on streets at the Mora village next to the industrial belt of Hazira. They were demanding that they be sent to their home states. When police stopped them, they pelted stones and attacked them,” said Surat’s police commissioner D N Patel.
He said the police resorted to “mild” lathi-charge and tear gas shelling to disperse the crowd. “We have arrested 55 people so far and around 50 others have been detained. More accused are been identified with the help of drones and CCTV footage,” Patel said.
A team of State Reserve Police has been deployed in the area to monitor the situation.
On Monday, 204 people were arrested in Surat on charges of attempt to murder and rioting after migrant workers allegedly attacked policemen as they gathered to demand their return to their native place. On April 29, five people were detained and another 300 booked for alleged rioting and violating the Covid-19 following a clash between migrant workers and police.
The state government on Tuesday formed a committee to ensure the management and coordination for sending migrant workers from Surat to their native districts.
Gujarat police chief Shivanand Jha said attacks on “corona warriors” will not be tolerated at any cost and the attackers will face strict actions.
“During the lockdown, some people are making efforts to mislead the citizens of the state to protest against the lockdown while the lockdown is for the benefit of the citizens. Such individuals will be traced and subjected to legal action,” Jha said.
Ashwani Kumar, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani’s secretary, said 327 special trains have been operated for migrant workers across India. “Out of that, Gujarat has operated 147 trains, or 45% of the total trains, to ensure a safe return of over 2.04 lakh migrant workers to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The chief minister has urged the migrant workers to be patient as the process for sending them back home demands time,” said Kumar.
Ramdev Kumar, a construction worker from Rajasthan, said, “We have run out of money and other resources. We work hard on daily basis to feed our families. But for 50 days, we have not had any work. That is why we want to return to our native places…”. .
Surat is India’s diamond hub and according to an Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad study, migrants account for about 70% of its workforce and 50% of that of Ahmedabad.
Gagan Bihari Sahu, an associate professor at Surat’s Centre for Social Studies, said that the nationwide lockdown has hit migrant workers badly. “The production has come to a standstill, machines are quiet and markets are closed. In spite of the government’s appeal, many employers have either removed their workers, deducted salaries or simply closed doors,” he said. “How are these migrants and their families going to sustain…”
Migrant workers have continued to walk and cycle back to their homes even as the railways last week began running special trains and some state governments deployed buses for the people stranded because of the Covid-19 lockdown. Some do not have documents needed to register for the trains. Others do not want to wait any longer. And in other cases, the trains have not been approved by states that have to receive the migrant workers.
