Caste and Class Cruelty in the Time of Corona
We have heard horror stories of partition, stories of how trains carried dead bodies of people reaching their destinations on both sides of the border. We have read equally unnerving stories about how, during Hitler’s regime, Jews died of suffocation in railway bogies. Such shocking stories are now repeating in India during these times of the Coronavirus.
According to a report, in the two months, since the lockdown was imposed, the official number of migrant laborers who died due to suffocation is 251. Of these, 81 laborers died in Shramik trains organized by the Centre to help them reach their destination. The remaining 170 laborers died when they were trying to reach their hometowns using different modes of transport. Recently, two bodies of laborers were recovered from the toilet of a Shramik train with health officials estimating the death to have occurred two days before. Some also lost their lives on railway tracks, while others died in road accidents. Many more died of hunger on their way back home.
Any comparison of this humane tragedy of the migrant laborers with the tragedy after the partition is bound to raise questions about the fairness in such a comparison. Partition and the tragedy in its aftermath were due to the injustice meted out by the British. Also, a democratic government was not yet firmly in place in the country. Migrants of both countries sacrificed their lives in trying to determine the country to which they belonged. In the present lockdown situation, however, the laborers who lost their lives in such heart-wrenching conditions did not come to India from other countries but were the ‘others’ in their very own land.
The tragedy of these migrant laborers started two months ago when the government imprisoned them in different cities without food and water by announcing a sudden nation-wide lockdown. The laborers pleaded with the government for months to either provide them with food and housing facilities or allow them to return to their hometowns. During this period, they faced the wrath of the police and suffered their brute force in the form of lathis when they resorted to protests in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Surat.
Having lost confidence in the government and as a last resort, they started walking back to their hometowns. This padayatra was almost like a grim reminder of the pre-independence Gandhi-led dandiyatra. As they marched home, they were in constant fear of the government and the police as if they were aliens.
The lockdown has brought to light the lives of the laborers whose existence the government was blissfully unaware of while announcing the lockdown. Perhaps, this is the segment of the population that the Centre wanted to send to detention centers under the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) project. The lockdown, inadvertently, appears to be a precursor to how people, who cannot submit documentary evidence to prove their birth and citizenship in a country and who don’t belong anywhere else, can be treated as ‘others’ in their own country.
The intervention of the Supreme Court in the migrant labor crisis came a little too late. By the time it intervened and asked the governments not to collect travel fare from these laborers and directed them to provide food, many state governments had collected fares – sometimes exorbitant as in the case of Karnataka –and many of the laborers had already reached their homes. Should an elected government wait for court directions to protect its own people? The apathy of the governments has succeeded in alienating these laborers from the mainland.
It is not as if the Supreme Court’s directive is providing any relief or a solution to the problems faced by migrant laborers as their social problems have just begun. These laborers, who were confident that their native villages would welcome them, provide them with a sense of security, and not let them down, are beginning to realize that their villages are not what they were. It’s another matter that if these towns and villages could meet their various economic and social needs, such large-scale migration to the urban living hellholes would not have taken place in the first place.
Many of these people seek work in cities and urban areas not just for economic reasons but also to escape social evils such as caste and class. Laborers who move to cities in search of livelihood invariably belong to lower castes. And this segment of the population, which was till now facing humiliation due to their caste status in their villages, is now facing discrimination and stigma because of the Coronavirus. Shramik trains that are transporting laborers to their hometowns are now called ‘Corona Express’. Back in their villages, their very presence is being viewed with suspicion as they are seen as harbingers of Corona. This is nothing but another form of untouchability practiced in the garb of protecting oneself from the virus. So far, no details are available about the measures that the government has taken to provide these laborers with a sense of security in their hometowns.
Reports of cruelty meted out by villagers including government staff against the migrant laborers are many. Often, families are not letting them home. Incidents of these outcasts living on trees, in public toilets, and open spaces as villages don’t have proper quarantine facilities are coming to light. Many are being physically attacked.
While the rest of India considered rich with its values and culture is hiding inside home fearing the Corona Virus, these hapless migrants are spending their days in constant fear of various viruses of hatred. For them, Coronavirus is not as much as a threat as economic distress and social isolation. These laborers, who traveled from far off cities to reach their villages yearning for safety and security in their homes, should be allowed to live with dignity and without fear. The government should immediately try to find ways of preventing cruelty meted out in the form of caste and class. This is as important as discovering the vaccine against the Coronavirus.
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London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
