– Er. Prabhat Kishore
Migrant workers are those who work away from their home, especially in other states or abroad and earn for their livelihood. They include not only labourers engaged in various sectors, but also bureaucrats & other officials. Although the officials do not suffer as much pain as the labourers, who have to work without counting the hours.
Migrant workers are not a new term in the history. Old people recall, the “Kabuliwalas” from Kabul, a thousand mile away from India, used to travel through the streets of the villages to sell their dry-fruits and how popular they were among youngsters. These migrant people received love & affection according to the Indian culture & tradition of “Atithi Devo Bhavah”.
In India too, people often migrate from one place to another in search of livelihood and this can be considered as a positive sign for the integrity of diversity. The progress & prosperity of some states is a testimony to the work of the migrant people. When migrant workers returned to their native destinations during the pandemic Covid 19, the cycle of progress stalled in many states and the organizers eventually had to request their workers to return to work.
The people of Bihar, irrespective of caste, religion, faith, culture, language, food habits etc., have spread to different corners of the country and have intermingled with local people. Conversely, Bihar is also facing migrant people from other states. During the winter season, Kashmiri people often travel to sell their shawls & sweaters. The Lhasa markets of Tibetan refugees are famous places for woolen clothing in many towns. Once upon a time, Chinese dentists had a monopoly in the field of dental treatment in Indian towns. Not only migrant workers or vendors, but Bihar has established several powerful politicians through its constituencies, notably George Fernandez, Madhu Limaye, M.J. Akbar, Syed Shahabuddin, I.K. Gujral, Sharad Yadav & others. Numerous bureaucrats & officials serve the state for their entire service tenure, but people never treated them migrants.
Bihari workers are the soft targets whenever and wherever there is disturbance for local causes in any corner of the country. In this endless series, now the migrant labourers & street vendors, who are the poorest of the poor, are being massacred in Kashmir without any fault. Old parents, life-partner wife and young children were eagerly waiting for them with new clothes for Dipawali & Chhath Puja; but the separatist forces dashed their dreams in the blink of an eye and the hapless family found the dead body wrapped in a shroud.
After the abrogation of article 370, it was hoped that the Central Government would crush the separatist forces, but the recent events indicate that the roots of these foreign elements are deeper in the region. The intelligence system has completely failed. Although some foreign militants have been gunned down; but their whereabouts are still operational.
More responsible for the latest killings of Hindus & Sikhs are the pro-Pakistan unemployed politicians, who are frequently praising Pakistan & China and provoking militants. Gun-men are just the branches & leaves of Anti-Indian trees; the roots are those politicians, who ruled this beautiful state for their own cause and did nothing for the state & the common masses, except their brain-washing.
The deceased migrant workers were not foreigners; but were breathing at their roots. All of them belonged to the Maharhi Kashyap gotra, whose name Kashmir owns. They were engaged in the developmental works of roads, bridges, tunnels, telephones and other infrastructures of the state, in lieu of which they were paid wages for livelihood of their family. Any kind of development in the region is like a thorn for the masters of stone-pelters, communalists and anti-peace forces.
If the Central Government wants the development of Jammu & Kashmir regions and its natives, then along with gunning down the terrorists & local criminals, the white-dressed provoking persons have to be penalized for their anti-national, anti-social and anti-people activities. In the name of democracy, pro-Pakistan leaders can not be left free to spread their poisonous messages, resulting in the massacre of innocent sons of the soil.
(The author is a technocrat & academician)
