Ahmedabad: Thousands of Hindi-speaking migrant workers have left Gujarat in the wake of violence following an alleged rape incident, even as industry representatives on Tuesday said normalcy has returned after three days of disruptions at factories.
Functioning at industries remained affected for a few days after violence erupted following the rape of a toddler allegedly by a man from Bihar but normalcy started returning Tuesday with units in north Gujarat resuming operations, they said.
Sanand, a major industrial hub near Ahmedabad housing around 250 big and small industrial units, faced disruptions for at least three days as most of the factories remained shut with migrant workers staying away from work.
But beginning Tuesday, labourers started reporting for work at factories, even though 4,000 workers out of around 15,000 employed in the hub have already left for their home states, an industry representative from Sanand said.
“Factories remained closed since the last three days and no production was seen. But from today, everything has come back to normalcy.
“Around 4,000 workers out of around 15,0000 migrant workers engaged here have left for their home states. But that will not affect work in factories much,” said Rushabh Shah, a member of the Sanand Industries Association. Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) president Jaimin Vasa said though normalcy is returning, a sense of fear pervades workers, most of whom are from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
“With proactive approach of the government, especially with strong police deployment, normalcy is returning.
The affected workers were scared after attacks, and the sense of fear continues.
Meanwhile, Congress staged protests across Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday against attacks on Hindi-speaking migrant workers in Gujarat.
In state capital Lucknow, scores of Congress workers took out a march from the party office and raised slogans against the central and Gujarat governments, party spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said.
They were stopped by the police after a short distance, Awasthi said, adding that the protesters burnt the effigies of the central and Gujarat governments. Similar protests were held in several districts, including Hardoi, Sitapur, Gonda, Basti, Barabanki, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.
On the other hand, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday alleged that there was “provocation” behind the attacks on Hindi-speaking migrants in Gujarat and said the situation in that state was a “very dangerous trend”.
Banerjee, who has been a strong critic of the saffron party, said she was “scared” of the situation in Gujarat and blamed the BJP government in the state for failing to control it.
“This (the attacks) is a very dangerous trend. A disastrous situation. The problem is very serious … I do not understand why the BJP (government in Gujarat) is not controlling all these,” the chief minister told reporters at the secretariat. (PTI)
