By Barnes Mawrie
It is a well known fact that “it is unfortunate to be poor in India and it is even more unfortunate to be poor during these years of the BJP rule.” The present government is proving more and more to be an anti-poor government. The antagonistic attitude of the government towards the millions of migrant workers is a clear manifestation of this. The government is going all out to repatriate Indians who are abroad organizing scores of flights, which is a laudable step, but it is turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the plight of these migrant workers back home. “Charity begins at home,” but this does not seem to be the policy of the government today. Heart-rending sights are being telecast by different TV channels these days. Even as we speak thousands of migrant workers are stranded in different parts of India waiting for the chance to travel home. We have watched those pathetic scenes of lines of people with their baggage on their heads and walking along the highways, mothers with their babies in their arms looking so worn out and helpless, pregnant women and elderly or sick members of families being dragged on improvised carts along the road, hungry and thirsty children forced to walk along with others. Above all these, hundreds of these poor migrant workers have died in road accidents either run down by vehicles or in traffic accidents. Neither the central nor the state governments seem to take cognizance of the miserable plight of these poor people.
The very first blunder or call it callous attitude towards the poor, was manifested by Prime Minister Modi when on March 24 he hurriedly proclaimed a national lockdown beginning midnight of March 25. Even in developed countries, leaders gave sufficient time before the implementation of the lockdown, but in India Mr Modi gave the people merely four hours. Perhaps he was thinking only of rich and well-to-do people who could buy emergency flight tickets or who have their own vehicles and could reach their homes on time. How could the poor migrant workers who live from hand to mouth arrange for their return home in four-hours time? This is clear proof of an anti-poor attitude. In recent years, we have witnessed another anti-poor decision taken by the government, namely, the demonetization which still has a destructive repercussion especially on the poor in rural areas.
The latest ruckus in UP over the buses provided by the Congress party to ferry the migrant workers, reveals another ugly face of the BJP government in the state. The bickering over the list of buses that there are not a thousand buses and so on, proves the small minded ghetto attitude of the government. Whether there are a thousand buses or a hundred buses why should they care as long as they are meant to help those poor people? Yogi and his government need to be more open minded and more magnanimous to be able to appreciate whatever help comes from any person or party. These are times when one needs to go beyond personal or partisan interests and put the humanitarian agenda in the forefront. The poor migrant workers have become pawns in the political games of such insensitive people. They are caught “between the devil and the deep sea,” for on the one hand they cannot stay on in their work places as employment has ceased and they have become cashless and on the other hand they are not able to reach home as public conveyance has stopped due to the lockdown.
Our Prime Minister seems to care more about his image abroad than about the ground realities at home. Definitely as Indians we are proud when he is looked upon as a global leader and he is respected by all. We cannot deny the fact that he is a charismatic leader who has propelled the image of India in the international arena. However, he would prove himself a true leader if he is able to improve the plight of these poor migrant workers by immediately coming to their aid. In fact, what impression will other nations have of India when they watch these pathetic scenes in the news channels! In fact, the BJP government is ruining its image and credibility with the mismanagement of the migrant workers’ situation. While trying to keep down the death rate of Covid 19 in the country which today is at 3300, a very low percentage in comparison to the population of the country, yet the death rate from hunger and accidents among the migrant workers is regrettable. If so little is done for these migrant workers, probably we will have more deaths from such unfortunate incidents than from Covid 19. Our leaders and our governments need to wake up to this reality and go on a war footing to rescue these poor migrant workers. They need to be treated like human beings and not like animals. If we believe in an India of great human and religious values and traditions, then this present situation cannot be tolerated at all.