Between quizzes that determine which Harry Potter house we’ve been sorted into and YouTube videos of baby animals, we have all been reduced to the slaves of technology. Even more so in the times of a pandemic like COVID-19. With nothing better to do, we spend entire days in front of our screens. But we speak from our cocoons of privilege. This has not been the reality for a majority of the population across the globe.
A recent video, which made rounds on Twitter, shows migrant labourers currently residing in Bangalore, Karnataka travelling on foot to their village in Uttar Pradesh. When asked if the possibility of covering such a large distance on foot seems unlikely to them, their response was that there is no other alternative. They say that they have nothing to eat or drink here and will hopefully reach their destination in a month or so. The person recording this video was unable to comprehend the frustration and desperation that these communities are going through.
Migrant labourers are usually engaged in daily wage work and are awarded pittances in the name of salaries. With already scarce resources to support themselves and their families at the time of being employed, it is illogical to expect them to sustain themselves in such tumultuous times. But the stories of their struggle will never reach our ears. These stories are not considered news-worthy by our mainstream media outlets. They are so caught up with looking at the communal angle of every situation that the need to examine things from other, less appealing perspectives is simply done away with.
The same people who are desperately waiting to bring their children home from various cities across the globe and are willing to spend a small fortune to speed-up the process, will not hesitate for even a moment in labelling our migrant labourer’s as impatient, ungrateful, illiterate and even worse, Muslim. We forget that they too are people. This was highlighted by the Karnataka Government when they suspended the train services for these migrant labourers in an attempt to employ them at construction sites. This was done to aid their failing economy. It was only after widespread public outrage and criticism by the opposition that they were forced to view their migrant labourer population as being in possession of some amount of free will.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the class struggle to the forefront. I believe that terming it as a disease of the elite, seems fit in the Indian context. It was brought to India by those who were able to afford foreign travel. But the ones bearing the brunt are those who are unable to pay the train fare to return to their homes. In this way, it has strengthened the class divide even further. I believe that the PM CARES Fund which was established in the supplement to the pre-existing PM National Relief Fund was aimed at catering to the needs of the nation with respect to COVID-19. But it seems as if the Prime Minister does not care enough about our migrant worker population. They have been left stranded and are expected to fend for themselves. There is no ray of hope and no possibility of help. As a result of which they have taken the onus of being able to see the faces of their loved ones onto themselves. They are now a part of a journey spanning 1874 km.
By not ensuring a safe passage for migrant labourers to their destinations, we are displaying an attitude of apathy and complicity. We look at the world through our rose-tinted lenses and refuse to acknowledge the suffering of those less fortunate than us.
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