Page 10 - 31OCT2018E

GUJARAT

At least 500 people have been arrest- the issue on October 11 witnessed a thin per cent of them are non-Gujarati,
ed, most of them from the Thakor com- attendance. Alpesh also softened his mainly from the Hindis peaking belt. Ab-
munity, for rioting and violence against stance and demanded that 85 per cent sence of workers has adversely impacted
migrants and over 50 cases have been employment should go to locals. overall industrial activity and dented
registered across the state. Of the 500 ar- Later Rupani had to assure safety of production, say stakeholders. Ajit Shah,
rested 150 are behind bars for spread ru- migrant workers and promise appro- president, Sanand Industries Association
mours about attacks on migrant workers. priate action against those involved in (SIA) said that their industrial region was
attacks after the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi among those worst hit by the labour exo-
How the politics played Aditya Nath and Bhiar CM Nitish Kumar dus. SIA members claim that some 4,000
Though soon after Alpesh’s statement raised concern over the issue. “Gujarat workers have migrated to their home
there were no attacks or violence. But af- has always accepted people of various states from Sanand, in the past 3-4 days.
ter October 2, attacks on migrant work- states as their own. This has been the “Some 4,000 migrant workers have
ers began in some north Gujarat towns culture of Gujarat since ages. I appeal to fled Sanand over the past week, due to
and spread to other cities. And in panic the people of Gujarat to maintain atmos- an atmosphere of fear created by ru -
number of workers started fleeing from phere of peace and harmony in the state. mours circulated on social media,” Shah
Gujarat to their hometowns fearing Those guilty of violence and attacks on said. “About 60 per cent workforce in
attacks. migrant labourers have been arrested the Sanand Industrial Estate comprises
Looking beyond attacks on in Gujarat blamed Alpesh’s inciting and them,” Rupani tweeted. dus of migrant workers from has dented
On one hand, the BJP government
and strict action will be taken against
migrant workers.” He added that the exo-
rumours spread using social media for
production by 25 per cent. “Absence of
Impact on industries
spreading panic among the migrants,
labourers is impacting industrial activity,
migrant workers in Gujarat the Congress demanded resignation of Caught on the wrong foot, the state gov- especially in small- and medium-scale
chief minister Vijay Rupani for failing to
industries which do not have automa-
ernment pushed its entire machinery to
control the situation which had annoyed tion to a great extent and are therefore,
protect the migrant workers. Congress
President Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “There
lectors, Sps and other district administra-
is nothing more frightening than pov- their top brass in Delhi. As a result, col- dependent on labourers. The unrest is
denting the industrial production by an
erty. The root cause of the violence in tors were seen reaching out to migrants estimated 25 per cent overall.”
The streak of violence in the state Being an industrial state, Gujarat has point was rape of a 14-month-old tod- Gujarat is the closed down factories and waiting for trains at railway stations, bus The situation was the same in Meh-
against migrant workers from always welcomed migrant labour force dler from a village near Himmatnagar unemployment there. Both the system stations or having pani puri with the sana, Kadi, Kalol and Himmatnagar,
friendly Bhayaji on the streets. This drill,
where workers employed in ceramics,
and that economy are reeling. Making
from UP, Bihar, MP and other states.
in Sabarkantha district of North Gujarat
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, These migrants form a majority of the on September 28. The accused, a migrant migrant labour their target is completely to some extent did the damage control. plastics, textiles and engineering indus-
Madhya Pradesh and Hindi work force in the industrial units — be it worker from Bihar, was arrested on the wrong. I stand totally against it.” But the industries were already facing tries have started leaving too. “Of the
3,000 workers employed at 285 units in
Gujarat CM Rupani in a series of
the heat of the exodus of labourers.
the textile and chemical industries of Su-
same day. But the politics played over the
speaking belt suggests that the rat and Ahmedabad or small spare parts incident — first by Thakor community tweets accused the Congress of inciting According to industry estimates, some Mehsana industrial estate, 400 are Hindi-
politics of hate is likely to making factories of north Gujarat. (the girl also belongs to the same com- the violence. “Congress first incites vio- 12,000 migrant labourers hailing from speaking and 150 of them have already
Assistant professor at Indian Insti-
remain the undercurrent in tute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM- munity) leader and Congress MLA Al- lence against migrants. Congress presi- Hindi-speaking states including Uttar left fearing violence,” said Chirag Patel,
secretary, Mehsana Industries Associa-
Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh
pesh Thakor and then by the ruling BJP
dent tweets to condemn this violence.
run up to the Lok Sabha polls, A) Chinmay Tumbe, says that migrants government in blaming the opposition Does the Congress president not have — employed in manufacturing units in tion. He said that the production was hit
writes JINI KP SAHAJAN make up about 70 per cent of work - for inciting the locals against the mi- any shame? If the Congress president is north Gujarat region — had fled to their by 15 per cent-20 per cent ahead of peak
force in Surat and nearly 50 per cent in grants, added fuel to the fire. against the violence in Gujarat, he needs home states. The panic also spared to Diwali season. Ceramic units in Himmat-
he incidents of attack on mi- Ahmedabad, higher than most of the ma- On September 29, a day after the un- to take action against its own members industrial clusters in Morbi, Jamanagar, nagar, too, have seen dip in production.
grant workers from Uttar jor cities of the country. He explains that fortunate incident, Alpesh Thakor went who incited violence against the mi - Surat and Kutch, which employ a large Last week, the Gujarat State Human
Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, while the numbers were less for other live on Facebook, saying that a migrant grants in Gujarat… We are working hard number of workers from outside the Rights Commission too issued to the state
Madhya Pradesh and Hindi cities of Gujarat the number but it was was responsible for the inhumane act. to ensure trust & confidence among all state. Industry experts say Gujarat has government and the director general of
T speaking belt have subsided still substantial. Tumbe has documented Thakor went on to say that had the ac- citizens that they are safe & secure in over 1 crore industrial workers and 70 police seeking reports on the attacks and
in Gujarat, but the streak of violence that the migrant workforce in his book India cused been handed over the ‘Thakor Gujarat, instead of indulging in blame exodus of Hindi-speaking migrant work-
continued for nearly a week and spread Moving: The History of Migration that was Sena’ a community outfit he heads, jus- game….” ers. The reports has to be submitted to
across eight districts including major published earlier this year. “Historically tice would have been done then and The allegations of inciting violence At least 500 people chairperson of the Gujarat State Human
cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and there have been less anti-migrant riots there itself. backfired on Alpesh, who later con - Rights Commission Justice (retired) Ab-
Morbi, has exposed the underbelly of Gu- or violence in Punjab and Gujarat as peo- This is what the BJP claimed had in- demned the violence and accused the have been arrested hilasha Kumari. The Gujarat High Court
jarat’s politics ahead of the 2019 general ple of these states themselves are known cited the violence against the migrants BJP of making baseless allegation to save also took note of the violent incidents
elections. The politics of hate, be it against to be migrating across the globe in large in north Gujarat districts of Sabarkan- the embarrassment. Alpesh also faced for rioting and and asked the state government to sub-
minorities, Dalits or migrants, is likely to numbers,” he said. tha, Patan, Banaskantha, Mehsana which opposition from his own party members violence against mit report in court.
remain the undercurrent in run up to the So, what triggered the violence later spread to Ahmedabad, Vadodara, leaving him alone to defend himself and
Lok Sabha polls in the western state. against migrants in Gujarat? The ignition Surat, Morbi and Rajkot cities. his earlier statement. His token fast over migrants and over LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM
50 cases have been
registered across
TEHELKA / 31 OCTOBER 2018 10 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
the state
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