Sadly, the
effects of the lockdown and stalled economy has resulted in the plight of the
migrants to choose between a devil and deep blue sea. It is a humongous humanitarian
crisis, exodus is just a beginning, the after effects of the same are more
harrowing as this mass exodus may lead to the spread of the virus in hinterland too, which
so far was immune and as the health system there is inadequate it may result in
more deaths, unemployment, misery, unrest, chaos and lawlessness.
The very
fact that there was no death due to hunger since lockdown started, does
establish that no one went hungry, full credit to the volunteers,
philanthropists, various social organizations, political outfits and of course to
the Govt, that the huge issue of shelter and food for so many was taken care of,
though in terms of adequacy may have fallen short. We all contributed and should
be proud of it.
The bleak
outlook of gaining back the source of livelihood, landlords seeking rent or
throwing them out, employers not paying their salaries and or subsistence
allowances at least, long period of uncertainty and fear of death due to
coronavirus must have contributed to this despair which is also understandable
and could have been avoided or reduced. Kudos to those migrants who are staying
back to fight another day and those who did dare to travel on their own without
creating chaos.
The
hesitancy of the state governments along with central govt to comprehend this
issue during the lockdown and prepare a joint unemployed migrant management
plan with all stakeholders has also led to this crisis. Even if they had one it
was not communicated effectively, it may not have stopped the exodus but surely
minimized the tragedy. Apart from above there are two major contributors to the
current crisis and they are the mindset of migrants and the prevailing
mobocracy in our country.
Migrant mindset
In general, the migrants are risktakers, they even
abandon their homes for a better life, their approach is purely materialistic
and short term, they overlook hygiene, safety and cleanliness. They lack in
ownership of responsibilities, opportunism is their trademark thus the disloyalty,
they not only shift loyalty with owners but even places to serve their self-interest.
Lack of consideration for others is their hall mark and many instances in the
past around the world are testament to that.
Mobocracy
Various politicians their parties,
many social activists, religious outfits, Reservationists, labor leaders,
regional aspirants, linguist protagonists’ communal outfits, separatists, Naxals
and others over years have used mobocracy as means to achieve their ends. They exploit
the poor, illiterate, unemployed masses, use them as captive tool, mobilize
them to create anarchy, terror, violence and force to achieve their selfish interest
and then leave them. The migrants become a handy tool for them.
The current migrant crisis is
largely a result of political parties and their vote bank groups using their
quandary to spread rumors, create chaos, fuel the pandemonium and then play the
blame game, perpetrate hate and settle scores. For us it is a matter of shame
and catastrophe as their lives are at stake and further spread of virus will
defeat the sacrifices made by all of us. We are hostages in this.
We chose
democracy because it values human dignity, respects aspirations of the citizens,
reduces economic inequality, brings law and social order in effect through
various policies and programs for an ideal and equitable development of the
society. Instead, these selfish shortsighted and corrupt elements created these
vote banks to seek power, in turn we got a harmful and violent mobocracy.
Respect our
aspirations, understand the values of democracy, care for all and serve
humanity. The Mobocracy will not only kill democracy but politicians, too. Wake
up call for “Mera Bharat Mahan”
Satish Shitut
Jai Bharat
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