Ahmedabad: Gujarat has in the last few days seen an exodus of migrant workers from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, as protests broke out against them over the rape of a toddler allegedly by a migrant worker from Bihar. The incident occurred on 28 September, when a 14-month-old girl was raped by an accused who hails from Bihar.
Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Monday appealed to people to maintain peace and not engage in violence. He said that the situation was under control and that no untoward incident had taken place in the state in the last 48 hours.
Speaking at a press conference in Gandhinagar on Monday, Gujarat’s home minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja said 56 cases across six districts have been registered and 431 people arrested so far. He said 17 companies of State Reserve Police had been deployed in affected areas.
Earlier in the day, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar spoke with Rupani, asking him to arrest people who were targeting migrant workers. Condemning the rape incident, Kumar said the guilty must be punished but an entire community should not be “tarred with the same brush”.
The accused, Ravindra Sahu, was arrested on the day of the incident; however, the rape sparked rage in some sections of society. Mobs attacked migrant workers in various parts of the state. Hate messages are being circulated over social media, leading to attacks on migrants.
According to Mahesh Singh Kushwah, president of the Uttar Bharatiya Vikas Parishad, as many as 20,000 migrant workers from Gujarat have fled to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Mehsana and Sabarkantha are the worst-affected districts. Fear has gripped other parts of the state, as well, including Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat.
The attacks against migrant workers has also affected various industries, including textile, real estate and construction. The business-dominated South Gujarat region has a heavy presence of migrants.
Surat has the largest proportion of migrants (58%) among all cities in India. The city has a population of 5.5 million and is estimated to have a floating population of 2-3 lakh.
“The textile industry of Surat is already facing a recession. In all, there would be 15-16 lakh migrant workers in Surat district. The textile industry of Surat employs about 8-10 lakh people, of which half are migrants. They fear danger to their lives and property,” said Tarachand Kasat, president of All India Textile Traders’ Association.
He said the industry’s turnover of about ₹ 1,000 crore per day from readymade goods could be severely affected if the situation was not controlled.
It has been alleged that members of the Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena (GKTS) were behind the attacks on the migrants.
On Sunday, Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor, who is the head of Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena, said youths of the organization were being framed by the ruling BJP. Thakor told mediapersons that there was a conspiracy to finish off the GKTS and that more than two dozen FIRs had been registered with an aim to frame youth owing allegiance to the organization. Thakor said he would sit on an indefinite fast from 11 October till the false cases registered against GKTS members were withdrawn.