MUMBAI — The exodus of migrants from Nashik and Pune to north India continued yesterday even as life was fast returning to normal in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra after days of violence by activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).
MNS chief Raj Thackeray yesterday apologized for the death of a man in Nashik during violence that followed his arrest on Wednesday. Thackeray made the apology in a statement released from his party headquarters in Mumbai.
Security was tightened in Mumbai after federal Railway Minister and President of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Lalu Prasad challenged Raj Thackeray to stop north Indians from celebrating Chatt Hindu festival. Lalu also appealed to people from the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to stay put and not leave Mumbai or any other place in Maharashtra out of fear.
The MNS attacks have triggered an exodus of migrant workers from Pune. The Pune railroad station yesterday witnessed a rush of commuters returning to their native places. “We don’t want to be killed. No one is behind us. We are leaving this place for Darbhanga, our native place,” said Manish Mishra, leader of a group of workers that boarded the Pune-Darbhanga Express. Darbhanga is a town in Bihar. Mishra has been residing in Pune for the last 10 years.
In the Bihar capital Patna, as soon as a train from Mumbai stopped, hundreds tumbled out, in tears, recounting tales of horror.
“We were targeted, attacked, beaten and threatened to leave Maharashtra. Our only crime was that we are from Bihar and speak Hindi,” said Pankaj Singh, who worked as a skilled laborer in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra.
“There was no option but to flee Bandra and save my life.” Pankaj’s 15-minute story gripped reporters at the train station and even moved policemen to offer him tea and snacks after they heard he had not eaten for over 24 hours.
“I was going to withdraw money from the bank but people suggested that I catch the first train home. I boarded the first available train with hardly 20 rupees in my pocket,” said Pankaj, who comes from a village in Bihar’s Samastipur district.
The scene is the same at train stations around the state where trainloads of Bihari migrant workers and their families are returning home after a spate of attacks on them in Mumbai and other towns of Maharashtra.
Surendra Yadav, 30, a graduate who used to work in a pipe factory in Nashik, recalled how he was singled out and virtually hounded out of his job. “I was singled out for being a Bihari. My life was under threat there and I opted to get out from under the shadow of fear and threats,” he said.
Every face had its own story of robbed livelihood, forced eviction. Every storyteller had a circle of mute spectators around.
Mahendra Paswan, a laborer from Aurangabad, Bihar, recalled: “When we were attacked, beaten and abused, neither local people nor police came to our rescue. We were helpless with the police remaining a silent spectator.”
“I can go without food but cannot risk my life in Maharashtra,” he added.
Like Mahendra, hundreds of migrants have fled Maharashtra towns with whatever personal effects they could gather.
On Wednesday, Nagma Bano, fleeing from Nashik, gave birth to a child in a train toilet. “We were forced to flee despite the fact that my wife was having labor pains. She gave birth to a child in the dirty toilet of the train during our journey,” Mohammed Nazir, Bano’s husband and a laborer in Nashik, told reporters.
“We had no option after some Marathis, who are supporters of a political party, threatened us and made us return to Bihar,” said Bano, sitting in the toilet with her newborn child in her lap.
“Even a poor woman like me would never imagine giving birth in a dirty toilet of a running train but it happened to me. I was forced to leave Nashik,” Bano said with tears in her eyes. The story is repeated with every train that brings more people home. “First poverty forced us to leave our village in Bihar and migrate to Maharashtra. And now fear of violence and threats to life have forced us to return. This is our story, what else,” Nazir said.
— With input from agencies
