Provide food and shelter to workers, Assam citizens write to Prez, Modi

More than 50 social activists, writers, filmmakers, journalists, physicians and members of civil society groups of Assam have written to the President of India, Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) about the plight of migrant workers in the wake of the lockdown and some other issues related to containment of coronavirus.

Here is the petition:

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Sir,

Allow us to draw your kind attention to the following few lines to the plight of thousands of migrant workers in the wake of the nationwide lockdown and to some other issues related to the containmement of the deadly Coronavirus disease.

Sir, we the following citizens of Assam, would like to bring to your notice that due to lack of proper planning by Govt of India before enforcing on March 25, a 21-day lock down to contain coronavirus, thousands of stranded migrant workers, especially in metro cities, had to come back to their native places by road along with families including women, children and differently-abled persons.

Many of these workers have to walk hundreds of miles in the midst of this unprecedented crisis without food, water, transport, medicine or shelter. Most of them won’t be having enough cash with them; nor would they have the prospect of getting any immediate relief. It is unlikely that once they reach home the situation there would be any better. Currently, these workers have either reached their respective native places or are stranded somewhere on the road or just stuck without any livelihood wherever they had been working.

During the course of their journey by road many workers faced the wrath of uniformed personnel and law enforcers who resorted to verbal and physical abuse, lathi charge and other punitive measures. In one state, the law enforcers even sprayed disinfectants on them. A large number of migrant workers, including women and children, were forced to take bath in sodium hypochlorite solution after they arrived in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district.

In states like Assam too police forces have resorted to lathi charge even on people coming out of their homes for buying essential household items or for some medical emergency.

That sir, we believe that law enforcers themselves should abide by the Law first before enforcing it on other citizens. Further, no law allows the police to beat up the citizens mercilessly or abuse them.

Therefore, we would like to draw your attention to such brutal and unlawful activities of the law enforcers and request your immediate intervention in the matter so that such incidents do not recur in times to come.

We want the government to take the following steps at the earliest.

1. Provide transportation facilities to workers who are walking hundreds of miles so that they can safely reach their destination.
2. Provide food and medical assistance to them and put them into 14-day quarantine after reaching their respective homes.
3. Provide food and shelter to the workers getting stranded at different places.
4. Stop police harassment of people, who are out for buying essential items and for medical emergencies.
5. Conduct a high-level probe against officials, who forced the migrant workers to take bath in sodium hypochlorite solution.
6. Expand testing for the virus, as most affected nations are doing.
7. Ensure availability of WHO-grade protective gear, including Hazmat (hazardous material) suits and personal protective equipment (PPE) to all health workers including doctors and paramedical professionals actively looking after, nursing and treating patients suffering from Covid-19.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Apurba Kumar Baruah, Retired Professor, North Eastern Hill University

Ajit Kr Bhuyan, Elected Member of Rajya Sabha

Haider Hussain, Senior Journalist

Arupa Patangia Kalita, Award Winning Author

Paresh Malakar, Social Activist

Santanu Borthakur, Advocate, Gauhati High Court

Holiram Terang, Activist, Karbi Anglong

Manjit Mahanta, Senior Journalist

Bibek Das, Central Committee Member, CPI (ML)

Rajen Kalita, Writer and Social Activist

Dr. Navanil Barua, Director Neurosurgery, GNRC Hospitals

Kishore Kumar Kalita, Freelance writer

Kamal Kumar Medhi, Political Activist

Jayanta Kr Chakravarty, Writer

Nazrul Haque, Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore

Rupaleem Dutta, Writer

Subhash Mahanta, Artist

Madhurjya Baruah, Advocate, Gauhati High Court

Mahesh Deka, Journalist

Asomi Gogoi, Women Activist

Rashmirekha Borah, Writer & Activist

Reema Borah, Filmmaker

Pankaj kr Das, Assistant Secretary, Assam State Committee, AICCTU

Uddipan Dutta, Scientific Officer, Dept of Sociology, Gauhati University

Sanjib Pol Deka, Assistant Professor, Tezpur University

Prafulla Nath, Assistant Professor, Assam University

Pinku Muktiar, Research Scholar, Tezpur University

Sujata Hati Baruah, Assistant Professor, Puthimari College, Kamrup

Rasel Hussain, Businessman & Public worker

Mayur Chetia, Writer

Abid Azad, Social Activist

Zamser Ali, Journalist

Kashyap Choudhury, Political Activist

Abdul Gani, Journalist

Abedur Rahman, Poet

Dr Geeta Duta, Physician

Parvin Sultana, Assistant Professor, P B College, Dhubri

Humayun Choudhury, Cultural Activist

Pranjyoti Nath, Writer

Dhrubajyoti Dhanantari, Journalist

Ranjit Borah, Social Activist

Panchanan Hazarika, Research Scholar, Dibrugarh University

Abhijit Chakraborty, Vice president, AIYF, Assam

Jenpu Rongmei, Social Activist

Shaheen Ahmed, Phd Scholar

Mallika Begum, Retired Teacher

Prasun Goswami, Social Activist

Mayur Nath, Social Activist

Khagesh Sen Deka, Writer

Lopa Barua, Retired Professor

Monmohan Das, Writer

Guna Kalita, Social Activist

Rathin Sarkar, Social Activist

Bangshidhar Bezbaruah, Social Activist

Umesh Gogoi, Freelance Writer

Trishna Lekharu, Social Activist

Nayan Barman, Advocate, Gauhati High Court

Pratik Kumar Das, Advocate, Gauhati High Court

Dhritishna Kalita, Physician

Wazid Ali, M.Phil Student, Gauhati University

Deepjyoti Gogoi, Student, Jorhat Engineering College

Zulfikar Rahman, Research Scholar, Assam University

Rupam Chakrabarty, Social Activist

Stuti Choudhury, Artist

Debanga Gogoi, Social Entrepreneur

Trishna Das, Freelance Content Writer and Translator

Sonal Roshan, Social Activist

Partha Pratim Laskar, Teacher

Sanjib Kalita, Social Activist