By Shafeeq Hudawi
Kozhikode: In the wake of the gruesome rape and murder of Jisha, a Dalit girl, the state of Kerala was still in shock when another incident brought further shame to its residents. Kailas Jyothy Behra, a young labourer was beaten to death at Chiravamuttam village in Kottayam district of Kerala.
Behra, who was mistaken for a thief, was lynched a few days back by a mob, and according to local media reports, about 50 persons remained watching the youngster slowly die in the scorching sun. “His hands were tied up and none took him to hospital or even offer any help,” says activist Dr. B Ekbal. When the former Vice Chancellor of Kerala University, who resides in Kottayam, contacted some local people they said the migrant labourer might have involved in the theft cases recently reported in the area. “I felt ashamed when I failed to find no signs of regret in their words. They were justifying the brutal lynching of youngster, who came here to earn his bread,” he said.
This was not the first instance of migrant workers being targeted in Kerala. A few months ago, a young labourer Jagabandhu Karkaria from Rayagada district of Odisha was murdered by a bakery owner in Thrissur. Incidents like these have brought into focus the growing xenophobia in Kerala and according to members of civil society it has been on a steady rise in the past few years.
“For last three years, xenophobia has been alarmingly increasing. Keralaites want only these migrant’s workforce. The self-pride of being a Malayali doesn’t allow them to treat these migrants as human beings,” PA Pouran, a member of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) told Twocircles.net.
A study carried by PUCL at plywood industry of Perumbavoor, where thousands of migrants are working had found that the chemicals used in plywood making posed serious health hazards. “The locals are reluctant to do such jobs in low wages, but these poor migrants are compelled to do so,” he says.
State mostly dependant on migrant workforce for crucial sectors
As per the figures with the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), there are around 30 lakh labourers working here from West Bengal, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and other north-eastern states.
The state has roughly one-third of the total annual income from foreign countries, mainly from Gulf countries. As per the figures with Non Resident Kerala (NoRKA) Department, there are 28 to 30 lakh Keralites working abroad. CDS studies say that more than Rs 1 lakh crore is contributed by expatriates. “The corresponding figure for migrants comes to about Rs 20,000-25,000 crore, yet there is a growing opinion that immigrants take away our money,” says Ekbal.
According to him, various industries including construction sites will completely come to a standstill if the migrants abstain from their works. “We were left to suffer when the Tamilans started going back around five years ago when they got opportunities in their own villages. The same scenario will happen when these migrants go back. They are here to fill the vacancies, generated by the exodus of Malayali diaspora,” he adds.
Pride gives way to prejudice
According to Ekbal, it is often the self-pride of Keralites that lead to migrant labourers being denied their rights “The intellectuals have taught locals to resist anything from foreign. They oppose a thought, even if it’s positive, saying that it is foreign and not befitting to our social environment. Thus, Keralites often sneer when they see Biharis or Bhayyas from UP or any other states,” Ekbal says.
Media and Police make things worse for migrant labourers
The gruesome death of the migrant from Assam found no due place in mainstream media because the entire state was caught up with Jisha’s murder.
However, some of the local media reports even reached to a far-fledged assumption that the mob might have been provoked by the possible involvement of migrant labourers in Jisha’s murder. The police, who groped in the dark, picked migrant labourers in relation with Jisha’s murder. Though no migrant link was evident, the police was tempted by the huge migrant population in the nearby town Perumbavoor. Perumbavoor has around one lakh migrants, who are associated in the plywood industry here.
“Police tend to go for a ‘migrant link’ whenever a crime is reported. They find it easy to make these poor labourers admit the crimes,” says Ekbal.
According to P A Pouran, the media, which is hand in glove with the corporate powers, also keeps a careful eye on these workforce. “They exaggerate the crimes, in which migrants get involved,” he says. However, according to him, the government also commits criminal lapses in addressing the woes of migrant workforce.
“Migrant welfare has found no place in their election manifestos. The labour department is yet to get the number of migrant labourers in the state,” Pouran adds.
Migrant labourers complain of discrimination, but have few options
Mubarack Hossein, Mohammed Ali and Jahangir Alam, hailing from Uttar Dinajpur district in West Bengal and currently work in Tirur, Malappuram district. They were on their way to their rooms when Twocircles.net spoke to them. The trio said they hardly followed the newspapers and news channels. “The only news source we have here is the social media. That too we follow to get updates from our home state,” said Mubarack Hossein. The trio was shocked when they came to know the killing of the Assamese labourer from this correspondent.
The reason for them migrating so far from their districts is simple: when it comes to earning, they are happy as here they can earn upto Rs. 700 for a day’s plastering work while they are paid only Rs. 200 for the same job in West Bengal. However, this does not mean there is no discrimination. The trio point out their Malayali coworkers are given up to Rs.900 per day. “We are happy. But, discrimination is there. Some of our friends, working under Malayali agents, undergo exploitation. They have to pay certain commission to these agents,” said Mohammed Ali. The workers are not helped by the lack of communication between them and the local residents. While most of the contractors are able to understand and communicate in Hindi, workers say they take five or six months to understand the basics of Malayalam. “Though we are unable to speak Malayalam, we understand what they ask us to do,” said Hossein. Nevertheless, this means that there is little communication between the locals and the migrants, which creates more distrust among the two communities.
But more than the local people, it is the police that make lives of the migrants more difficult. Unnecessary questioning and unwanted checking of their accommodation places by the Health Department go a long way in ostracising the migrant labourers of the state.
“Earlier, the public used to scold us during our train journeys calling Bengalis. Now, the government officials have started following us citing we are spreading diseases here and doing crimes,” Mohammed Ali said. While asked about the labour and health cards for migrants, being issued by the State Government, they said new unwanted rules will follow such cards.
According to them, if the plight continues they will have to leave the state for ever. “These raids will be extended and strengthened. We will be portrayed as criminals and one day we will be unable to stay here,” said Mubarack Hossein.