Coronavirus lockdown: Migrant workers take to the streets in Surat for the third time in a month

Ever since the lockdown was announced, Surat has witnessed several incidents of migrants turning violent as authorities try to keep them from leaving for their native villages in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

Moneycontrol News

April 28, 2020 / 08:59 PM IST

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Hundreds of migrant workers in Gujarat's Surat on April 28 staged a protest, for the third time in less than a month, demanding that they be allowed to return to their native states.

According to a report in The Hindu, the incident occurred at Surat’s Diamond Bourse. Migrants reportedly damaged several vehicles and threw stones, damaging glass windows at the construction site. Subsequently, the authorities called the police to control the situation.

On reaching the site, the police tried to appeal to the migrants to remain calm. In a similar incident in Dindoli area of Surat, hundreds of migrant labourers protested on the railway tracks, demanding that they be allowed to go to their villages. Stones were thrown at policemen who tried to push the protesters into their homes.

Similar protests were witnessed on April 14 after a sea of migrant workers gathered in Gujarat’s Surat as they demanded that arrangements be made to facilitate their return to their home towns. The migrants gathered in the Varachha area of the city and squatted on a road to press for their demand to be sent back.

Ever since the lockdown was announced, Surat has witnessed several incidents of migrants turning violent as authorities try to keep them from leaving for their native villages in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

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