“In the two months that I have been working here, I have hardly spoken to anyone other than my employer and my fellow workers. I just work the whole day and then head to my room. Par ab baahar jaane mein bhi darr lagega (Now I will be scared even stepping out),” says Subodh Kumar, 22, a native of Bihar, working at a rice sheller in Punjab’s Moga district.
On Tuesday, Subodh along with his cousin Ashok were walking towards their room on the Moga-Zira road to have lunch when three bike-borne men, with covered faces, opened fire at them. Ashok was shot in the leg, and Subodh was grazed by a bullet. Around 10-15 other migrant labourers who were with them ran away in panic.
The three attackers flashed the two weapons they were carrying, filmed the entire incident and uploaded it on Instagram from the account of one Nirvair Singh.
In the post, the assailants, allegedly belonging to the Devinder Bambiha gang, warned of more such incidents “if UP-Bihar bhaiyyas (a pejorative for residents of the two states)” were not driven out of Punjab. The migrants “are spoiling Punjab’s atmosphere”, they said, adding that sarpanchs in the state should be ready to face the “consequences” if they get “fake” voter and Aaadhar cards of migrants made.
On Wednesday, police claimed to have identified the three shooters. SP, Investigations, Bal Krishan Singla, said: “Motive will be clear only after the arrests, whether it was a hate crime, or for some other reason.”
Speaking over the phone, Subodh, who is originally from Sitamarhi in Bihar and employed at VS Agro Rice Sheller in Khosa Pando village of Moga, said: “Aise hi raha toh apni jaan khatre mein daal ke yahaan kaise rahenge? Jaana hi padega. Ghar wale bol rahe hain ki nahin theek mahaul toh ghar waapis aa jao (If it continues, who will stay on, putting one’s life at risk? Our families back home are also saying that if the situation is bad, return home).”
The panic is more because it is the first attack of its kind. “Several generations of my family and others from our village have worked in Punjab for years, but never faced anything of this sort. We always considered Punjab very safe,” said Subodh.
‘Firing did not stop’
Speaking about Tuesday’s attack, he added that they were walking towards their living quarters when the three men opened fire “without asking or saying a word”. “Neither did we say anything to anyone, nor did we have a quarrel with anyone. They kept firing and did not stop.”
How were he and the others a threat to anyone, Subodh said. “We work hard and manage at best around Rs 15,000 a month, of which we send half back home… If we go back, we would have to try and find work in other states or something at home.”
Their employer has offered full support, he added. “He and other locals are very kind and are taking care of all our needs and medical treatment.”
Subodh’s uncle Varinder Mahato, 45, who has been working in Moga now for almost 20 years, said: “It is like if you go to even buy vegetables or rations on the streets, you will be shot. How can one live like this?… Locals can do whatever they want, and no one will stop them! Who will stand with us?”
Employers such as industrialists and farmers who have for decades depended on the migrant work force as the backbone of the state are also worried.
“This is a clear attempt to destabilise law and order in Punjab, and the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government should deal with it with an iron hand. The nation is supreme and one. Sons and daughters of Punjabis also work in Bengaluru, Pune etc. What if similar incidents started happening in those states to target them?” said Ludhiana-based Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings President Upkar Singh Ahuja.
‘Such incidents malign Punjab’
He added that the incident also gives Punjab a bad name. “Industry can’t run without migrants. They did not leave Punjab even during terrorism days. This is not a good sign for a country’s unity. Maybe some miscreants want to create polarization ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls. But no common Punjabi or industrialist or farmer wants migrants to leave.”
Ludhiana Focal Point Welfare Association chairman Tulsi Ram Misra, who migrated from Uttar Pradesh to Punjab when he was just 14 to work as a labourer, and rose to establish his own boiler units, blamed the law and order situation in Punjab. Misra claimed that migrants are also targeted by snatchers, who take their phones, wallets, cycles. “Earlier such incidents happened once in a blue moon, but now it’s an everyday story.”
Misra holds both the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the main Opposition, Congress, responsible. “Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi (former CM) gave a statement (in 2022) that UP and Bihar migrants will be thrown out of Punjab. He said that just to appease his votebank, without knowing that industry and agriculture in Punjab cannot survive without us,” said Misra.
There has been some attempts recently to stoke resentment against migrants on account of the murder of a five-year-old after sexual assault in Hoshiarpur in September last year, allegedly by a migrant worker. Several village panchayats passed resolutions at the time “banning” entry of migrants in their villages, and ordering migrants “without documents to leave immediately”.
Firing on migrant workers comes amid labour shortage
Misra, who estimates that there are 50 lakh migrants in Punjab from UP and Bihar, said the state is already grappling “with a labour shortage of about 40%”. “It is partly due to the law and order situation in Punjab and partly due to the development of industry in other states. The Moga incident may worsen the situation. Once Punjab was number one both in agriculture and industry, but now other states are racing ahead because of the apathy of governments here.”
Ram Kuma Yadav, president, Yadav Ahir Mahasabha, an NGO working for welfare of migrants in Punjab, said: “This is not a crime, but a hate crime. Migrants from UP and Bihar are the backbone of industry and agriculture in Punjab, especially Ludhiana.”
Yadav added that he doesn’t believe the normal Punjabi supports such attacks. “Only gangsters can spread this hate against migrants, not the people who have always provided us with job opportunities. I have been living in Ludhiana for 30 years,” Yadav said.
Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar wrote on X: “Earlier in Punjab, businessmen were targeted, due to which no new industry was ready to come here. And now in Moga, laborers have been targeted under a conspiracy. This is not Punjabiyat… The Bhagwant Mann government should wake up from its slumber and take action against forces creating divisions in society and disturbing the law and order situation.”
Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal also spoke about “complete lawlessness and gangster raj” and called it a conspiracy to “destabilise” Punjab. “Urgent steps are needed to tackle this situation – before the AAP’s ruthless tactics turn Punjab into a permanent battleground of division, coercion, and chaos.”
Subodh Kumar, one of the injured migrants
Share
