Video shows locals thrashing migrant labourers on Tamil Nadu train, police file FIR

Even as fellow passengers urge him to stop hitting the migrants, the man can be seen hitting a labourer after holding him by his hair and asking who the labourers’ agent was and where they hailed from. As he moves forward, another man hits a migrant labourer. The exact location and timing of the incident are not known.

Many netizens attributed the assault to “hate politics” and said it could put Tamil people working in other states at risk.

Actor and BJP leader Khushbu Sundar linked the assault to linguistic chauvinism. “When linguistic chauvinism dominates the political narrative and social media content, this is bound to happen. Attacking these hapless ones is this thug’s idea of valour. Abusing the PM, physical assault. @tnpoliceoff time to act else this trend will rattle the national integration,” she tweeted.

The allegation that the influx of migrant labourers deprives the state’s locals of livelihood is widely circulated on social media.

A couple of days ago, a 43-year-old migrant labourer from West Bengal was beaten to death near Thazhambur in Chengalpattu district by a group of people who allegedly mistook him for a thief.

The man, who had been working at a construction site for about six months, had stepped out for dinner but lost his way back to his shelter. As he was not able to communicate in Tamil, the locals did not understand what he was trying to say. They tied him to a pole and beat him up before police took him to hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.