BJP leader, 2 scribes booked over ‘false’ reports of attacks on migrants

Chennai: A BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh and two journalists, including an unnamed editor of Dainik Bhaskar, have been booked by the Tamil Nadu Police for “false and baseless” reports online about attacks on North Indian workers in Tamil Nadu.

As the BJP raised the matter after the reports, the Bihar government on Saturday sent a four-member team to Tamil Nadu to take stock, and Jharkhand said it would be doing so.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday reassured his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar that all migrant workers are safe in the state and he asserted that swift action would be taken against rumour-mongers spreading panic.

Stalin said he spoke to Nitish Kumar over phone and assured him that no harm would befall workers and conveyed to him that “all workers are our workers who help Tamil Nadu’s growth and nothing will happen to impact them, I have assured him.” Addressing Kumar as his ‘revered brother,’ the Chief Minister said in an official release here that workers from northern states need not have any kind of apprehensions over working in Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, in separate complaints, Prashant Umrao, a BJP spokesperson who also works as a standing counsel in the Supreme Court for the Goa government, was booked, along with the Dainik Bhaskar editor, plus Mohammed Tanvir, a small-time journalist from Bihar. A top police officer said three separate teams have been formed for their arrest.

A statement issued by the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday said that all north Indian workers in Tamil Nadu were living peacefully in the state.

The alleged claims by the three accused regarding North Indian workers coincided with the birthday celebrations of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday, which attracted several Opposition leaders, including Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, and where calls were made for a united front against the BJP.

Umrao, who has a large following on Twitter, allegedly tweeted the day after the rally that 12 Bihar workers had been “hanged to death” in Tamil Nadu for speaking Hindi, and posted it with a photo of Tejashwi with Stalin. The police claim the journalists also spread rumours the same day. All three have been booked under IPC sections dealing with offences related to promoting enmity and disharmony between different groups. The police officer quoted above said the police were gathering information about other people spreading false rumours “in order to cause trouble and create panic” among migrant labourers.

Nitish Kumar, replying to queries from journalists in Patna said the decision to send the team was taken after deliberations that took place over a couple of days.

“I first read about the matter in newspapers the day before yesterday (Friday) and asked officials here to get in touch with their counterparts in Tamil Nadu. Yesterday, they said that it would be good if we send a team to that state to get first-hand information. Orders were issued accordingly,” he said.

According to a statement issued by the Police Headquarters, the team comprises D Balamurugan, the Secretary for Rural Development, P Kannan, the Inspector General of Police (CID), Alok Kumar, the Labour Commissioner, and Santosh Kumar, SP, Special Task Force.

The statement read that the team will meet the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police and other top officials of Tamil Nadu besides visiting Tiruppur district from where reports of attacks on Bihari migrants have surfaced.

Notably, two members of the team, D Balamurugan and P Kannan, hail from Tamil Nadu and according to sources in the state government they have been chosen so that “internal feedback” could be obtained, without facing problems of language.

The Police Headquarters also released helpline numbers issued by the Tamil Nadu police, though the DGP of the southern state had recently issued a statement asserting that reports in a section of the media about attacks on migrants were “misleading and mischievous”.

Nonetheless, returnees from the southern state are sharing their woes with journalists at railway stations, saying though they have come back for Holi festivities, they would not like to go back to work if the situation did not improve.

“I work as a carpenter. My earnings barely suffice to keep my body and soul together. The environment in Tamil Nadu has made the matters worse. I would not like to go back unless there is an improvement in the situation,” said Vinod, who hails from Motihari. Similar sentiments were expressed by Vishal and Vivek, both from Muzaffarpur, who alleged “we always face insults and, of late, even physical assaults are taking place. We hope that we get some work on our home soil. Who would like to go far away and face humiliations?

Bhojpuri singer Neha Singh Rathore, who was recently in news for being slapped with a notice by the Uttar Pradesh police for a satirical number of hers that was critical of the Yogi Adityanath government, expressed solidarity with migrants upon returning to her home state.

“I am just back from Delhi. I have replied to the notice which, my lawyers say, is illegal. I also met retired Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju who held the same view. As far as migrants are concerned, I feel I am one of them,” Rathore told reporters at the Patna airport.

“Many of my close relatives are eking out a living in far-off places like Delhi. They are not big officials. Some of them work as security guards. Some are even selling vegetables or picking up garbage. They all suffer the same travail,” said the Bhabhua-born singer who also came up with an impromptu song that sought to give voice to the plight of Bhojpuri-speaking migrants.