Hundreds of migrant daily wage earners came to the streets at Bandra in Mumbai on Tuesday demanding to go back to their respective states. Majority of the crowd, that included women, hailed from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The Mumbai police reached the spot and dispersed the crowd from near the Bandra suburban station.
The spontaneous gathering took place hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation and extended the three-week Covid-19 India lockdown till 3 May. Police had to resort to a cane charge to disperse the mob.
The crowd was apparently driven by rumours like - distribution of free ration and starting of long-distance trains form midnight. "The crowd has been dispersed now," deputy commissioner of police (operations) Pranay Ashok, who is the Mumbai police spokesperson, said.
According to him, the crowd comprised of more than 1,500 persons. A huge posse of police had reached and ringed the area. The place of protest is a couple of kilometres away from Thackeray's residence. The incident has put the social distancing concept for a toss.
What happens also puts a question mark on the intelligence gathering, security and administration. There were reports of a similar incident in Mumbra in neighbouring Thane district, however, there is no official confirmation of it - though some clips went viral on social media.
Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said that what has happened is serious. "Hundreds of people assemble in the road and ask people to allow them to go back to their homes or provide food is something that is very serious," he said.
Senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government has failed in handling the crisis. "The place where it happened is in fact a bastion of Congress and NCP," he said, adding that helpless people are not getting rations.
Shiv Sena leader and state's Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray has shot back. "The current situation at Bandra Station, now dispersed or even the rioting in Surat is a result of the Union Govt not being able to take a call on arranging a way back home for migrant labour. They don’t want food or shelter, they want to go back home," he tweeted.
Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the situation at Bandra station where migrant workers gathered now under control and state will ensure accommodation, food for them.
"A crowd of thousands gathered near Bandra station in Mumbai after a rumour broke out that long-distance trains were running. The crowd gathered at Bandra West. Another rumour of free ration being distributed made matter worse for the police. Majority of the crowd consisted of migrant workers who were keen to return to their villages," Bandra East Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddiqui said.
Amit Shah speaks to Uddhav Thackeray
Union Home Minister Amit Shah called Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed concern over the Bandra gathering. According to reports, Shah told Thackeray that such events weaken India’s fight against Covid-19 and that administration must stay vigilant to avoid such incidents. He offered the full support of the Centre to Maharashtra government.
Don't worry, stay with us: Uddhav Thackeray
Saying that "lockdown is not lock-up", Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the Bandra incident was unfortunate and could have been triggered by rumour-mongering. "Stay with us, let us fight out together," he told migrants population. He also urged politicians and political parties not to play politics over it. "We have done whatever possible... I am with you, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is with you," he said, adding that people were expecting that the lockdown would end and trains would start. He said that he was of the opinion that lockdown must continue and welcomes the announcement of Modi.
Mumbai police in the process of filing an FIR. It will be filed under section 188 of IPC and epidemic act. Sections of rioting will also be added in the FIR.