What about the criminals among migrants?

Most Malayalees have a sigh of relief----now. Thanks, there is a major breakthrough in the triple murder case in Kottayam. The suspect, Narendra Kumar, 26, has been arrested from Firozabad, UP. Police managed this in just six days after the murder. Thumb up to the cops. They have yet to find out the motive behind it. Also, whether anybody else was also involved in the case.

Admit--- this could be one of the most heinous crimes in Kerala allegedly involved in by migrant workers. Of course, do not forget K Sethumadhavan, 51, a hotel employee at Thalassery, who was found dead at a construction site near the government Medical College Hospital, Calicut, last year. Three migrant workers from West Bengal were arrested in connection with the murder from their hideout in Wayanad.

On May 17, that fateful Sunday morning brought the shocking picture of a family bathed in its own blood, and thus lay dead: MK Lalson, 72, his wife Prasanna Kumari, 54, and their elder son, Praveen Lal, 28, ----all throats slit, acid poured and electrocuted. Do we have a stronger word than gruesome, horrible, fiendish or whatever?

No wonder, this incident would put migrant workers in a bad light. That is very sad. There may be some rotten apples; however it is wrong and morally incorrect to paint them all with the same brush. Without them, life in our state will come to a standstill. Consider the fact that migrant workers help us build our houses, do electrical works, manage farms, and even run beauty salons. If it weren’t for them, how would we have a nice haircut? More than that, their presence has helped us know the rest of India better. That is a kind of cultural integration. More Malayalees started speaking Hindi, and Hindiwalas also speak Malayalam. On Sundays, they play cricket with Kerala boys at stadiums and beaches. Yes, when we accept diversity, unity becomes strong.

Though they are everywhere in rural Kerala, we have no idea who they are. Little do we know about their whereabouts, their past: how many of them are absconding from police back home? With this murder, it has become clear that a large number of them go by fake names, false addresses. Job contractors, who take them around from one job site to another, are equally ignorant of their identities. This is a difficult situation.

Some of them go as domestic helps as well. In the light of the triple murder, it’s a pretty scary situation. Former Kozhikode City Commissioner A V George said in 2014 that police stations had been maintaining a database of migrant workers in view of increasing incidents of crimes involving them. The database would include their photos and fingerprints. It is an ambitious idea, considering the flood of workers from West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa.

According to a study by Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, there are about 25 lakh migrant workers in Kerala (It’s nearly equal to Malayalees working abroad), and with an annual arrival rate of 2.35 lakhs. The study was done via a train-based survey of migrant labours at two doors to Kerala: Kasaragod and Palakkad, covering all the 63 long distance trains.

Already about 60 per cent of workers in the state are migrants, while Malayalee work force has dwindled to 40 per cent, some sources say. Leaving behind an aging population, Kerala youths work abroad. It is like this: most NRI homes, may be, having more females than males. Most male adults are retirees, or aged above 50, living on cash remittance from Gulf. We can’t blame our youths searching better jobs abroad. Without their money, Kerala would have been where West Bengal is today.

Thanks to gulf money, and multi-storey houses, we live indoors mostly. For an increasing number of families, outdoor life means car trips to shopping malls, and parks ---with window screens downed. Our rapport with neighbours is thinning, and we don’t care about things around us. This lax attitude is not desirable.

Now look at this from a different scenario: According to the Gulati Institute study, the migrant workforce consists almost ‘entirely of single men of 18-35 years’. It means they don’t bring along their families. Considering their poor literacy rate, and difficult social life of the places they come from, their social behaviour could be crude. How many of them use alcohol and drugs, and still more, are there any addicts, drug traffickers among them? To those with criminal attitude, between committing crime and escaping from the scene, their only problem may be reaching the nearest railway station. A rush-hour train like Nizamudhin Mangla Express could take them out of Kerala borders overnight.

Also our big houses and cars could create an impression on them that we are all wealthy. The truth is, on average, each Malayalee has Rs 3 lakh debt in the form of house and cars loans, one study said. Closest of our life-style can be found only in the cities of their homes states. Of course, we shouldn’t be paranoid; still, we need at least know who our neighbours are.

Admit---migrant workers are now the backbone of Kerala, and they help us a lot every way. Of course, they take home, according to the Gulati Institute study, about Rs 17,500 crores from the state. Hope it could help feed many far away villages.

This is a new situation for Kerala. Malayalees have spent time outside working: in 1950s, we went to Assam for manual works. Now a large number of Assamese work here. Later in the 70s we left home for “Bombay”, and when Gulf boom came along, we were the first to explore possibilities. Now things take a reverse mode: Kerala is flooded with migrants. We can’t in any way neglect them, because we do the same in Gulf. Also we can’t call them all criminals and thieves. Most of them are peace-loving hardworking people.

For ensuring social security, authorities must know whereabouts of every single migrant worker. Also, whether they are on fake IDs or they have criminal past. In the light of the triple murder case, it is a serious issue. Government should prepare a database of migrants, working alongside with their home states. More important, trade unions can’t sit in the gallery forever.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Madhyamam)