Addressing the migrant workers in Kerala in fluent Bengali, to prevent themselves from the mass exodus, Kerala Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday, 1 April, posted a video on Twitter that has been going viral in the social media.
Known for his excellent command on English and his use of Brobdingnagian words in his tweets, Tharoor has yet again proved his excellent command over linguistics.
From Kerala, with love
The video specially addresses the huge bulk of migrant workers from West Bengal who have been residing in Kerala for years.
A week since the imposition of a 21-day national lockdown to counter the spread of the coronavirus in India, migrant workers across the country have been plunged into a severe crisis. With their jobs drying up and food running out, the past week saw a mass exodus of these daily- wage workers from across India who took to their foot to make long and arduous journeys home, even in the absence of public transport.
In regard to this, the Congress MP and former UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information have come up with a 47-second video that urges the migrant workers to stay calm wherever they are.
Tharoor speaks well in Bengali
He appealed to the migrant workers in their mother tongue to stay in Kerala instead of heading to West Bengal. Tharoor added that the Kerala government will take care of their essential requirements such as food, water and other supplies.
His Bengali request when translated goes like: "Namaste. I am Shashi Tharoor, Thiruvananthapuram's MP. To all those who came to Kerala from Bengal, I want to tell you all something. I know you are in a difficult situation but you'll have to understand that at this point of time, it is not possible for you all to return to Bengal. State borders are closed. However, the Kerala government and we all assure you that you will get food, water and other essentials. I request you to stay wherever you are. Don't worry. The people of Kerala are with you."
The video tweet was captioned as "My appeal in Bangla to Bengali migrant workers in Kerala not to leave the state under #Lockdown."
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said that 24 new positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in the state, taking the total tally to 265.
According to the Union Health Ministry, the total number of coronavirus positive cases, including foreign nationals in India has reached 1,834 on Wednesday.
Click on to watch the viral tweet video here:
My appeal in Bangla to Bengali migrant workers in Kerala not to leave the state under #Lockdown : pic.twitter.com/Wvgg78WiTR
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 1, 2020
