Amid the coronavirus lockdown, migrant labourers of the country are on an arduous journey to their native states due to lack of transportation and the social media is flooded with some heartwrenching footage. Videos of the helpless workers and their families walking hundreds of kilometres under the scorching sun or even running barefoot behind a truck to reach home have stirred havoc on social media.
In wake of the current crisis, another video, which speaks volumes about their plight, has surfaced the internet leaving netizens speechless. This time the video shows a little boy sleeping on his mother's suitcase which she is seen dragging while walking on foot to reach home.
According to reports, the family was travelling from Punjab to Jhansi while this incident was captured by a journalist as the labourers were crossing Agra. "We didn't find any bus service for Jhansi at ISBT Agra, therefore we are on foot, " said the migrant labourers travelling from Punjab.
The boy in the video seemed exhausted from all the walking and fell asleep on the suitcase which his mother dragged on their way home to Jhansi from Punjab.
Woman migrant walking to Jhansi with her child #MigrantsOnTheRoad https://t.co/EiABKbHLin
— Gargi Rawat (@GargiRawat) May 14, 2020
From the fallen rotis (bread) on the railway tracks of Aurangabad to the video of a young labourer who wheeled his pregnant wife along with his child in a makeshift cart for 700 km, the adversities faced by the migrant workers have left the country speechless and ashamed.
"Must we not forget this ever': Netizens react
While some netizens posed questions to the government over the migrant labourer's crisis, many came forward to offer help witnessing the plight of the workers and their families.
The picture of the boy on the suitcase was compared to the image of the award-winning picture of Aylan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Syrian boy who was washed ashore during the refugee crisis.
Actor Adil Hussain said, "Must we not forget this ever. What have we done to them." Another Twitter user reacted, "No one should be subjected to this. No one. Migrant workers are still walking, with exhausted children in this summer heat. Their pictures are everywhere on social media, in news. What is STILL stopping governments from arranging their transport?"
