More than 500 migrant workers protested in India's western state of Gujarat where they threw stones at police who were trying to enforce lockdown amid COVID-19. Most of the protesters come from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. They were employed in textile and diamond industries in the Hazira belt, on the outskirts of Surat. They told police they are struggling to survive without work and money and they demanded that the authorities make arrangements for them to return to their home states.
H.R. Brahmbhatt, the inspector who based at Ichhapore police station said that the police had informed the protesters that the government would send them to their home states. The police also asked them to be patient and to return to their homes because of the lockdown. However, the protesters refused to listen and started throwing stones at the police. Brahmbhatt told Reuters that the police used teargas to disperse the crowd.
According to D N Patel, joint commissioner of police for Surat, around 50 workers were arrested and have been charged with unlawful assembly and rioting. He added that the police are currently identifying more people who were involved in the violence. Several violent protests by residents and migrant workers happened in Gujarat since the implementation of nationwide lockdown that started on March 25. It has been extended twice until May 17.
Previously, 1,000 migrant workers protested in the village of Vareli, on the outskirts on Surat. However, the situation at Vareli was under control Patel after a large number of police reinforcements were sent to that area.
