‘Fingers chopped, being hanged’: Bihari migrant workers share their ordeal, TN DGP calls reports of attacks fake

There have been reports in the media of hate crimes targeting Hindi-speaking migrant labourers, especially from Bihar, working in Tamil Nadu, which have claimed over a dozen lives. Although the TN Police have dismissed these reports as fake, terrified labourers returning to Bihar have a different story to tell.

According to a report published by the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, several migrant labourers, originally from the Jamui district in Bihar and working in Tamil Nadu, have confirmed these attacks. They have alleged that as many as 15 people have lost their lives in the “Talibani” style attacks being carried out against the Hindi-speaking migrant labourers in the state. As a result, terror has gripped these migrant labourers who are now fleeing the state in large numbers.

Allegations of Bihari migrant labourers

When told that the Tamil Nadu DGP has called reports on the attack on Bihar migrant workers in Tamil Nadu fake, Arman, a labourer from the Jamui district who was returning home with 20 other labourers, told Bhaskar, “if the news is false, then why are so many dead bodies returning to Bihar from TN.”

According to Arman, dead bodies of migrant labourers have returned to Jamui, Nawada, and Lakhisarai districts in Bihar from TN. Biharis are fleeing TN on one pretext or the other, which is why it is becoming difficult to even get train tickets, said Arman.

Arman went on to say that a friend of his was attacked and four of his fingers were severed in front of him because he spoke Hindi. He alleged that 12 workers were hung to death in one room, raising the total number of Hindi-speaking workers murdered in the state to 15.

Shravan Kumar, another Bihari labourer who worked in Tamil Nadu and returned home two days ago, claimed the situation in the state is exceedingly dangerous, with Bihari migrant labourers being targeted and cruelly murdered. “Locals want us to return to Bihar, accusing us of snatching their employment…they are stabbing us wherever they see us, and our employers and local officials are of no help. “We were terrified,” Shravan Kumar lamented.

“The situation of Hindi-speaking labourers in Tamil Nadu is quite dismal,” Rohit Kumar, a resident of Sikandra village who returned from Tiruppur today, stated. They intend to drive away all Hindi-speaking people from the state. 14 persons have been killed so far”.

“Locals claim they don’t have jobs, therefore they’re upset and driving us away,” said Pramod Kumar of Jamui. “Hindi-speaking people are under attack. No work is being given to those people. They are only getting beaten up,” he too bemoaned.

Bihar CM expresses concern

Significantly, in addition to the Dainik Bhaskar article, two videos have also gone viral on social media. One video showed one man being attacked by a group of people who flee the scene immediately after the assault. Another video showed a grievously injured man being laid down on the floor while onlookers say that he needed to be rushed to the hospital. The identities of the injured men in both videos are unclear.

Sharing these videos, a Twitter user claimed that Hindi-speaking north Indian workers were being attacked in Tamil Nadu. 

Since then, this issue gained immense traction. The matter was also addressed in the Bihar assembly, with the BJP criticising the administration and requesting a debate to secure the safety and security of Biharis working in Tamil Nadu.

Soon after, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed concern over the safety of workers from his state in Tamil Nadu. Nitish Kumar said in a tweet, I have come to know from newspapers that people from Bihar working in Tamil Nadu are being attacked. I have directed the Chief Secretary and DGP to contact their respective counterparts in Tamil Nadu and ensure the safety of the workers from Bihar living there.

मुझे समाचार पत्रों के माध्यम से तमिलनाडु में काम कर रहे बिहार के मजदूरों पर हो रहे हमले की जानकारी मिली है। मैंने बिहार के मुख्य सचिव एवं पुलिस महानिदेशक को तमिलनाडु सरकार के अधिकारियों से बात कर वहां रह रहे बिहार के मजदूरों की सुरक्षा सुनिश्चित करने का निदेश दिया है।— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) March 2, 2023

The Bihar CM directed the chief secretary and DGP to speak to their counterparts in the southern state and ensure the safety and security of people from Bihar working there.

DGP denies allegations of Hindi-speaking migrant labourers being attacked in Tamil Nadu

Hours after Nitish Kumar expressed his concerns, Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) Sylendra Babu issued a statement on Thursday, March 2 refuting allegations that Bihari migrant workers were being attacked in Tamil Nadu. The DGP stated that the videos circulating on social media regarding labourers from Bihar being killed were fake.

Message from The Director General of Police / HoPF
Tamil Nadu @bihar_police @NitishKumar https://t.co/cuzvY48sFk pic.twitter.com/vqKm4tANcx— Tamil Nadu Police (@tnpoliceoffl) March 2, 2023

Posting a video on social media, DGP Tamil Nadu Shailendra Babu said, “Somebody in Bihar has posted a false and misleading video regarding migrant workers from Bihar being attacked in Tamil Nadu. Two videos which are circulating on social media regarding the incident are false. The facts of the videos are twisted so as to appear that migrant workers living in Tamil Nadu are being attacked.”

“These two incidents happened earlier in Tirupur and in Coimbatore. In both cases, it was not a clash between the local people and migrant workers. One was a clash between two groups of north Indian migrant workers. The other was a clash between two groups of local residents in Coimbatore.”