In fact, even in the wake of the rumours, and panic calls from family members, migrant workers repeatedly told The Indian Express that they were paid and treated better in Tamil Nadu than back home by employers.ĬM Stalin underlined this in his bid to quell the “fake rumours”, quoting the famous verse in Purananooru, a classical Tamil work from Sangam literature - ‘Yaathum oore, Yaavarum kelir’, or ‘Every town is our hometown every man, our kinsman’. There may be some instances of media profiling of “Vada Manila (North Indians)” after crimes such as bank robberies, and police drives to collect tenants’ information from localities might be often seen as targeted, but Tamil Nadu is largely a safe haven for outsiders. Its hotel industry has a large section of workers from the Northeast, who assimilate more easily here particularly given their ease with English.Īlso Read | Worry for Tamil Nadu manufacturers: ‘Waiting to see how many migrant workers return after Holi’ The vacancy that emerged in Tamil Nadu was, in turn, filled by workers from Kannada and Telugu. When Kerala’s labour force made a beeline for West Asia for construction jobs in the 1980s, Tamil workers filled the void there. This is unlike other states such as Karnataka and Maharashtra, for example, known for movements (often violent) against especially Tamil migrants. However, those agitations apart, migration has been very much a part of life in Tamil Nadu – both outbound and in. He acknowledged the workers’ contribution and expressed his gratitude towards them, and chuckled that it was the first time that his speech in Tamil was being translated into Hindi for an audience in Tamil Nadu, a state known for its anti-Hindi agitations. Karunanidhi also addressed the migrant workers at the event, with senior IAS officer Pankaj Bansal translating his speech into Hindi. Soon, the entire crowd was dancing and laughing… which is when Karunanidhi and his son, then Deputy CM M K Stalin, arrived,” Ramasundaram, who also shook a leg that day, laughs.Įxplained | Concern over north Indian workers in Tamil Nadu: What the numbers say about India’s migrants As the song ‘Khaike paan Banaras wala’ from the Amitabh Bachchan-hit Don came on, people finally got up and started dancing. It was then that a journalist suggested that everyone dance, and he himself took the first steps. “We decided to break the ice by playing some popular Hindi songs, but the workers still didn’t stir much. As they waited for the CM to arrive, the workers sat silently, intimidated by the occasion and the pomp. S Ramasundaram, one of the senior-most IAS officers at the time, says that on the day though, they ran into an unexpected problem. Apart from the food, performances were lined up of North Indian music groups, as well as other art forms in various languages. Karunanidhi’s office contacted the famous Buhari Hotel on Mount Road in Chennai to supply its mutton biryani. A date was fixed for soon after the Pongal festival and the Sangamam season, says Kanimozhi. So, a decision was taken to hold a lavish feast – a “Bada Khana” - for the largely Hindi-speaking migrant labourers who had worked on the new Secretariat complex. Opinion | Migrant fears in Tamil Nadu: Migration is a constitutional right, a symbol of hope and prosperity
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