Chandigarh: A simmering Punjabi versus ‘parvasi’ (migrant) battle has boiled over in Punjab following the rape-murder of a five-year-old boy allegedly by a migrant worker in Hoshiarpur last week.
As news of the crime spread and the victim’s parents demanded public hanging of the accused, protest marches demanding justice for the child were held across the state. In some districts, protesters raised slogans of “Parvasi bhajao, Punjab bachao” (send back the migrants, save Punjab), with several Nihang bodies lending their support to the protests.
At least 40 village panchayats in Hoshiarpur, Bathinda and Barnala passed similar resolutions during the week demanding broadly that workers from other states, mostly Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, shift to the outskirts of panchayat limits. Some of the resolutions also said that migrants not be allowed to get voter or Aadhaar cards using the address of the village or access any government scheme meant only for Punjab’s residents.
With tension escalating, minor skirmishes were reported between local residents and migrant workers working in vegetable mandis in Hoshiarpur, Bathinda, Samrala, Anandpur Sahib, Sultanpur Lodhi, Kapurthala and Balachaur. Wary of an escalation, police are keeping a sharp watch on the situation. Kapurthala, Bathinda and Pathankot police carried out flag marches Wednesday to instill a sense of security among the public.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann took a more cautious line on the anti-migrant rhetoric.
“Protests are happening against migrants and happening not just here but also in England, Australia and Canada. The local people believe that their jobs are being taken away by outsiders, including those from Punjab,” he told mediapersons Tuesday.
“In the case of Punjab (Hoshiarpur case), the law will take its course and the accused will be severely punished,” he added. “How can we ask people not to stay here. So many of our Punjabis are working in other places in India. What if tomorrow they are asked to leave?”
With thousands of migrants, mostly from UP and Bihar, working on farms and factories in the state, the Punjabi versus ‘parvasi’ divide has been a burning political issue for decades.
But as the fault lines widen, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) finds itself in a fix: on the one hand, it must be seen to protect the Punjabi identity, but at the same time, it cannot alienate migrant workers, who form the backbone of the state’s economy.
The issue threatened to grow into a political flashpoint with opposition leaders reviving their demand for a law similar to those in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which bars migrants from becoming landowners, voters, or acquiring government jobs.
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who has been repeatedly demanding “safeguards” in place against migrants, said the Hoshiarpur incident highlighted the urgent need to address the unchecked inflow and settlement of non-Punjabis in Punjab, which he said was causing a serious demographic imbalance in the state.
In a press statement issued on X, he said Punjab urgently requires a law similar to those in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He said he had already submitted a Private Member Bill to the Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in January 2023, seeking such legal safeguards for Punjab. He demanded that the AAP government and CM Bhagwant Mann immediately introduce and pass this Bill to prevent Punjab’s identity from being diluted.
Last month, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, while addressing a gathering in Baba Bakala, also highlighted what he termed the changing demography of the state. He said if the Akalis come to power, government jobs will be given to Punjabis only and they will ensure that all new companies recruit 80 percent Punjabi employees.
He also said that migrants will be banned from purchasing land in Punjab.
‘Symbiotic relationship’
Experts and academics ThePrint spoke to, however, said resolutions passed by village panchayats are unconstitutional and extremism on either side will not only lead to economic losses but also cause a major law and order problem in the state.
“In Punjab, there is a historical and deep-rooted symbiotic relationship with the labour coming from UP and Bihar. Punjab cannot function without them, and migrants, too, have benefited immensely from the state. It has been a win-win situation for both sides, and that is why it has run for decades now,” said Dr Kanwalpreet Kaur of the Department of Political Science, DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh.
Adding, “The demand for sending all the labour back to UP and Bihar is an extreme reaction borne out of anger and hurt at what happened to that child. And the reaction is also understandable. But it’s not practical. What needs to be really strengthened is the system of checking the antecedents of those migrating into Punjab for work.
The state cannot be looked upon as a safe haven for criminals. Those persons whose antecedents are shady should be sent back.”
Dr Kaur also said that politicians “have to stop succumbing to getting their voter and Aadhaar cards made in bulk without checks”. According to her, “in cities the migrants are encouraged by politicians to settle permanently so that they can be used as vote banks”.
The Hoshiarpur incident
Police said the row was triggered by the alleged 9 September kidnapping of the five-year-old outside a gurdwara in Hoshiarpur by a shop helper, Nanke. A drunk Nanke allegedly raped and murdered the boy, and was arrested within hours of the incident with the help of CCTV footage that showed him picking up the boy from outside the gurdwara on his two-wheeler. Police said the accused discarded the child’s body in a cremation ground.
Naveen Singla, DIG of Jalandhar range, confirmed to ThePrint that “CCTV footage showed the number of the two-wheeler on which the child was picked up and taken”.
“The kidnapper was apprehended within hours of the incident being reported to the police, but by that time, he had already killed the boy. According to the forensic reports, the boy had been killed within half an hour of the kidnapping,” he added.
The victim’s family shifted to Deep Nagar in Hoshiarpur city six months ago. Both parents were doing petty jobs. Their two children, an elder daughter and son, visited the gurdwara every day while waiting for them to return from work.
As the news of the brutality spread and the dead body of the young boy was found, angry residents of the colony where the parents lived gathered to protest against “outsiders” whom they claimed were responsible for an increase in violent crimes.
Also Read: Why Punjab’s AAP govt has scrapped the land pooling policy it was swearing by just a month ago
Village panchayats pass resolutions
Following the incident, as many as 38 village panchayats in Hoshiarpur passed somewhat similar resolutions demanding that migrant workers shift out of residential areas under panchayat limits and live in farm motor rooms on the outskirts of the village.
Some of the resolutions also barred villagers from renting their homes to outsiders, warning that any villager violating these conditions would face a social boycott.
Resolutions by some village panchayats, seen by ThePrint, also said police verification of migrants be made compulsory, and they should not be allowed to get voter cards or Aadhaar cards using the address of the village or access any government scheme meant only for Punjab’s residents.
Similar resolutions were passed Monday by the panchayats of villages Gehri Bhagi in Bathinda and Kattu in Barnala.
“These people give wrong addresses when they come to seek work here. Whenever they commit a crime and the police go back to look for them, they are not traceable. This is also the reason that they are not scared of committing any crime. Many of them already have criminal backgrounds,” a protester told media persons in Hoshiarpur last week.
“The local politicians want to get their Aadhaar and voter cards made here for votes without getting any background check done,” the protester added.
‘Vilification of purbias’
In a video message, gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana asked the people of Punjab to wake up to what was happening around them. In a video message, he played out visuals of the victim’s family crying inconsolably. “We need to bring in a law to curtail the activities of these people,” he said.
Tensions also spilled onto the streets. Residents of Lehra Mohabbat in Bathinda alleged that migrant fruit vendors attacked a Punjabi boy Tuesday after he tried to haggle over prices.
Bathinda SSP Amneet Kondal told ThePrint that a case of attempt to murder has been registered against the accused. “The situation is under control. The two villages where resolutions have been moved are being counselled as well,” she said.
In another incident, local vegetable sellers in Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala, fought with migrants after they allegedly stopped them from setting up their sale carts. A similar fight took place in Balachaur in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district.
Anger also spread to Jalandhar, where local residents attacked a migrant youth accused of luring a six-year-old girl into his room. Police said both the accused and the child were from outside Punjab, adding that “social media posts spreading hatred are being tackled with severity”.
“The accused and the victim both are from outside Punjab. A case has been registered,” said DIG Singla, adding that “social media posts spreading hatred are also being tackled with severity”.
On Tuesday, a few local residents went around the market in Bathinda, asking migrant vendors for their Aadhaar cards and permission to sell goods on the roadside. They also asked several roadside sellers to return to their states.
As videos of these “public raids” went into circulation on social media, police detained local residents who were threatening the migrants to leave. Kondal told ThePrint that they have been detained to prevent them from causing trouble. But tensions persist across the state.
Professor Harjeshwar Pal Singh of the Department of History, SGGS College, Sector 26, Chandigarh, told ThePrint that the “Punjabi vs parvasi” battle has been simmering for some time but has been rekindled by the Hoshiarpur incident.
Singh condemned the crime but also warned against the stereotyping of migrants. “Such incidents are on the rise due to a multiplicity of factors—rising inequality, unemployment, competitive politics, social media, etc.,” he said.
“The larger stereotyping and vilification of purbias (called bhaiyyas) is also deplorable. Many people are using the incident as a pretext for attacking properties of purbias, passing illegal resolutions against them, calling for their eviction and even denying them the right to property and vote. This is blatantly racist, illegal and unconstitutional,” Singh added.
He added that the viral social media campaign supported by some “fringe political outfits and political leaders” would tarnish the image of the state, which prides itself on its ethos of ‘Sarbat da Bhala’.
“It could also hurt its (Punjab’s) economy and spark a backlash in the Hindi belt against many Punjabis who live and move to these states for business, studies and other purposes,” he warned. Adding, “At the same time, proper identification and registration of people coming to the state need to become mandatory.”
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)