3000 migrants gather at Mumbai’s Bandra station, police lathi-charge

Mumbai has witnessed scary visuals on Tuesday.  At least 3,000 migrants went to Bandra railway station, demanding that they be allowed to get back to their homes.  They did so hours after Narendra Modi announced the extension of lockdown till May 3.

The police had to resort to lathi-charging in order to disperse the crowds.  This has happened on a day when Mumbai registered 203 COVID-19 positive cases.  The financial capital of India has seen a surge in cases over the past few days.

Soon after the incident, Union Home Minister Amit Shah called up Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.  He reportedly “expressed concern over the Bandra gathering and stressed that such events weaken India’s fight against Coronavirus.  He asked the administration to stay vigilant to avoid such incidents.

Aaditya Thackeray, the son of Maha CM, has blamed the Centre for the situation.  “The current situation at Bandra Station is a result of the Union Government not being able to take a call on arranging a way back home for migrant labour. They don’t want food or shelter, they want to go back home. Right from the day the trains have been shut down, the State had requested trains to run for 24 hours more so that migrant labour could go back home. CM Uddhav Thackeray ji raised this issue in the PM-CM Video Conference (held last week) as well requesting a roadmap for migrant labour to reach home,” he said.