Migration, Racism and the Corona Virus pandemic

Omen Achom writes of his long experience of racism, brought to a head during the Coronavirus pandemic. originally from Manipur, Omen stayed with his friend in a Telangana village to pass the lockdown peacefully, before returning home.

Covid-19: Redrawn Borders, Redefined Lives – A Report

 On 8th July 2020, the Calcutta Research Group (CRG), in collaboration with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung   and Institute of Human Sciences, Vienna, organised a webinar which sought to address the sudden visibility of India’s migrant workers and questions regarding borders, inequality, public health and care. Keeping in mind that the coronavirus pandemic has emerged not simply as a public health and economic crisis but also as one that has thrown migrant workers into deep turmoil, the webinar sought to interrogate issues of movement, sovereignty, governance, and borders between people, societies and states. Annesha Saha reports.

My grandmother’s screwdrivers

On World Refugee Day, Somnath Baidya Roy remembers his grandmother, and pays homage to the resilience of refugees everywhere.

‘Oral Histories, Conflict and the Human Dimension’: A report

A short report by Nirajana Chakraborty on a webinar- “Mezzaterra: Conversations Sans Borders” with  Anam Zakaria, Oral Historian and Author, as the speaker,  organized by the Department of English, History and cultural Studies, Christ (Deemed to be University), Bannerghata Road Campus on 10^th June 2020. 

Report on ‘CoVid-19 : Public Health and the Sudden Visibility of Migrant Workers’

Migrant laborers are not an anomaly in Indian society and almost everybody is aware of their existence and the work they do. However, it is the current socioeconomic and health crisis brought on by the pandemic Covid-19 which has amplified our focus on these otherwise ignored migrant laborers and the difficulties they have to face. Social media, news as well as public opinion has varied greatly on the issue but there seems to be a consensus on the fact that India probably saw a great many deaths of these laborers before an equal number of people died due to Covid-19. Due to the sudden lockdown of all transport systems, lack of information and a great amount of mismanagement on the part of the states as well as central authority – many of these laborers have had to undertake inter-state journeys on foot with all their belongings on their shoulders. This has been extensively captured and documented by the media which has then shaped public opinion. In such a context where these migrant laborers are suddenly under the spotlight, Ranabir Samaddar and Samita Sen spoke in a webinar titled ‘CoVid-19 : Public Health and the Sudden Visibility of Migrant Workers’, organized by CRG (as part of its webinar series #bordersofanepidemic). Sukanya Bhattacharya reports on the webinar organized on 12^th June, 2020.

Bringing the border home: India Partition 2020

Samata Biswas writes about the social distance India maintains from its migrant workers,  redrawing the borders that govern our lives. 

A Report: How One State can Learn from Another – Migrant Workers in Kolkata

 

Swati Bhattacharjee and Abhijnan Sarkar take stock of the situation of two groups of migrant workers in Kolkata, and try to assess what could be done for them.

Glimpses of Life in the Time of Corona

Madhurilata Basu and Sibaji Pratim Basu undertake a survey of the experiences of migrant healthcare workers and politics of communalisation that constitutes India’s response to the novel Coronavirus. 

Social Distancing, “Touch-Me-Not” and the Migrant Worker

As part of CRG’s publication on the Covid 19 pandemic and migrant workers, Ishita Dey writes about migrants who perform intimate labour, perceived as a threat, embodying fear of spreading contamination, facing new challenges of ostracization and social stigma.

My Grandfather’s Transistor Radio

Mandira Chakraborty writes about the transistor radio that saved her grandfather’s life during the partition of India, and the many migrations that it witnessed.