Child’s Murder Sparks Anti-Immigration Wave in Panjab

On 9 Sep, in Hoshiarpur, parents found the corpse of their 5-year-old child Harbir Singh in the cremation ground. Harbir had been abducted the previous day when he was playing outside his home. Post-mortem revealed Harbir had been sodomized and smothered to death. Police identified the suspect as a migrant laborer, Manke Yadav, a native of Uttar Pradesh, who lived in the Sabzi Mandi area and described him as an alcoholic. The victim's family and various organizations took out a protest march and demanded the accused should be given the harshest punishment. The protesters also asked the police to launch a special campaign to identify all migrant laborers and residents of other states living in the city and arrest the criminal elements. Over the last week, some village (councils) have said they would not issue residence certificates to migrants in their villages. Immigration to Panjab by people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar started with the Green Revolution in the 1970s. Panjabi land owners needed labor to plant and harvest paddy and wheat. As agriculture mechanized, the agrarian need reduced, but labor—both seasonal and permanent—kept migrating to Panjab finding jobs in industry. Over the last few decades, migrants have brought their families, they buy land or home and settle down in Panjab. Political parties in power are quick to register migrants, give them identity cards to enrol them as eligible voters. Indian National Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira has raised the issue for the last two years and again urged the Panjab Assembly to consider his private member bill seeking a law to stop non-Panjabi’s from becoming permanent residents of Panjab. Khaira cites rules in neighboring state Himachal Pradesh which do not allow outsiders to own lands or become voters. There is an acute labor shortage in Panjab, migrants are needed, but some checks are mandatory like they are in place when Panjabi migrants go to other countries or live in other states in India. (earlier coverage).