Nowhere to go, they sleep under open sky

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 11

Amid lockdown, more than 100 people, including migrant labourers and a few tourists from various parts of UP, MP, Bihar, West Bengal and Punjab, had no other option but to stay under the open sky in the Guru Bazaar area, a few yards away from the Golden Temple.

For the past one-and-a-half months, they have been spending nights at the entrance of closed shops under the projection. For food, earlier they used to go to the shrine’s kitchen. But now, with restrictions on the access to the shrine, they are dependant on NGOs, who regularly visit them to provide food.

A majority of them appeared to be destitute, who used to sleep on the Golden Temple’s entrance plaza. The police might have dragged them out. With nowhere else to go, they also assembled at Guru Bazaar streets.

An SGPC official preferring anonymity said they could not be accommodated at the inns, as these have been spared for Covid-19 suspected patients, who have to undergo quarantine process or for accommodating doctors, nurses and allied staff deputed to take care of patients. Yet, they could be accommodated at Raen Basera. Amritsar Police Commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill had assured to take up the matter with the administration, but in vain.

Nonetheless, substantial number were also those who came to the Holy City to do petty jobs, besides tourists, who could not get accommodation in guest houses or hotels, as they were short of money. They said in the absence of any transport, they were unable to go back home and forced to sleep in the open.

Sri Ram from Indore (MP), who showed the gate pass of Jallianwala Bagh, said he had come to Amritsar as he was engaged in the renovation and restoration work at this historic site.

“After the lockdown, the work, too, has been suspended till June 15. The contractor terminated my services. I, along with my several other colleagues from UP and Bihar, are stuck here,” he said.

Ajay and five other labourers who said they came from Mathura, while Anil Kumar Pandey from Banaras, claimed that they came as visitors. “The guest house owner refused to accommodate us for want of money. So, we came here in the open. Even ‘sulabh shauchalayas (public toilets) have been locked. We answer nature’s call in the open,” they said.

Similarly, Ajay and Neeraj from Ludhiana said they used to work as waiters in parties, but after the lockdown, the events have been cancelled and their contractor deserted them. “We used to live in shared accommodation here, but the owner got it vacated,” they said.