Spare a thought for the unwept migrant

PUNJAB — the land of the five rivers; the Greeks referred to it as Pentapotamia (which means the same). The region was associated in ancient times with the Indus Valley civilisation, the Rigveda and the Mahabharata. Alexander fought Porus on the banks of the Jhelum, Babur fought Ibrahim Lodhi, the Anglo-Sikh wars were fought here — there have been very few examples of a land so continuously invaded, ravaged and pillaged as Punjab has been down the centuries.

We will start from 1947 onwards i.e. from what was supposed to be the dawn of a glorious period. The dawn was one of sheer joy and sunshine in India, except in the states of Punjab and Bengal. The Partition that took place was largely a partition of Punjab and Bengal. An imaginary line drawn by the British and accepted by the Congress leadership, Gandhi and Jinnah tore Punjab asunder. It was an amputation of the body and soul of Punjab. It left in its wake a tsunami of murder, rape and mayhem. It was a bloodbath like no other and led to probably the biggest forced migration in history. This enormous disruption was perhaps one of the main underlying causes for the first wave of migration that began to the Western world in the early 1950s. Initially, it was only a trickle and mainly to the UK, followed by Canada. The contribution of this region to the two World Wars was immense, and the returning men brought back stories and experiences from Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Humans have always looked for better pastures, and when the opportunities at home were dismal, they looked outwards.

Back home, the Punjabi spirit gradually prevailed and with the help of good leadership and administration, we picked up the pieces and overcame the horrors of the Partition and settled down to a near-normal life. For a few decades, it seemed that we were on the path of prosperity and peace. This proved to be a mirage, and the usual fault lines began to appear in the political and administrative setup. An already truncated Punjab witnessed demands of further division that finally succeeded. The Akalis wanted a Sikh-dominated state, the hill folk demanded their own refuge, as did the people of Haryana. A combined Punjab was split into three states and a UT. Chandigarh, the modern capital being developed as a replacement for Lahore, was also lost.

There were five divisions of the Punjab province before the Partition — Jullundur (now Jalandhar), Lahore, Delhi, Multan and Rawalpindi. This was lauded as a great achievement, but it actually heralded the decline of Punjab as the faltering economy and decadent leadership led to chaos. The mountains and their forest and water resources went to HP, the proximity of the national capital with its dynamism and the lands along the Yamuna to Haryana. Perhaps the region should be renamed ‘tiny ab’ as it no longer represents ‘Punjab’. The three states are laggards in most development indexes. In a democracy, votes count, and in Parliament a state with 80 seats does have a louder voice and presence as opposed to one with 10 or 13.

Gradually, the radicalisation of the youth took place, and a new militant leadership came up with new slogans under the cover of religion related to a violent movement. Behind it was the hand and mind of politicians of all hues; things built up and violence increased, the forces of the state increased. All this led to the disaster of Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, which was followed by the slaughter of Sikhs throughout India. This was allowed to go on for days till the bloodlust was partially quenched.

The next decade was a lost one, with killings of innocents occurring daily. Our neighbour to the northwest took full advantage of the situation and launched a proxy war in the garb of militant and terrorist action. Punjab paid the price. Pakistan had lost major wars in 1948, 1965 and 1971; it was looking for revenge and we gave it on a platter (it was Punjab again that bore the brunt of the war in 1965 as most of the action was confined to on this front). Things were never the same again in Punjab and it came under President’s rule for almost a decade until elections were held. Despite popular demands, there was no financial package or special development programme for Punjab to compensate for decades of trauma for no fault of the people. It should be remembered that unlike the southern, western and eastern coastal areas, Punjab is a landlocked state, its only trade opened to the northwest and Central Asia. This avenue also closed and all pleas to open up have gone unheard. Events of the 1980s led to the second wave of migration, and this time it was big. The needle moved and pointed to Western shores for relief and employment.

The third wave is an ongoing one as the youth look for better pastures for education and livelihood. I call it the third wave because it now comprises the youth who have inherited an indebted (Punjab has a debt of around Rs 4 lakh crore) state devoid of opportunities or the education to create them. The Internet has brought awareness, and awareness has awakened desire. The youth aspire for the life and comforts of the Western world. Alas, they do not get it here or the tools and environment to create it here. People migrate from all over Punjab, legally or illegally. The nexus of politicians, police and travel agents operates openly; humongous amounts of money are paid. Land is sold, loans are taken and relatives mobilised to get the required amount. Coaching centres came up to teach English and again money was extracted. All this action happened openly and was common knowledge in villages, towns and in the corridors of power. However, no action was initiated to stem this plunder of Punjab.

Now, the great purge has begun, led by the US. They have started by deporting illegal immigrants in a manner so humiliating that no self-respecting nation can take it lying down. Migrants are brought in shackles in military aircraft with their hands and feet in chains and without turbans. Shackling people does seem to come a bit too easily to the nation that boasts of the Statue of Liberty. Whatever happened to “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (American Declaration of Independence)?

There is no rehabilitation committee, as far as I know. No protest has been lodged, no demarche issued. As per data provided by the World Economic Forum, India is the highest recipient of foreign remittance — over $100 billion annually. That amounts to around Rs 9 lakh crore; the entire GST collection for 2023-24 was about Rs 20 lakh crore. Surely, the immigrant deserves some respect and concern from the authorities. Otherwise, we can only hope that the toxic combination of militant extremist thought and unemployed youth is not again brought together.