There have been various incidents of attacks on migrant laborers in Tamil Nadu, including some being attacked by Tamils who thought they lost employment because of migrants. Despite multiple media reports in the recent past, the Tamil Nadu government denied that migrant laborers from Uttar Bharatiya states were attacked in the state. While the videos circulated on social media could have been fake, migrant workers were targeted for their identity and continue to face threats thanks to DMK and Tamil nationalist propaganda that they snatch employment opportunities from Tamils. 

In one such incident, migrant workers from West Bengal were attacked by Tamils who thought they were fired because of the former. Migrant workers from various states have been residing near Kanakkampalayam in Erode district and doing construction work. The company that hired them fired 2 Tamils from the locality for not coming to work properly. A Daily Thanthi report dated March 14 says that the fired men Manikandan and Srikanth thought that migrant workers were the reason for losing their jobs and attacked 2 West Bengal natives.

Both have been arrested and police were looking for another man Pratap who reportedly incited the duo to attack the migrant laborers. Another report from Dinakaran, dated March 14, says that migrant workers were attacked in two different incidents in the same Erode district. Shailendar from Uttar Pradesh, working near Veerappan Chathiram, was attacked by men who forced him to withdraw money from an ATM.

Shailendar had gone to a TASMAC shop nearby to buy liquor after work hours on March 12. As he stood in the queue, 4 men came on two-wheelers and asked him for money. When he said that he didn’t have money, they hurt his ear using bike keys. They snatched Rs.620 that he had in his person and took his ATM card as well. They took him to a nearby ATM machine and asked him to withdraw money. 

As the machine didn’t return money, the attackers tried to take him to another ATM. When Shailendar resisted their attempts, they dropped a large stone on his foot and injured his eyes so that he wouldn’t identify them later. Then they robbed his Rs.10,000 worth of mobile phone and escaped. Based on Sailendar’s complaint all 4 attackers, Madan Kumar, Sabari, Kannan and Raj Kumar, have been arrested.

In another similar incident, Suvalesh from UP was threatened by 3 bike-borne men in the same Veerappan Chathiram neighbourhood. The three men demanded money from Suvalesh to buy liquor when he was walking by the Mariamman temple at night. They threatened to break his limbs and throw him into the river when he said he didn’t have money. Fortunately, he escaped from them and filed a complaint with the local police. In this regard, Sahul Hameed, Naseer and Shakthivel were arrested by the police.

Thanks to the continuous demonisation of non-Tamils by DMK, Dravidian and Tamil nationalist outfits and the media, a mentally ill man from Odisha was lynched by locals in Coimbatore. Sushant Sahu, the 25-year-old mentally ill man, was spotted wandering the streets of Manikkampalayam near Annur. Locals tied him to a pole and thrashed him. Upon receiving information, police rescued him and admitted him to the government hospital. Only then did they come to know that he was mentally unstable. 

After treatment, Sushant Sahu went out and reportedly went house by house and bothered women in a nearby area by asking them for money. Locals tied him to a pole again, but fortunately, he was rescued in time by police, who admitted him to the government hospital again. Maalai Malar which reported the incident gave the headline “North Indian youth who tortured/bothered women attacked”, implying that he was attacked for some kind of sexual misbehaviour.

As per a Hindu Tamil report dated March 17, 8 huts of migrant workers in Salem were burnt to ashes in Namakkal district. Migrant workers work in large numbers in the jaggery factories located in Karappalayam near Paramathivelur. On March 15, thatched huts of migrants working at a factory owned by Shakthivel and the huts in neighbouring factories were set on fire by some miscreants. 8 huts were burnt to ashes but as no one was inside, fortunately, there was no loss of life.

District Collector Shreya Singh and Superindentent of Police Kalaiselvan immediately visited the spot and assured protection to migrant workers. 100 policemen were deployed in the vicinity to ensure the workers’ safety and avoid untoward incidents. It is alleged that locals were angry at migrant labourers as they believed they were behind a local woman’s death under mysterious circumstances.

It is clear that sentiments are whipped up against migrant workers from other states and attacks occur in TN. But instead of removing the root of the problem, the DMK government is only trying to save its face through PR. Perhaps because DMK and its associated Dravidian organisations are the root cause of the problem. Ministers and other influential people of DMK have repeatedly been speaking against non-Tamils. 

Last year, the DMK government’s Revenue Minister advised Tamil Nadu Traders Association members to “get rid of North Indian traders”. “Only Tamil traders should do business in TN. People from other states or countries should not do business here”, he said.

Public Works Department Minister EV Velu also talked along the same lines saying,  “Laborers from North Indian states should not become dominant in the field. TN’s economy will improve only when Tamils are employed” while addressing builders and contractors in an event. Earlier, when there was a threat of reemergence of the Covid-19 virus, Health Minister Ma Subramanian alleged that North Indian students studying in the state were spreading the virus resulting in a high number of positives in the state.