Monitoring Desk: Millions of Indians have become refugees in their own country, reports RT News Russia.
Television says that states (provinces—Oblasts) have closed down their borders and daily wages workers who came from far away places to big cities for work have been stuck and stranded in big cities without money in their pockets and they are solely depending upon external help for even their two times meals.
These were observations that came on the surface in Russia Today (RT) News Channel during the popular show “The News with Rick Sanchez”.
According to the show, India’s nationwide lockdown extended for another three weeks is playing havoc with poor strata of society like daily wages workers who have become refugees within their own country because they were not allowed to go back to their native homes when the Indian government abruptly clamped a curfew-like lockdown by fearing the spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus. Unplanned lockdown played havoc with poor people and thousands of them died of hunger while going back to their home on foot because the public transportation was closed down without any notice.
Now lockdown has been extended till May 3, which means all non-essential business must be closed. The construction industries and public transport have been shut down.
Russia Today aired some videos from India showing that all non-essential offices, markets and even places of worship are closed and even animals are wandering in streets to find food to survive.
Footages also showed how Indian Police is misbehaving with poor people to ensure lockdown and beating them with sticks by Police is now a new normal in India.
India is home of over 300 million daily wagers who are jobless since this lockdown began and the majority of these migrant workers are losing their income. Their houses are (were) connected to their employment but the employers are simply kicking them out and they cannot go back to their native homes because public transportation has been halted.
Many people had to start walking back to their native villages because the state borders got shut down and now living in refugee camps or already dead in a quest to reach their homes.
RT report also indicates that the majority of Indian states are actually relying only on NGOs for food and water and on-road camps risk becoming centers of illnesses including the COVI-19.
The existing class structure is becoming more obvious in India because of this crisis. The crisis is also intensifying the existing class division.
These existing class divisions are becoming more intense and about 90% of Indian children of age 5 or less are already under threat of malnutrition and infections.
Watch here The News with Rick Sanchez to know the situation in India