A migrant in Rajasthan steals bicycle to take his disabled son home, leaves a note. See how people are agonising over the misery

The nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has undeniably affected each and everyone but the community it hid the hardest would be the daily wage workers and labourers.

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Without a source of income and work, the migrant labourers are forced to move back to their homes but that has become quite the work too. With no money and a nationwide transportation shutdown, they are forced to walk hundreds of kilometres with their entire families. The pictures that have surfaced are heartbreaking.

Recently, A migrant worker stole a bicycle in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur to pedal his way over 250 kilometres with his son to Bareilly, his home, in Uttar Pradesh. However, the migrant left behind an apology note for the cycle owner.

Mohammad Iqbal stole a cycle from Sarah village of Bharatpur district from the house of Sahab Singh late on Monday night. Singh found the letter while sweeping the veranda of his house.

“Main mazdoor hun, majboor bhi. Main aapka gunehgar hu. Aapki cycle lekar ja Raha hu. Mujhe Maaf kar Dena. Mujhe Bareilly tak Jana he. Mere pass koi sadhan nahi he aur viklang baccha hai (I am your culprit. But, I am a labourer and also helpless. I’m taking your bicycle.
Forgive me. I have no other means to succeed in and I even have a specially-abled child. I have to go to Bareilly),” read Iqbal’s handwritten note in Hindi.

The apology note from a helpless father has had people questioning the authorities and their negligence regarding the matter. People from all around the country sympathized with the poor migrant who was left with no choice but to steal to keep his family from dying.

A twitter user tweeted, “God said that if a pauper steals then first ask why he was forced to do this. Do not punish him but first ask the ruler why such a situation came to be.No one wants to steal but often circumstances compel them. Who will hold out rulers accountable in
this world?”

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“Before imposing the lockdown, the govt should have arranged transport facilities for them in order that they might have reached their native places. But it didn’t happen. Many labourers are hungry for months. They cannot feed themselves nor their family members,”
Rajiv Gupta, a sociologist told the Hindustan Times.

“They were neither given food nor pending wages. That’s why people are forced to do things which may be legally wrong. Because of the ignorant attitude of the state, it’s happening for the first time within the country that folks are moving to villages from cities. Generally, people from villages migrate to big towns in search of employment and opportunities,” Gupta added.

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