Patna: The Opposition members on Thursday protested against the alleged incidents of murder and assault on migrant Bihari labourers in Tamil Nadu in the Bihar Assembly. The issue came to light after some videos were posted on social media showing migrant workers from the state being assaulted. Tamil Nadu Director General of Police C Shailendra Babu, however, refuted the allegations of attacks and termed the videos fake.
Soon after proceedings began this morning, Leader of the Opposition Vijay Sinha raised the issue of attack on migrant Bihari labourers in Tamil Nadu and urged the State government to take cognizance. The BJP MLAs alleged that the government of the Grand Alliance was not concerned with 'the honour of Bihar'. They also staged a sit-in-demonstration outside the Assembly. They even took a jibe at Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav for attending the birthday party of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin. People are forced to work outside to earn their living. But, Tejashwi goes from Bihar to Tamil Nadu, but returns after eating Stalin's cake," BJP members alleged.
Later in the day, Tamil Nadu DGP C Shailendra Babu issued an official statement clarifying that the viral videos were fake and the reports of Bihari workers being assaulted were incorrect. He said the videos were about clashes between local people and about a group of Hindi-speaking fighting amongst themselves. "It is not correct to link these videos with the attack on migrant workers," he said.
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In a video posted by the DGP, he said: "Two videos recently went viral on social media. One is from Tiruppur and another is from Coimbatore. In one video, a group of migrant Bihari workers are fighting amongst themselves and in the next video, locals of Coimbatore are seen fighting with each other. The people of Tamil Nadu love peace. There is law and order here. Everyone lives in peace and harmony in this state." He said it was incorrect and misleading to say that the fights took place between Tamilians and Biharis and also tagged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Bihar DGP.
Before this, the Bihar CM had ordered an inquiry into the alleged incidents of attacks on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu. Kumar directed the state chief secretary and the DGP to inform the Tamil Nadu government about the alleged incidents. In one video posted on Facebook on January 14, a group of Hindi-speaking people were seen smoking at the square in Tiruppur when some people insulted and puffed smoke on their faces.
A clash ensued between the two groups in which two Hindi-speaking men and one Tamilian were killed. The next video on February 16 showed a fatal attack on two brothers of Nawada. One of them was cooking in his room when some locals entered with sharp weapons and slit his throat. The other man came to rescue his brother, but was attacked by a chopper. Complaints were lodged at the local police stations in connection with both incidents.
