The most iconic image of India’s fight for freedom is the Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi. The frail, yet tightly-knotted musculature of ...
The most iconic image of India’s fight for freedom is the Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi. The frail, yet tightly-knotted musculature of the Mahatma, with a band of men and women following in his wake, is entrenched in the national consciousness.
The defining images of India’s Independence are the many visuals of Partition, of millions walking through devastation, horror and starvation, to arrive at their nation.
Perhaps, what best defines our current times are the images of the thousands of homeless migrants walking home, given four hours to prepare for the largest lockdown in the history of the world. For more than two months, thousands have been walking without food, shelter, or basic sustenance, to reach their homes.
These are the invisible men and women whom we cannot see or hear and will not speak of. We are akin to Gandhi’s most loved allusion: the three monkeys who “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.
Some perverse impediment seems to be preventing the state from providing minimal relief. Economic packages and a slew of measures have been announced, but nothing that even begins to address the migrants’ problems.
The distressed migrants are still struggling to reach their homes. Every day, on the news and across social...
