A major riot broke out between Muslim migrant workers and Christian migrant Workers inside the Kitex factory at Kizhakkambalam near Ernakulam in Kerala. Those who intervened, including the police, were also attacked by the mob. These migrant workers were attacked with lethal weapons and injured 5 police personnel, including Circle Inspector VT Shajan.
A scuffle between Muslim and Christian migrant workers
The mob also burned one police jeep and another four were vandalized beyond recognition. Around 500 migrant workers living in labour camps inside the Kitex factory at Kizhakkambalam near Ernakulam tried to burn policemen alive. Even though they couldn’t burn the policemen alive, they were attacked with lethal weapons and were seriously injured.
A scuffle broke out at around 11.30 pm when some Muslims objected to carols being sung by Christian migrants from Nagaland and Manipur. While they were celebrating and dancing late at night, Muslim migrants attacked them. Within a matter of time, both the communities began attacking each other with stones, sticks and beer bottles.
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When a security staffer at the labour camp interfered, he was also brutally beaten by them. A group of police officers on night patrol also rushed to the spot to disperse them, but they were also ruthlessly attacked, and their vehicles were also vandalized.
Kitex Group chairman Sabu M Jacob, asserted, “When our security staff and supervisors intervened, the labourers attacked them. When the police team reached the spot, they too were attacked.”
A local resident of Thykkavu, Sakariya Mohammed reported that “Native people had complained several times to the police about the nuisance caused by the drunklaburers but they did not take any action. It’s very difficult to travel through the road in front of the labour camp after 8 pm as the workers will be in an inebriated stage.”
The injured policemen managed to escape with the help of locals, after being attacked with iron rods and stones. Reportedly, twenty-four people were arrested while 132 have been detained so far.
Kerala and its migrant labours
Kitex Group chairman Jacob does not employ locals, and interminable labour issues of Keralites are claimed to be the reason for the same. An estimated 6000 migrants are inducted as employees by Kitex Company. According to a source, the migrant labourers hired by Kitex are mostly Rohingya Muslims who infiltrate into Kerala through Bangladesh. These illegal immigrants masquerade as ordinary workers to avoid detection.
Twenty- five Lakh migrants work in Kerala, but the communist government barely has information about 1.5 lakh of them. Kitex, on the other hand, says that they can only recognize the migrants who work in their factory and that they are also scanning the CCTV footage.
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During the pandemic, these migrants had turned extremely violent and the ruling CPIM, instead of taking strict actions against them, provided carrom boards and LED TVs, using public money. Moreover, they were also provided with free rations through the central government but the communists shamelessly took recognition for the same.
Kitex MD Jacob is involved in politics and is the chief coordinator of Twenty20 that rules Kizhakkambalam and has won multiple panchayats in neighbouring villages.
Read more: Amnesty International: Rohingya Muslims massacred Hindus before army backed exodus from Myanmar
Reportedly, the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, that is, Rohingya Muslims, are being provided Aadhaar and ration cards by Kerala Government and they also aim at providing these infiltrators with voter IDs. This is probably why, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has been opposing CAA.
Despite this, Kerala Assembly speaker, MLA MB Rajesh has asserted that the ‘guest workers’ should not be troubled as it was a one-off incident.
Witnessing the above instances, it is evident that rioters who have been arrested in the recent incident will be freed soon. All thanks to the Kerela Government and Kitex Chairman Jacob.