The ongoing pandemic has brought India to a standstill as we battle the biggest public health crisis in many years. The migrant workers and daily wage labourers are among the worst hit and their plight, by now, is known to all. Several public figures, including Bollywood celebrities, have already come forward to help.
Actor Anupam Kher took to Twitter to recite a poem portraying the migrant workers' predicament. “Their pain, their misery, their sufferance…. Why did it take us a pandemic to feel their agony?? Why didn’t we always value them?? Let’s come together to save them.. Let’s stand united to help them go back to their homes!!," he wrote, sharing the video.
Their pain, their misery, their sufferance….
Why did it take us a pandemic to feel their agony??
Why didn’t we always value them??
Let’s come together to save them..
Let’s stand united to help them go back to their homes!! ???? #MigrantWorkers #PoemByShadabZafarShadab pic.twitter.com/UBvPZjmbPz— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) May 19, 2020
The poem, recited by Kher, is written by Shadab Zafar Shadab. It goes like, “Ho gaya majboor insaan daane daane ke liye, chaar kandhe bhi nahi arthi uthane ke liye. Chod kar aye the pichda bol kar jo gaon ko, kis qadar majboor hain wo gaon jane ke liye. Wo humein paani pilane tak ko ab raazi nahi hain. Khoon bahaya hai humne jinke karkhane ke liye…".
Kher, who had returned from the US amid the Coronavirus outbreak, earlier took part in an awareness video.