Brutal murder of 5-year-old in Punjab sparks anti-migrant backlash, igniting protests, political debate, and fears of deepening social divisions.
Protesters in Punjab demand justice after the Hoshiarpur child murder, as anti-migrant sentiments spark resolutions and rising communal tensions (Photo: Pinterest)
Chandigarh: Punjab is once again con fronting a volatile mix of grief, anger and politics after the rape and murder of a five-year-old boy in Hoshiarpur allegedly by a migrant worker. The incident has not only shaken the conscience of the state but also reopened an old wound — the tension between Punjabis and mi grant workers, commonly referred to as Parvasis or Purvias, largely hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The crime itself was brutal and swift. On September 9, the boy was abducted outside a gurdwara in Hoshiarpur. CCTV cameras captured him being taken away on a two wheeler by a shop helper named Nanke, reportedly under the influence of alcohol. Police managed to ap prehend him within hours of the complaint being filed, but the child had already been killed. Forensic reports revealed he was murdered within half an hour of being taken. His body was discovered in a cremation ground. The family, who had shifted to Hoshiarpur just six months earlier, were left devastated.
The brutality of the crime spread outrage across Punjab. Protests erupted in multiple towns and villages. Slogans such as “Parvasi bhajao, Punjab bachao” rang out, with demonstrators insisting that outsiders were behind rising crime in the state. Ni hang groups also joined in, while the grieving parents demanded a public hanging of the accused.
This wave of anger soon translated into action at the grassroots. Panchayats across Hoshiarpur, Bathinda and Barnala districts began passing resolutions demanding that Parvasis shift out of residential areas and live on the outskirts. At least 40 villages have so far endorsed such resolutions. Some went a step further, instructing locals not to rent homes to migrants, warning of social boycott if they did. Others barred migrants from applying for voter or Aadhaar cards with local addresses or from accessing welfare schemes meant for Punjabi residents. Villages such as Gehri Bhagi in Bathinda and Kattu in Bar nala even banned migrants from purchasing land, insisting newcomers undergo police verification.
As these measures gained momentum, tensions spread to marketplaces and mandis. In Bathinda, a dispute over prices ended with a migrant fruit vendor allegedly attacking a local boy, leading to an attempt to murder case. In Sultanpur Lodhi and Balachaur, clashes erupted between Punjabi and Purvia vendors over space in local markets. In Jalandhar, a migrant youth accused of luring a six-year-old girl was beaten by locals, though po lice later clarified that both the accused and the victim were migrants. Videos of locals demanding Aadhaar cards from roadside sellers circulated widely on social media, prompting police to detain vigilantes and con duct flag marches in several districts to restore order.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has tried to strike a careful balance. While assuring that justice will be delivered in the Hoshiarpur case, he cautioned against branding an entire community for one individual’s crime. He re minded Punjabis that lakhs of their own people work in other states and abroad, and that it would be dangerous if they too were asked to leave.
“So many of our Punjabis are working outside Punjab. What if tomorrow they are told to go back?” he asked, urging people not to let anger spill into discrimination.
The opposition, however, has seized the moment. Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira reiterated his long-standing demand for legal safeguards against migrants, citing the models of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand where outsiders face restrictions on owning land and acquiring voter rights. He reminded that he had introduced a Private Member’s Bill in 2023 on this issue and demanded that the AAP government act immediately. Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal also raised the alarm about what he described as Punjab’s “changing demography.” He promised that if SAD came to power, government jobs would be reserved for Punjabis, companies would be forced to employ 80 percent locals, and mi grants would be banned from buying land in the state.
Civil society, academics and rights groups are warning of the dangers of such rhetoric. They argue that Punjab has had a long-standing symbiotic relationship with migrant labour, particularly Purvias who form the backbone of farm labour, industrial work and mandi operations. Attempts to vilify or drive them out would cripple Punjab’s economy. More than 500 writers, artists, farmer unions and intellectuals have condemned the stereotyping of Purvias, calling it unconstitutional and corrosive to Punjab’s spirit of inclusiveness. Historians note that stereotyping migrants as “bhaiyyas” has always carried undertones of prejudice, and to demonise an entire community based on one crime risks permanent division.
Social scientists point out that the migration pattern is tied to Punjab’s own growth story. Since the Green Revolution, Purvias have been vital to sowing, harvesting and industrial expansion. In return, they have found livelihoods and opportunities in Punjab. The current wave of resolutions, experts say, is not only illegal under constitutional guarantees of equality and freedom of movement but also short sighted, as Punjab’s work force would collapse without migrant labour. They suggest that what the state urgently needs is a robust system of verification for new arrivals and accountability for politiccians who exploit migrants as vote banks by facilitating voter and Aadhaar cards without checks.
