In A Migratory State

In a district cursed by economic barrenness, men like Mohammad Afrazul have to offer their labour elsewhere, despite discomfort or danger

- Dola Mitra

A long with its luscious mangoes, human capital is also a highly exportable commodity in this district of West Bengal. “You will not find a single household in the district which doesn’t have at least one member who has migrated to another state for livelihood,” says Abdul Matin, a neighbour of Mohammad Afrazul, the migrant lab­ourer from Malda, who was butchered, then burnt to death in Rajasthan. Matin, 41, who has been working as an ‘agent’ who supplies workers from the district since he was 17, explains, “There are no jobs in Malda. The district doesn’t have any industries and unlike other districts in West Bengal, agriculture is not an option either.”