In February 2020, when an Indian student returning from Wuhan tested positive for coronavirus, borders were drawn along familiar lines of nation-states and territories. Covid-19, as it is been identified today, was seen as a ‘foreign’ contagion; it came to India from China. By early March, as more cases came to be reported in Europe and other parts of the world, boundaries were drawn between those who traveled abroad and the rest of the citizens. Foreigners as well as Indians coming from ‘outside’ were tested, placed under quarantine or asked to self-isolate. As a result, the middle class got differentiated internally; the foreign returnees were no longer welcome. Their houses and bodies were stamped and marked, so that the rest can distance themselves from this suspicious category.
Towards the end of the month when the Prime Minister announced that all of India would be placed under lockdown from 25 March for a period of three weeks, and only essential services would continue to function, a new border was inadvertently created. This time between residents of a city and migrant workers.
India has almost 139 million migrant workers, many of whom travel outside their state (region) for work. Lockdown meant closure of all work and economic activity and this placed hardship on everybody. However, for those living on the margins, who survived on daily wages, working in shops, and small markets, as casual labor in construction sites and small factories, or selling goods as street vendors, it was a question of survival.
