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Video Producer: Maaz HasanVideo Editor: Mohd. Irshad AlamCameraperson: Samyak Jadhav

Over the last few days, several migrant workers have left Chennai because of the panic spread around the state because of the viral videos that claim labourers from the north Indian states

of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are being assaulted and harassed in Tamil Nadu.

On 7 March, I went to Chennai Central railway station to talk to some labourers and gauge the situation.

Alamgir Ali, a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur, seems to have fallen into the fake news trap. He says,

Alamgir has been living in Chennai since 2009-2010. "I have been living here since 2009-10. Because of the current situation, I am going back home. My family is worried. They are asking me

to come back home for a couple of months. Many of my colleagues were planning to leave, but they haven't got their salaries so they couldn't come. In my case, my mother sent me some money

for the travel," added Alamgir.

Several unrelated videos from different places, like Jodhpur, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, etc., have been attributed as videos of assault on Hindi-speaking migrant workers in Tamil Nadu. 

I asked the migrant labourers if they had verified or had witnessed any such incident of harassment or assault. They told me they hadn't verified the videos themselves but were scared. They

also admitted that they hadn't seen anything by themselves.

Dinesh, a worker at a tea stall in Chennai from Bihar's Sitamarhi district, says, "Regarding the current situation, I have spoken to a few people. They have sent a few videos. And after

looking at the video, we are a bit scared because, in the video, it shows that someone is being assaulted and killed."

Alamgir in his conversation with me reiterated the fact that migrants themselves haven't seen or faced any issue, "I have many Tamilian friends. We had a good time together. I have never

faced any issues here."

The Tamil Nadu government has come all out against the spread of misinformation. Chief Minister MK Stalin, in a statement, said, "Tamil Nadu government and people will stand to protect our

migrant brothers."

“வெளிமாநிலத் தொழிலாளர்கள் தமிழ்நாட்டில் தாக்கப்படுவதாக வதந்திகளைப்

பரப்புபவர்கள், இந்திய நாட்டிற்கு எதிரானவர்கள்; நாட்டின்

ஒருமைப்பாட்டிற்குக் குந்தகம் விளைவிப்பவர்கள். 1/2 pic.twitter.com/YyT1beuvWp

On Tuesday, 7 March, the CM also went out to speak to the migrant workers. We hope that this will ease up the fear and tensions from the minds of migrant workers.

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