Jaipur Literature Fest: Harsh Mander’s book speaks of migrant workers’ sufferings during lockdown

In the previous session, “Journeys from the Margin: Annie Zaidi and Deepa Anappara” were in conversation with Shahnaz Habib. This session was on two novels, that unblinkly examined the alienation across the Indian society.

Jaipur Literature Fest: Annie Zaidi, Deepa Anappara share experiences of their novel-writing processes

In today’s session, Harsh Mander, an Indian author, columnist, researcher and social activist who works with survivors of mass violence and hunger, as well as homeless persons and street children, held a discussion about his latest book “Locking Down the Poor: The Pandemic and India’s Moral Centre.”

In his book, he spoke about the problems that migrant workers suffered when the Centre called for a nationwide lockdown in 2020. The author also raised his voice against the government for not making much arrangements for the migrants to reach their hometowns.

Click here to login

“I was asked to start off very briefly about my book. But many people asked me why and when did I write this book? The book took seed in my mind and heart on that evening that changed India. When our Prime Minister announced the lockdown,” Harsh Mander said.

In an interaction with Arun Maira, Harsh Mander said, “Most of us here, except those who lived through partition and the great Bengals, will see this once in our lifetime. And this humanitarian crisis, had nothing to do with the virus, but how we chose to respond to it.”

Click here to watch full video:

The 14th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2021 (JLF) has also followed suit of virtual. The festival took place in a virtual avatar from February 19, and will end on 21. The fest will again resume from February 26 to 28.