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India is enforcing the harshest and most extensive Covid-19 lockdown in the world

India is enforcing the harshest and most extensive Covid-19 lockdown in the world

Horrific, heartbreaking images have emerged over the past few days of lakhs of migrant workers trudging towards to their villages, sometimes braving a journey of hundreds of kilometres. The movement was precipitated by prime minister Narendra Modi’s sudden decision to effect a nationwide lockdown, starting with a “people’s curfew” exactly a week ago on March 22. Migrant workers who lost their jobs in the cities and had no money to buy food decided that they had no option but to get home—even if they had to walk there.