Journalist offers own shoes to barefoot migrant; video goes viral

A video of a journalist offering his own shoes to a migrant worker who is seen walking barefoot is going viral on social media. Salman Ravi, a BBC journalist, was interacting with a group of migrant workers who had been walking all the way from Punjab to Madhya Pradesh.

During the interview, one of the migrant workers is seen barefoot to which Salman Ravi takes off his own shoes and asks the man to try them if they fit. He adds that he will manage somehow, but the workers needs the shoes more than he does. Shared by BBC Hindi’s Twitter handle, the video highlights that the workers were walking on foot, starting from Ambala in Punjab to reach the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

लॉकडाउन से बेहाल मजदूर भूखे-प्यासे बच्चों के साथ नंगे पांव कर रहे पलायन
वीडियोः सलमान रावी और पीयूष नागपाल#CoronaVirus #Lockdown4 #India pic.twitter.com/CeLNY9rbsJ

— BBC News Hindi (@BBCHindi) May 13, 2020

The group of migrant workers include middle-age men, along with small children, and women. In the video, the workers revealed that they were beaten by the police on their way at some locations and that they have been walking for six days.

Online viewers who came across the video appreciated the journalist’s gesture for offering his own shoes to the worker. In a follow-up update for the story, Salman Ravi shared that with the help of Faridabad police, he was able to find a shelter for the group of workers.

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Social media has been flooded with several such heartbreaking visuals, capturing the helplessness of migrant labourers as they attempt to reach their hometowns on foot. In another viral video, a homeless and poor man is seen eating dry leaves before getting noticed by a social worker. The video shows that the man broke down upon being offered proper food to eat.