In May 2020, Hashim Midha (name changed on request) and his friends in Singhbhum district of Jharkhand trudged towards their home in Berhampore, West Bengal. The penniless group decided to take an arduous path, snaking through the hilly region. The distance was too long, and the ration too meagre. They walked for days, occasionally stopping at villages. Until one day, they crossed path with the police force. "We were sent back to Jharkhand and were locked up in a quarantine centre," remembers Midha, 35, as he begins sharing his story from India's largest exodus since Partition. "We were fed horrible meals; most of us chose to remain hungry. The sheer mistreatment towards us was appalling. I sat on an anshan [hunger strike]."

Ten days on, the authorities still refused to pay heed to Midha's demand of providing them decent food. The protest resonated with the others who had been holed in there before him. Finally, the police intervened and arranged for buses to send Midha and his friends back home. "But, even on our journey to Bengal, there were no arrangements made for food," Midha's voice chokes over a phone call with this writer.