New Delhi, May 17 -- When the firing began across the Line of Control (LoC), official reports focused on civilian casualties-about 20 dead and hundreds displaced. But another quieter exodus had already begun: India's migrant workers, the invisible workforce powering factories, fields, and construction sites across the country, were on the move again.

In the days following India's military retaliation for a terror attack on tourists in Kashmir, thousands of migrant workers began fleeing not just Jammu and Kashmir but also parts of Gujarat and Punjab.

The violence this time may not be nationwide, but for those living on society's economic edge, the impact has been swift and devastating.

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