Seeking agreed demands execution, Dalit farm workers' rally lathicharged in Punjab

By Harsh Thakor*
A 10,000 strong contingent of Dalit agricultural workers under the leadership of the common front of rural and farm labour organizations, Sanjha Morcha Sangrur, thronged near the chief minster’s residence in Sangrur-Patiala highway. For over a month the organisations forming part of the front had prepared for the event.
One of the largest Dalit worker gatherings in recent times in Punjab, as soon as the contingent of labourers proceeded towards Kothi to knock at the door of chief minister's house, the police unleashed lathicharge upon them. Many men and women were injured; many lost their turbans, due to which the anger in the minds of the workers escalated.

Threatened by the anger of the workers, the chief minister agreed to meet a panel of labour leaders on December 21 in Chandigarh, after which the blockade was lifted.
Agricultural workers converged in the form of caravans from all over Punjab to ring a bell at the chief minister's house for the implementation of the agreed demands of and for concrete settlement of the demands. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann was away in Gujarat for election campaign.
Those who addressed the landless workers under the Patiala Bridge included President of the Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee Mukesh Malaudh, General Secretary of tge Krantikari Pendu Mazdoor Union Punjab Lakhvir Longowal, State General Secretary of the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union Lachhman Singh Savewala, state leader of tge Mazdoor Mukti Morcha Punjab Makhan Singh Ramgarh, state leader of the Kull Hind Khet Mazdoor Union Bhup Chand Channon, leader of the Dehati Mazdoor Union Prakash Nandgarh, leader of the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Sabha Gulzar Gaurian, and state president of the Pendu Mazdoor Union Tarsem Pete.
Condemning the police lathicharge they said that the Bhagwant Singh Mann government is treading the same anti-labour policies as the previous governments. They stated that the government is paying no heed to the accepted demands of rural agricultural labourers due to caste-based discrimination and is not ready to offer any concrete solution to their burning emands.
Other leaders of the joint front of rural and farm labour organizations who addressed the rally included Kashmir Singh Ghugshore, Zora Singh Nasrali, Krishan Chauhan, Paramjit Mudki, Bikkar Singh Hathoa, Pargat Singh Kalajhar, Mithu Singh Ghudda, Paramjit Kaur Longowal, Devi Kumari, Harbhagwan Singh Moonak, Dharamveer Harigarh, Lal Singh Dhanula, and Avtar Singh Rasulpur.
The leaders said that after the chief minister cancelled the meeting scheduled with the Mazdoor Morcha on October 3, they were not given time for the next meeting. There was no agreement at a meeting held by Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema. The apathy instilled anger in the rural workers against the AAP government and the chief minister.
They demanded that the employment of the labourers should be guaranteed for the whole year and the daily wages should be stipulated to Rs 700; one third portion of the panchayat lands should be allotted to the labourers at a cheap price; the ownership rights of the Nazul lands should be given to the Dalits; plots should be given to the homeless and the needy; loans should be waived; compensation should be given to suicide victims; old age, widow, disabled pension should be increased to Rs 5,000, age; coercion on Dalits should be eradicated; and cases registered during the struggles should be lifted.
The Indian Federation of Trade Unions issued a statement condemning the lathicharge.
---
*Freelance journalist who has covered mass movements around India and frequently toured Punjab

Comments

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857 By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

The curious case of multiple entries of a female voter of Maharashtra: What ECI's online voter records reveal

By Venkatesh Nayak* Cyberspace is agog with data, names and documents which question the reliability of the electoral rolls prepared by the electoral bureaucracy in Maharashtra prior to the General Elections conducted in 2024. One such example of deep dive probing has brought to the surface, the name of one female voter in the 132-Nalasopara (Gen) Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra. Nalasopara is part of the Palghar (ST) Lok Sabha constituency. This media report claims that this individual's name figures multiple times in the voter list of the same constituency.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Spirit of leadership vs bondage: Of empowered chairman of 100-acre social forestry coop

By Gagan Sethi* This is about Khoda Sava, a young Dalit belonging to the Vankar sub-caste, who worked as a bonded labourer in a village near Vadgam in Banskantha district of North Gujarat. The year was 1982. Khoda had taken a loan of Rs 7,000 from the village sarpanch, a powerful landlord doing money-lending as his side business. Khoda, who had taken the loan for marriage, was landless. Normally, villagers would mortgage their land if they took loan from the sarpanch. But Khoda had no land. He had no option but to enter into a bondage agreement with the sarpanch in order to repay the loan. Working in bondage on the sarpanch’s field meant that he would be paid Rs 1,200 per annum, from which his loan amount with interest would be deducted. He was also obliged not to leave the sarpanch’s field and work as daily wager somewhere else. At the same time, Khoda was offered meal once a day, and his wife job as agricultural worker on a “priority basis”. That year, I was working as secretary...

Ground reality: Israel would a remain Jewish state, attempt to overthrow it will be futile

By NS Venkataraman* Now that truce has been arrived at between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days and with release of a few hostages from both sides, there is hope that truce would be further extended and the intensity of war would become significantly less. This likely “truce period” gives an opportunity for the sworn supporters and bitter opponents of Hamas as well as Israel and the observers around the world to introspect on the happenings and whether this war could have been avoided. There is prolonged debate for the last several decades as to whom the present region that has been provided to Jews after the World War II belong. View of some people is that Jews have been occupants earlier and therefore, the region should belong to Jews only. However, Christians and those belonging to Islam have also lived in this regions for long period. While Christians make no claim, the dispute is between Jews and those who claim themselves to be Palestinians. In any case...

Proposed Modi yatra from Jharkhand an 'insult' of Adivasi hero Birsa Munda: JMM

Counterview Desk The civil rights network, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JMM), which claims to have 30 grassroots groups under its wings, has decided to launch Save Democracy campaign to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to be launched on November 15 from the village of legendary 19th century tribal independence leader Birsa Munda from Ulihatu (Khunti district).

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.

Govt of India "tarnishing" NGO reputation, dossier leaked selectively: Amnesty

Counterview Desk Amnesty International India has said that a deliberate attempt is being made to tarnish its reputation by leaking a dossier, supposedly made by investigating agencies, to media without giving it access to any such information. The high profile NGO’s claim follows a Times Now report about proceedings launched by investigative agencies, including Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the rights body for “violations” of rules pertaining to overseas donations.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Counterview

Search This Blog