Noida: Civil rights activists, academics, students and artists on Sunday demanded the release of Noida and Gurgaon workers, along with students and artists arrested by UP Police in connection with the April 13 labour agitation.At a convention in Delhi, participants resolved to pursue the workers’ cause through legal and social channels, and discussed forming a coalition of labour unions and student organisations to carry the campaign forward.The gathering, ‘Workers’ Movement in Noida and Gurgaon — Labour Rights, State Repression and the Challenges Ahead,’ was organised by Campaign for Release of Workers and Activists of Noida (CaRWAN) at HKS Surjit Bhavan. Participants also backed the ongoing students’ movement led by Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar demanding govt action on the NEET paper leak.Retired JNU professor Nivedita Menon said the core issue went beyond wage demands to the basic dignity of workers. Citing findings by independent researchers Navsharan Singh, Atul Sood and Rakhi Sehgal, she described conditions inside factories as “inhumane”.“From making them stand on the tables to restricting a woman worker going to the washroom even when she is menstruating, the stories of these workers are heart-wrenching,” she said.Bhavana Industrial Area Workers Union and Delhi Domestic Workers Union sent written messages of support read out at the convention.People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has undertaken a fact-finding inquiry into the alleged human rights violations. National president Kavita Srivastava said the report, delayed for personal reasons, will be completed soon.“We are demanding closure of the cases against the labourers for whom even facing trial and attending the court on a regular basis is no less than punishment,” she said.Citing preliminary findings, she rejected police claims that the group Bigul had mobilised the agitation, calling the allegation implausible given the small size of the organisation against a labour force of 50,000. She described the unrest as spontaneous, triggered by a steep hike in LPG prices.Avinash Kumar, professor at JNU’s Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, said industrialists had deliberately kept workers divided by segregating permanent staff from daily wagers, weakening their collective voice. “The divide keeps their voice weak and there is an urgent need to form a united front of the workers,” he said.Keshaw Anand, petitioner in Supreme Court case against alleged UP Police high-handedness toward the students and artists, pointed to inconsistencies in the police chargesheet.“Commissioner Laxmi Singh had stated that some of the Twitter handles were being operated from Pakistan, but there is not a word mentioned about the findings in the 1,400-page chargesheet filed in the four FIRs by the UP Police,” he said. Anand said the Supreme Court petition, due for hearing later this week, would raise this along with allegations of police brutality and the alleged manhandling of women activists by male police personnel.Delhi University professor Apoorvanand and CSDS senior fellow Yogendra Yadav also voiced support for the labour movement, calling the students’ involvement a positive development. Apoorvanand said police had failed to produce evidence in court, suggesting the crackdown was intended to warn civil society against joining the workers’ cause.
