People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) expresses deep concern over the arrests and detentions of workers, along with social activists, students, journalists, artists by the Uttar Pradesh police as part of the increasing efforts to criminalize the workers’ protest that first erupted in Manesar and then in Noida and other parts of NCR in April. The detention of Yogesh Meena, an activist with the Disha Students’ Organization and a law student at Delhi University, by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force on 30 May is the latest in a series of coercive measures. According to Disha, Yogesh was picked up by STF in plain clothes from outside Ramjas College along with another student activist. While the other student was released following questioning, Yogesh was taken away and his electronic devices were seized. For several hours thereafter, his friends and associates were unable to ascertain his whereabouts.
The detention of Yogesh is a part of a broader pattern of state action directed against all those whose ‘crime’ was participation in or expression of support for the workers who came out in protest. So far, at least 13 FIRs have been registered across multiple police stations in Noida under charges related to criminal conspiracy, attempted murder, endangering public safety, obstruction of public officials, and incitement to violence, making statements or spreading information alleged to disturb public order, arson and unlawful assembly under various sections of BNS. These measures have been adopted alongside the invocation of the National Security Act against activists Satyam Verma and Aakriti Choudhary. Section 66 of the Information Technology Act was also invoked in relation to the use of social media and messaging platforms for communication and coordination among workers. The police has claimed that initially over 350 detentions were made of which 66 were finally arrested. The bail applications of several of those arrested have highlighted that arrests were made without grounds, with some citing registration of FIR after the arrest. The Gurgaon police resorted to similar arbitrary measures. PUDR had met the families of 7 workers detained in connection with the Manesar protests. The families revealed that they had not been informed of the detentions and remained unaware of the workers’ whereabouts till they were produced in the court. In fact, some of the workers were produced before court only after their families publicly raised questions. These actions constitute a clear violation of due process and established legal safeguards on arrest and detention.
PUDR draws attention to the fact that the labour unrest in April emerged from longstanding concerns regarding low wages, long working hours, rising prices, and deteriorating living conditions. For more than a decade, the UP government had not revised the basic pay under the minimum wages while prices have risen over the last ten years, and have increased sharply in recent months. The immediate trigger was the revision of minimum wages on 1 April by a meagre amount, increasing the monthly minimum wage for unskilled workers from Rs. 11,021 to Rs. 11,326. In such a dire situation the shortage and black-marketing of cooking gas was the last straw, resulting in spontaneous protests that remained remarkably peaceful barring two incidents of damage to properties and torching of vehicle.
The portrayal of these protests, however, has been the exact opposite, painting them as an issue of public order and national security. The attempt has been to recast a protest centred on wages and working conditions as not just criminal but also anti-national. The police continues to pursue measures aimed at prolonging the custody of those arrested, despite having failed to produce any prima facie evidence against them. This was highlighted by a Gurgaon court while granting bail to workers arrested in Manesar, observing that participation in a workers’ protest to demand higher wages and salaries essential to their livelihood cannot be treated as a crime.
The measures adopted by the state come in the way of exercising the constitutionally protected freedoms of speech, association, peaceful assembly, the right to organise collectively for better working conditions, and a right to life with dignity. They also have wider implications for individuals and organisations seeking to express solidarity with workers or raise concerns relating to labour rights. As we approach the 51st anniversary of the Emergency, the Uttar Pradesh administration’s resort to arbitrary coercion, mass arrests and criminalization of protest, bears an unsettling resemblance to it. We demand that all those arrested or detained must be released, the charges against them withdrawn, and that employers and the administration must comply with the principles laid down in Workmen v. Management of Reptakos Brett & Co. (1991), which defined a ‘need-based minimum wage’.
Deepika Tandon and Shahana Bhattacharya
(Secretaries)
pudr@pudr.org
