Widespread condemnation of firing on workers in Gorakhpur and the repressive attitude of district administration: Jurists, intellectuals, social activists and trade union leaders demand immediate intervention by the Chief Minister

Press Release

New Delhi, 7 May — Eminent jurists, intellectuals, social activists, human rights advocates and trade union leaders today expressed shock that no action has been taken on the accused of the firing on workers in Gorakhpur on May 3 and the administration is bent upon targeting the workers and labour leaders instead. They have appealed to the Chief Minister of UP, Mayawati to intervene and ensure justice to workers. It may be recalled that 19 workers were injured in the incident when criminal hired by a factory owner fired on their demonstration, one of the workers is still in a serious condition.

            The issue was also raise in the national seminar on state repression which began here and it was announced that a joint fact-finding team of PUCL and other organisations will be sent to Gorakhpur as soon as possible.

            The petition sent to the UP CM has four demands including instituting a judicial inquiry into the incident. The main signatories on the petition include:  Justice Rajinder Sachar, Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, national president of PUCL Dr Prabhakar Sinha, its national general secretary Pushkar Raj, well-known filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, famous Hindi poet and executive editor of Public Agenda Mangalesh Dabral, editor of Samayantar Pankaj Bisht, poet Pankaj Singh, Ram Puniyani of All India Secular Forum, ex-Vice Chancellor of Lucknow University Dr. Rooprekha Verma, President of Ludhiana Bar Association Ashok Mittal, Kuldeep Singh and Narinder Singh of Democratic Lawyers Association Punjab, Harvilas Singh of MCPI Punjab, Prof Ish Misha and Prof PK Vijayan of Delhi University, Prof BR Bapuji and Dr Shubhdeep of Hyderabad University, historian from Kolkata Devabrata Bannerjee, Prof Gurbhagwan Gill of Punjabi University, Bhupinder Singh of CTU Workers Union, Chandigarh, Ranjeet Singh of Chandigarh Sub-ordinate Serviecs Employees Federation, Khushwinder Singh of AICTU, Punjab, Neeraj Jain of Lokayat, Pune, President and Gen Sec of PUCL, UP, Chitranjan Singh and Vandana Mishra, Subhash Gatade of New Socialist Initiative, Bhasha Singh of Jan Sanskriti Manch, Delhi, Prof. YK Ranjan of national Campaign Against Corruption, Delhi secretary of CPIML-New Democracy, Com. Aparna and retd. IPS officer SR Drapuri.

        The incident of firing on workers who had just returned after taking part in a rally to commemorate 125 years of the May Day was also condemned in several other countries. Elliot Eisenberg and Einde O'Callaghan of Die Linke (Left Party) of Germany, Debbie Brennen of Radical Women, Australia and Anne Slater of Radical Women, USA, Dr Herbert Pimlott of Wilfred Laurier University Faculty Association, Christine Tickner of UK, Eric Lee, editor of Labour Start, Jeevin Dran of Socialist Party of Malaysia, Tufail Abbas of Pakistan Mazdoor Mahaz have termed this as a shameful incident for Indian democracy.

            Hundreds of peoples from all over the country have signed the petition including senior Hindi novelist Kamtanath, Ajay Singh, editor of 'Kathakram' IG Shailendra Sagar, Delhi based journalists Gaurav Solanki, Bhupen Singh, Abhishek Srivastav, Suyash Suprabh, Pranav Priyadarshi, Swatantra Mishra, president of Sajhi Duniya Mohini Maanglik, chairperson of Anurag Trust and veteran social activist of Lucjnow, Kamla Pandey, Samuel John of Peoples Theatre Chandigarh, senior advocate of Allahabad High Court KK Rai, social activist from Mumbai, Chandrashekharan Nair, Rajwinder of Karkhana Mazdoor Union, Ludhiana, Lakhwinder Singh of Textile Workers Union, Punjab, Shivani Kaul of Stree Mukti League, Kavita of Stree Mazdoor Sangathan, Ramashankar of Jagrook Nagrik Manch Allahabad, Rajeev Yadav and Shahnawaz Alam of UP PUCL and large number of civil rights activists from Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar.

            Meanwhile, various organisations in Lucknow and Gorakhpur are coming together to launch a broad based mass movement against the rising repression in Uttar Pradesh. Some organisations in Delhi and Punjab are also planning to send fact-finding teams to Gorakhpur.

         The petition to the Chief Minister says that the incidents after the firing have completely exposed the politician-businessman-administration nexus in the region. The petition demands:

-         the criminals who fired upon the unarmed workers and the factory owner who hired them be arrested immediately and tried; 

-         judicial inquiry should be instituted on this entire episode including the on the complicity of the local administration and police and the guilty officials be punished; 

-         all the false cases against the workers be revoked immediately;

-       suspension of all 18 workers be revoked and the illegal lockout by the two factory owners be ended.

For,

Citizens Front in Support of Gorakhpur Workers Movement

Contact: 9936650658 (Katyayani); 9910462009 (Satyam); 8447011935 (Sandeep Sharma)

Email: satyamvarma@gmail.com / sandeep.samwad@gmail.com