The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Garment workers clash with police

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 09, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Garment workers clash with police

Staff Reporter

15 injured women admitted to hospital; Nesargi demands judicial inquiry

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

A FIGHT FOR LIVELIHOOD: Employees of Leela Scottish Lace Private Ltd. protesting at Jalahalli Cross, Rajagopala Nagar, in Bangalore on Wednesday against the closure of the factory. At right, one of the injured employees being treated at K.C. General Hospital in Malleswaram.

BANGALORE: At least 15 women workers, including four policemen, were injured in a fracas between the men in khaki and the protesting employees of a garment factory in Peenya III Stage on Wednesday morning.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Syed Ulfath Hussein, the scuffle took place near Leela Scottish Lace Private Ltd. when nearly 1,200 employees, mainly women, broke the police cordon, pushed the policemen and tried to barge into the factory in violation of court orders.

While Mr. Hussein refuted reports that the police had resorted to lathicharge and the protesters were injured after being hit by lathis, Pramila Nesargi, Chairperson of the Karnataka Women’s Commission who visited the hospital where the women were admitted, said they had been “brutally beaten up by the police”.

She said that two of those injured were pregnant. “The hospital records will reveal that they were beaten all over their body,” she said. One of those injured was yet to regain consciousness, she said.

Ms. Nesargi demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident and dismissal of two police officers involved in the incident. She said that the women, all of whom were poor, should be given justice.

Mr. Hussein asked: “There were around 700 women among the protesters. How can we use lathis against women?” Mr. Hussein told The Hindu that Leela Scottish is being taken over by Bombay Rayon Ltd. Following the proposed t ake over, the employees urged the present management to pay them six months’ salary in advance. After the management turned down their demand, nearly 1,200 employees sat on a dharna in front of the factory from July 23. The management approached the jurisdictional court and the judge on Tuesday ordered that demonstrations should not be held within the 300-metre radius of the factory, Mr. Hussein said.

In compliance with the court order, the police cordoned off the factory area on Wednesday and prevented the workers from holding demonstration within the 300-metre radius of the unit. In violation of the court order and the police advice, the protesters pushed the policemen, broke the barricades and staged a demonstration in front of the factory, he said.

It is said that the protesters turned unruly after Karnataka Rakshana Vedike president T.A. Narayana Gowda addressed them.

The police explained the court order to Mr. Gowda and convinced him and the protesters not to hold any demonstration in the restricted area.

The Rajagopalanagar police have registered a case.

The police have heightened security around the factory by deploying additional forces.

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