Release Arrested Adivasi Leaders

We strongly condemn the arrest of Kiran Kalindi, Baijnath Naik, Azad Ansari & Wilson Guria from Nagrakata, Jalpaiguri on January 27, 2014. The four persons were peacefully campaigning for a bandh condemning the gruesome sexual torture and rape of the Adivasi girl at Labhpur, Birbhum.  

The police have arrested them with charges under Sections 353, 143,341,332,422,506 of IPC, and Section 25 of the Arms Act. 3 false cases were filed against them by the police – all for incidents on the 27^th itself. 

The arrested are trade-union leaders of the tea workers of North Bengal. The four persons from the Adivasi community were arrested from a peaceful demonstration in support of the bandh. Different Adivasi organisations have strongly reacted against the ghastly incident of Labhpur, Birbhum and had decided to voice their dissent through the bandh. Many others have also expressed their solidarity in support of the bandh. They feel that this incident is against the culture of the Adivasi society and are concerned that this incident is being used to condemn their culture as a whole. They have demanded a proper probe into the incident and action thereof.  

It is clearly evident from the arrests and the false charges levied upon the above four at Nagrakata that the police and the administration have acted vindictively to stifle the voices of protest and dissent in the society. 

The following organisations demand:

• Immediate release of Kiran Kalindi, Baijnath Naik, Azad Ansari & Wilson Guria.

• Withdrawal of all false charges against the above.

• A fair and proper probe into the Labhpur incident.

• A proper trial and the punishment of the accused in the Labhpur incident.

Tarun Sanyal (Shilpi Sanskritik Karmi, Buddhjeebi Mancha)

Sunanda Sanyal (Democratic Citizen’s Forum)

Amitdyuti Kumar (Working President, Association for Protection of Democratic Rights)

Dilip Chakrabarty (Saptaha)

Sujato Bhadra (Manabadhikar Sanghati)

Miratun Nahar(individual, ex-member West Bengal State Women’s Commission)

Meher Engineer (individual)

Swapan Ganguly (Ashanghatit Khetra Shramik Sangrami Manch)

Dipak Roy (Terai Dooars Progressive Plantation Workers Union)

Loes Hosapurthi (Progressive Tea Workers Union)

Arun Pal & Debjit Dutta (NAPM)

Anuradha Talwar (Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity)

Somanth Ghosh (Hosiery Workers Unity Centre)

Murad Hossain (Hawkers Sangram Committee)

Choton Das (Bandimukti Committee)

Ashish Sengupta (All West Bengal Sales Representative Union)

Rabin Soren (Birbhum Adivasi Gaonta)

Gautam Bandopadhyay (Nadi Ghati Morcha, Chattisgarh)

Madhuri (Jagrut Adivasi Dalit Sangathana, Madhya Pradesh)

Pritwish Bose (Shramajeebi Samanway Committee)

Sajal Biswas (Service Doctors Forum)

Dr Swapan Jana (Health Services Association – HSA)

Shiladitya Mondal (Liquor Shop Employees Union)

Bela Adak (Paschim Banga Swarojgari o Radhuni Union)

Sushovan Dhar (IndianOil Petronas Contractors Shramik Union)

Bodhisatwa Ray (Haldia Dock Complex Contractors Shramik Union)

Uttam Burman (Paschim Banga Sericulture Workers Union)

Suktara Khatun (Paschim Banga Chatra Yuba Sangrami Mancha)

Pratip Nag (Sundarban Banadhikar Sangram Committee)

Namita Gayen (Sramajibi Mahila Samity)

Kunal Deb (Uthnau)

Dr. Debal Deb (Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies)

Satish Kar (Paschim Banga Telecom Tower (USO) Union)

Harassing A Good Doctor

Protest March Against Attacks on Women

Please join the protest march organised on a joint initiative by citizens to protest against the continuous attacks on women in West Bengal and the government's failure to provide security. This march encompasses all individuals and organizations and is not organized under any political banner. Please join and ask your family and friends to join. If we do not build up a resistance against the overt criminalisation of society around us now, it will be too late soon.

Partho Sarothi Ray

UTWF Press Conference Invitation

The industrial backbone of West Bengal rests on three specific sectors – engineering, jute and tea. The first two sectors are in the doldrums since the last decades for a variety of reasons. On the other hand, the tea industry is among the most profitable and export earning sectors in India. However, it also showcases one of the worst labour conditions in the country. With over a few thousand starvation deaths in the last decade, in West Bengal, tea plantation workers are one of the lowest paid workers in the country. Here, owners reap huge profits at the expense of the basic needs - nutrition, health, education and housing - of the workers and their families.

Systematic ill–payment has trapped workers in the vicious circle of poverty, poor literacy and ill health. Their children also end up in the same ill-paid work as their parents and grandparents.

In West Bengal, wages have been kept at a precariously low level. The last set of agreements, which resulted in wages as low as Rs.80-95 over a three-year period expires on March 31, 2014.  Besides, the owners have been violating the basic provisions of the Plantation Labour Act with impunity. Provisions of crèche, medical facilities, ambulance, and house repair have all become things of the past. Moreover, many tea gardens of the region have also not deposited the provident fund dues of the workers amounting to over Rs. 100 crores while governments have provided full support to the garden owners by being silent onlookers. Even big corporate owners like the Tata, Duncans, Goodricke, Apeejay and others carry on equally deplorable and unfair labour practices.

It is in this context that various unions representing the largest ethnic groups of workers in the industry – Adivasis and Gurkhas - came forward to launch the United Tea Workers Front (UTWF), primarily to raise the issue of a living wages and related matters in the forthcoming wage negotiations in Darjeeling and North Bengal.

UTWF cordially welcomes you to the press conference on the above issues at the Kolkata Press Club on January 8, 2014.

For UTWF

Anuradha Talwar