Left: Villagers and coalmine workers at Pandabeswar area protesting brutal lithicharge by police on Tuesday. Right : injured local MLA Gouranga Chatterjee
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions denounces brutal lathi-charge by Police on the peaceful demonstration by around 15000 villagers and coalmine workers opposing eviction of the villagers and contract workers residing and cultivating in the land adjoining the coal-mines of Eastern Coalfields Ltd at Pandabeswar area of West Bengal. Police lathi-charge on the villagers and the workers peacefully squatting since last few days against the eviction order issued by Eastern Coalfields Ltd left several people severely injured including the CITU leader and local MLA Gauranga Chatterjee who received severe head-injury and admitted in hospital in serious condition.
It is shocking as well as deplorable that the management of a central government company like Eastern Coal Fields (ECL) sought to evict around thirty thousands of poor villagers and contract workers from eleven villages in the adjoining area of Pandabeswar just to hand over the area to private contractors for mining by throwing several thousands of villagers including peasants, bargadars, agricultural workers etc out of their livelihood and residence. The Colliery Mazdoor Sabha of India (CITU) had already lodged their protest against the said eviction order by ECL in favour of a few private contractors and joined the villagers in protest programmes.
The All India Coal Workers Federation of India while protesting against such police-atrocities decided to hold protest demonstration in all the collieries throughout the country on 24th June 2011 and called upon all the coal workers’ unions irrespective of affiliations to join the protest action.
CITU while condemning such police atrocities as well as the evil ploy of the ECL management to oblige the private contractors by forcibly dislodging more than 30000 villagers, that too without any appropriate compensation and rehabilitation covering all affected people, demands upon the government of India and the coal minister in particular to restrain the ECL management from such forcible eviction of people from the Pandabeswar area in West Bengal and urges upon the state government to take action on the concerned police officials responsible for such barbaric lathicharge on peaceful democratic protest.
Nationwide Protest on June 24, 2011 Against Police Lathi-charge in Hansidiha (Raniganj) Privatization and for adequate compensation to land losers
Kolkata, June 22: Jibon Roy, general secretary, All India Coal Workers’ Federation of India has issued the following statement:
All India Coal Workers’ Federation congratulates the coal workers in Raniganj coal fields and the residents around, for holding a strike in Raniganj and surrounding in protest against yesterday’s police lathi-charge on the coal workers and the common residents in Hansidiha colliery of Pandeveswar region under ECL. The police action ahs caused injury, to around 30 miners and local residents and in which Gouranga Chattererjee, the coal leader of all India stature who is happened to be the local MLA has been seriously injured. Police did not spare even Bansagopal Choudhury, the MP and ex-minister. The strike and bandh has been total in all the coal fields of Raniganj, Jamuria and Pandeveswar regions in Ranganj coal fields.
ACWF condemns the police atrocities, expresses its anguish and indignation against the state policy about a labour, so reversed under the current regime from the policy followed by the LF government on the matter of state’s role in the dispute between labour and the employers. Incidentally, yesterday’s lathi charge has been first of the kind against labour after LF government had been installed in June 1977.
The AICWF however, reaffirms its resolve against the policy being followed by coal India on the matter of land acquisition for green field mining and demands that such acquisition be followed only after negotiated settlement on the matter of providing alternative lands, money compensation and employment to the land losers.
The AICWF reaffirms its resolve not to give in any such polices which may lead to privatization whatsoever it may be the form. The ECL management’s move on Hansidiha has ostensibly been to hand over the patch to private contractor. In no time in the history of ECL such transfer had taken place without prior settlement between management and the trade unions. ACWF complements the local resident around the patch for joining the miners and this would obviously help against the land aggression around Hansidiha patch. If the patch, so identified to be transferred to contractor, will effect 11 villages which is inhibited mostly by the tribal population.
AICWF calls upon all of its affiliates in the country to protest the police action through holding demonstrations or any other forms which many suits them and unite the miners against the privatision/disinvestment/outsourcing and for adequate compensation to land losers.
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