Excessive force used by the police to stop a 1000-strong workers’ protest turned Gurgaon into a battleground today. At least 400 people — including over 350 protestors — were injured. The condition of some are serious. Unconfirmed reports say that the figure could be higher.
Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda has ordered Gurgaon Divisional Commissioner Avtar Singh to begin a probe. Around 70 people were arrested for rioting and arson and another 300 rounded up as a preventive action.
The trouble began when a procession was taken out by workers of a Honda factory at Manesar from Kamla Nehru Park at 11 am.
The crowd was intercepted by a police team, led by the Gurgaon Sub-Divisional Magistrate, J.S. Sangwan, and Deputy Superintendent of Police Jagpravesh Dahiya, near the Kalyani Hospital on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road.
When asked to call off the procession, the protestors turned violent and attacked the officers. They set the SDM’s jeep and a police motorcycle on fire and damaged other vehicles parked nearby.
The SDM, DSP, and Inspector Ravinder Kumar were also assaulted by the mob. While an outnumbered police force ran for cover, the protestors went on a rampage through MG Road, damaging buildings and vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Gurgaon administration called for help from the neighbouring districts.
Within an hour, the protestors reached Gurgaon’s Mini Secretariat on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
It was here that the police turned on the protestors with a lathicharge lasted 45 minutes.
CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta, who visited the Mini Secretariat in the evening, condemned the attack and said the matter would be raised in Parliament. Dasgupta alleged that he was manhandled by the police when he went to the General Hospital. Gurgaon SSP Y S Nehra, however, denied this. ‘‘The MP was trying to take away some of the arrested protestors from the hospital and was restrained.”
Addressing the media later, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Sudhir Rajpal said: ‘‘The administration was neither informed about the procession nor was any permission sought. When it became abundantly clear that their intentions were not of a peaceful protest, we had to take action.’’
The dispute between the workers and the management of Honda Scooters is over action taken against 54 employees, of whom four have been dismissed and 50 suspended, said Rajpal.
‘‘We have tried everything to get both sides to reach a solution,’’ Rajpal said. ‘‘Also, what is the justification in targeting government machinery when the dispute is between the management and the workers,’’ he added.
On July 23, protestors had blocked the National Highway 8.
Sources said police had registered cases against some union leaders, which reportedly caused a lot of anguish among the protestors and is believed to be one of the reasons that precipitated today’s crisis.
Unfortunate, but employees will be reinstated only after probe: Honda
Honda motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) today said it will not reinstate any of its suspended workers without completion of an inquiry.
‘‘Even though today’s incident is unfortunate, we cannot take back any of the suspended employees till a third-party inquiry against them is completed,’’ said a company official from its factory in Manesar. The company had been in the grip of a major labour unrest for over a month now.
The official refused to comment on the clash, saying, ‘‘this is an event that has taken place outside our factory premises.’’ Asked whether the firm was ready to provide financial assistance to those injured, he said it could be considered in case a specific request came in.
The unrest has seen the company, a fully-owned subsidiary of Japan’s auto major Honda Motor Co., suffer huge losses due to production being scaled back. A company official told Reuters that production had suffered after workers decided to “go slow” from May.
“We have suffered a loss of Rs 2.5 billion,” he said. HMSI, which has more than 2,000 workers on its rolls, used to produce an average of 2,000 scooters and motors but the number fell to 400 units a day during May and June because of the agitation, the official said. The company currently makes 1,000 units a day, he added.
Company workers had gone on a strike demanding higher wages.
Earlier this month, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) threw its weight behind the company’s trade union.
AITUC general secretary and CPI MP Gurudas Das Gupta had taken the stand that workers were being victimised for forming a trade union. Barely half of the company’s labour force is reported to be working after the agitation began. —Agencies
PM expresses anguish
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed “deep anguish”. “Only an inquiry could say whether the police had acted in haste,” an official spokesperson said.
“She (Sonia Gandhi) has directed the Chief Minister to inquire and take appropriate action against those responsible for this incident,” said Janardhan Dwivedi, AICC general secretary.
Randeep Singh Surjewala, Haryana Minister for Industries, said the incident was condemnable, but it should be kept in mind that three police vehicles were set ablaze.
Demanding that the government step down immediately, Ajay Chautala of INLD compared today’s incident with Jallianwala Bagh massacre
NDA convenor George Fernandes said the issue will find an echo in Parliament
5 hours that rocked Gurgaon
11 am:Protestors assemble at Kamla Nehru Park, move towards MDI Chowk
11:30 am: Protestors intercepted by the SDM and the DSP, who ask them to call off the procession
12 noon: Protestors attack the SDM and the police with stones and sticks. Set the SDM’s vehicle on fire. An outnumbered police force flees from the spot
Between 12 and 2pm :Rampage on Mehrauli- Gurgaon road
2:30pm :Protestors reach the Mini Secretariat and assemble in an open area
3pm:The police launch a sudden attack on the gathering. Lathicharge lasts 45 minutes
4pm:The battered protestors are herded into buses and taken to various police stations