Nationwide general strike: Coal mining operations hit in SCCL mines; TGSRTC bus services disrupted in Khammam district
About 85% of the total men on rolls during the first shift abstained from work impacting coal production in the SCCL's coal mines across 11 Areas spanning six districts in Telangana's coal belt, sources said.
Coal output dropped significantly during the first and second shifts even as the JAC of Singareni trade unions claimed the strike as a resounding success.
Workers owing allegiance to the JAC of Singareni trade unions, barring the BMS-affiliated Singareni Coal Mines Karmika Sangh, observed the day-long strike.
Formation of human chains, dharnas and rallies marked the protest programmes organized by the JAC of trade unions in Godavarikhani, Mandamarri, Kothagudem and elsewhere in the coal belt.
Members of the AITUC-affiliated Singareni Collieries Workers' Union, which is the SCCL's recognized union, the INTUC, the CITU-affiliated Singareni Collieries Employees' Union, Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS) and various other unions took part in different protest programmes.
In Khammam district, TGSRTC bus services were crippled by the day-long nationwide strike.
Members of the trade unions affiliated to Left parties took out a massive rally in Khammam during the general strike.
The demonstrators raised slogans demanding the repeal of the Centre's four labour codes terming them as most detrimental to the interests of the working class. They vowed to defend the hard-won labour rights.
CPI (M) Central Committee member Tammineni Veerabhadram, CPI State secretariat member B Hemanth Rao and others led the rally.
A tractor rally was organised by the CPI-affiliated Telangana Rythu Sangham in Khammam in support of the general strike.
The strike evoked mixed response in the erstwhile Karimnagar and Adilabad districts.
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Banerjee dared the BJP to put her in a detention facility. She has also condemned these attacks on social media. 'The second most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second most spoken language of Assam,' she wrote. 'To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional…' TMC Rajya Sabha MP and head of the Bengali Migrant Board, Samirul Islam, accused the BJP of inciting anti-Bengali sentiments. TMC MP Mahua Moitra termed these detentions as illegal abductions. 'Not detained, just withheld' When asked about the charges under which the migrants are being detained, Gurugram Police PRO Sandeep Kumar said, 'They are not detained. As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), certain holding centres have been created, and suspected Bangladeshis are being kept there. All basic necessities, including medical facilities, are being provided to them at the centres.' In May, the Union government had directed states and union territories to identify, detain and deport undocumented immigrants across the country. Wion reported that the Centre gave states a 30-day deadline to verify documents of suspected undocumented immigrants and to initiate deportation proceedings against those who are unable to prove their citizenship. The MHA has also instructed states to establish district-level detention centres to hold such individuals. The ongoing crackdown appears to be in sync with this directive from the Union government. Kumar said that the 'suspected immigrants' are being held as per government guidelines, although he did not specify what these guidelines are. 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On one side of the road stand tall, eye-catching multi-storey buildings housing corporate offices like that of American Express, while on the other side lies a slum cluster housing Assamese migrants who work as cleaners in these offices. Residents claimed that nearly 2,000 people used to live in the area. However, when The Wire visited, the colony was almost entirely deserted. Only around 10-12 women were present, who were about to visit their husbands and other male relatives currently held in detention centres. Khatola is deserted after the recent crackdown. Photo: Shruti Sharma Barring a few, the entire neighbourhood has fled to Assam's Dhubri following the recent crackdown. 'How can we leave while our husbands and other relatives are rotting in detention centres? Who knows what the police will do to them?' said Rohima, when asked why she had stayed behind when most others had fled. The women claimed that on July 19, police detained over 40 men from the area. Among those detained was Rohima's husband, Nazrul Islam Mondal. Rohima says Mondal was detained by the police despite having almost every document, even his name is in the National Register of Citizens. Recalling the ordeal, Rohima said, 'The police asked me where I am from. I said I'm Assamese. But they said, 'Each one of you is from Bangladesh. We will take everyone.' Then they took our men. We asked when they would be released, and the police replied, ' Tere ko kya matlab hai? Tu bhaag idhar se (What do you have to do with this? Just get out of here).'' The women alleged that the police took their husbands without checking any documents, even though they tried to show them multiple identity cards. Rohima added that her husband managed to call her from the detention centre and asked her to send all his documents. "But after that, his phone has been switched off," she said. 'Since the day my husband was taken away, I haven't been able to eat. My 12-year-old daughter hasn't been to school because her father was the one who used to drop her off,' said Sayra Bano, whose husband Rokibuz Husain is also among those detained. Both Sayra and her husband work as domestic workers. Residents live among piles of garbage scattered across the neighbourhood. Photo: Shruti Sharma When asked if they plan to continue living in the area after their husbands are released, most of the women said they would leave once their family members return. 'Who can live in such an environment, constantly under threat?' said a woman accompanying Bano. The Wire spoke with a few detainees over a call. One of them said that he was picked up from Palam Vihar when he had voluntarily gone there to show his documents with a group of dozen Assamese migrants. Another said, 'Even dogs are fed better.' 'They detain us just because we speak Bengali' Back in the ragpicker colony which houses people from West Bengal, Amanur Shaikh said, 'They detain us just because we speak Bengali. Is speaking Bengali a crime in this country? If it is being treated as one, then we must raise our voices against it,' he said. He added that the current atmosphere has forced people like him to live in constant fear. 'Because of the narrative that hass been created, anyone can come and threaten us by calling us Bangladeshis,' he said. He added, 'If the government wants Bengali speakers to leave the NCR, they should just say so, we will go back to West Bengal peacefully. But please, don't treat us in such an inhumane manner.' Shaikh also alleged political motives behind the recent crackdown. 'The BJP has repeatedly failed to form a government in Bengal despite years of effort. That's why they are targeting Bengali people,' he said. Rupa, aunt of Hafizul, has been living in Delhi for the past 15 years and works in a factory's housekeeping department. She feels that Bengali people will have to leave now. 'A few months back,' she said, 'the police randomly came to my house and asked if I was Bangladeshi. When I denied it, they said someone had informed them that I was an 'infiltrator'. I showed them my documents, and then they left.' 'Since they took my nephew, I haven't been able to sleep. My husband hasn't gone to work for the past three days out of fear that he might also be detained,' she added. Rag-picking is one of the prominent sources of livelihood in the neighbourhood. Photo: Alishan Jafri Their neighbour, Mijanur Molla, alleged that the police released his father-in-law, Soyed Molla (45), along with five others, after taking Rs 6,000 from each person. Soyed Molla and the others had been detained by the police last month. Mijanur, who has been working as a cleaner in Delhi for the past four years, said, 'The police picked up my father-in-law from his room despite him showing valid documents. They took away his papers, kept him in jail for 2-3 days, where they tortured him.' 'They torture us because they think every Bangla-speaking Muslim is Bangladeshi,' said Minajur. 'In our village, no one speaks Hindi, everyone speaks Bengali. Just because we don't know Hindi doesn't mean we are Bangladeshis,' said Rupa. 'These are illegal detentions' Advocate Sinha said, 'After speaking to police officials, we found that as per the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines, authorities can detain anyone they suspect to be an illegal citizen. They can keep them in custody for up to 30 days for identity verification.' Calling these detentions illegal, he said, 'As far as the constitutionality of these detentions is concerned, anyone being detained has the right to legal representation. You cannot detain someone without providing them a reason for the same. Nor can you keep them in custody indefinitely.' 'Every detention I have come across appears to be identity-targeted. All the individuals being detained are mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims, and their home states are either West Bengal or Assam,' he said. He raised several questions: 'Who is deciding their citizenship? On what basis and through which documents? Was any survey conducted before categorising these individuals? What parameters have been applied to label their documents as doubtful?' Officials have remained completely silent on these questions. Sinha said that the CPI-ML is planning to approach the court on this matter. 'We are exploring all the legal options available.' The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
