What happened in Faridabad on October 17 is mass murder. More than 50 workers (the exact num-ber is still not known) were brutally shot down while peacefully demonstrating for their just demands,
And who were the murderers? The capitalists and their government, the former armed with goondas and the latter with their police dadas. Together they ma-de the blood of workers flow down the streets of this small, industrial township in the outskirts of Delhi.
For the workers of Faridabad, it has been like an-other Emergency. The bandh call given by the trade union leaders was first planned for October 6, but after the government gave an assurance, it was postponed. One of their demands, the lifting of the prohibitory orders then in force, was conceded, and the leaders were able to move about freely, organis-ing the workers to agitate for their other demands, which included payment of minimum wage, and an end to the retrenchment of workers in one of the four largest units, the East India Cotton Mill.
On October 13, the talks between the union leaders and the government failed. A bandh call was given on October 17. Meanwhile, the government prepared itself for battle. The number of policemen in the town was quietly increased. Hospital beds were vacated for possible ‘casualties’. The scene was set for the murder.
This was in keeping with the declaration made by the Haryana Labour Minister, Khurshid Ahmed, when a workers’ delegation met him to settle their demands and avert the handh. He said; “I will not allow Faridabad workers to go on strike or bandh. I will turn Faridabad into a police camp and teach the workers the lesson of their life.”
Another proof that this was a planned massacre is the fact that Section 144 was imposed at midni-ght on the 17th, so that none of the workers were aware of it. As a result, when 5,000 of them assemb-led peacefully at Neelam Chowk at 10 a.m., they were totally unprepared for the attack that was to follow.
Sensing the violent mood of the police, the lead-ers asked the workers to disperse. But before they could do so, they were attacked from all sides by the police, who were armed with teargas and lathis.
One sub-inspector deliberately shot and killed three workers at point-blank range. Aroused to action by this brutality, the workers hit back killing him on the spot.
After this it was open war. Ths police began to lathi-cherge and fire at whoever came within their sight. Even children were not spared. Bullets rained on the jhuggis along the railway line, killing some and injuring many.
This went on till 4.30 p.m. The next target of attack was the Press colony, where most of the textile workers live. About 400 armed goondas sent by the employers and a large group of policemen rushed into the houses, looting the houses, and bea-ting up anyone they saw.
Some of the policemen began to fire at the nearby houses, killing two workers. One of the vic-tims, Kashmri Lal Bali (42), a worker at the govern-ment press, was shot dead while he was rushing to the terrace to fetch his 12-year-old son, Anil, who was playing there. The shocked boy ran to his father’s body but was stopped by a bullet which pierced his abdomen.
Hearing Anil’s cries, his neighbour, Jagdish Prasad (28), a worker, went up to the terrace with a boy, Surinder Kumar. Bullets hit them. Jagdish died later in the hospital while Surinder’s life is still han-ging in the balance.
Soon after Bali was shot dead, a police party came to the house and tried to take the body away. Meanwhile, his relatives had managed to get the body photographed.
Bali’s brother-in-law, having been forced to part with the bodies, approached the minister, police offi-cials and industrialists and pleaded to be allowed to perform the last rites. All of them refused on the grounds that if the body was allowed to be cremated in Faridabad, it would “further worsen industrial relations. Finally, the relatives were allowed to take the body in a police van to a cremation ground in nearby Gurgaon.
When they reached there, they found that six unidentified corpses were being secretly cremated. Even Bali’s body would have suffered the same fate had his relatives not insisted on getting it back.
When the relatives of other workers killed in the firing tried to claim the bodies from the doctor at the Gurgaon Civil Hospital for post-mortem reports, he pleaded helplessness. Driven to desperation, the workers turned to their trade union leaders, but nei-ther they nor the politicians would come to their rescue.
In the days that followed, the police, encouraged by their capitalist masters, tried hard to cover up their misdeeds. They cooked up stories about how the victims died. They also removed all traces of the firing, like bullets which had lodged themselves in the walls. The many victims were reduced to a mere “eight killed and 34 injured!
Today, an atmosphere of terror pervades the town. There is widespread hatred of the police and disillusi-onment with political and trade union leaders. The union leaders are, however, trying hard to win back the trust of the workers. After long drawn out negoti-ations with the capitalists and their government, they have bought “industrial peace” with comprom-ises and ‘assurances’ that betray working-class interests.
The victims’ families have been granted a compen-sation of Rs. 10,000 each, while the sub-inspector who butchered them received Rs. 15.000. Prohibitory orders have been lifted and all the demands of the workers have been placed before the Industrial Tribu-nal. Most probably to gather dust.
For the capitalists, it is a cheap price to pay for destroying the militancy of the working-class. With leaders like these who sell out their interests to the capitalists, the workers have to safegaurd their rights and lives by taking the initiative to from self-defence squads.
–October 30