Undeterred by extreme heat, workers of Pendu Mazdoor Union stage dharna at DAC

Hoshiarpur, June 13

The Pendu Mazdoor Union Punjab held a protest march and staged a dharna today in front of the District Administrative Complex (DAC) here demanding registration of an FIR against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Tanda MLA Jasveer Singh Raja and his supporters under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and other sections and for the release of jailed Dalit workers.

The union members surrounded the gate of the DAC and staged a dharna in middle of the road for about four hours. Later, senior police officers held a meeting with union leaders. The police officers said valid demands of the union would be met. During the meeting, SP (D) Sarabjit Singh Bahia assured protesters that jailed union workers would be released by Tuesday after completing all the formalities. After the meeting, the union lifted its dharna at the DAC. The union said in case their jailed workers were not released, they would stage a permanent protest dharna in front of the SSP’s office after 10 days.

Earlier, protesters gathered near the parking lot of the old courthouse, from where they marched towards the protest site in front of the SSP’s office. When the police stopped protesters by closing the DAC gate, the latter sat in middle of the road and staged a dharna. Hundreds of labourers and others participated in the dharna.

State union president Tarsem Peter, state press secretary Kashmir Singh Ghugshore and land acquisition struggle committee president Mukesh Malod said under the pressure of the AAP’s Tanda MLA, the police acted illegally on May 20 and imprisoned Dalit workers of the area so as to deprive them of their land. They said the union was raising its voice to remove illegal encroachments from the allotted land of the state government and give its ownership rights to Dalits. They alleged that AAP MLA Jasveer Singh Raja and his supporters during the election campaign at Tahli village had misbehaved with Dalit workers when they asked questions about land encroachment. Despite several complaints, the police did not take action against Raja and his supporters, they said. They said under the MLA’s pressure the police bullied Dalit workers and sent them to jail in a false case.

They also asked the administration to make public a video footage of the gurdwara at the time of the incident in which the MLA could be seen pushing a Dalit leader.