Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) condemns the heinous effort by the communal and divisive forces to create division and disharmony among the working class by creating panic among migrant workers who are working in Tamil Nadu by propagating fake news/videos.
In the last few days, a video of migrant workers from Bihar allegedly getting severely beaten up in Tamil Nadu was widely circulated. This has created anxiety and concern among people of Bihar, Jharkhand, UP, and other source states of migrant workers. It has also created panic among the migrant workers, especially those from North India working in Tamil Nadu. This has apparently been circulated by the BJP led forces with its ulterior motive to get political mileage out of it.
The Tamil Nadu Government and its Police Department swiftly acted and found that there is no such incident happened and these are all fake videos and has filed cases against those who have created such panic by raking up this issue with some old videos originated from out of Tamil Nadu with the purpose of creating hatred and enmity among the common people in general and working people in particular. Those include the BJP Tamil Nadu state President and one its UP spokesman. CITU strongly condemns this heinous act and demands exemplary punishment to the guilty.
It is to be noted that it is the BJP which betrayed the migrant workers by repealing the Inter-State Migrant Workers Act, 1979 in the process of labour law codification and done away with all protections and legal rights to the migrant workers that too during the peak of their sufferings due to the most stringent lockdown. CITU demands strict implementation of the Act throughout the country by all state governments.
CITU Tamil Nadu State Committee has directed its activists to approach the migrant workers throughout the state and assess if there is any kind of discrimination and harassment faced by them. Tamil Nadu CITU has assured that it will assure peace and harmony at workplaces and in society at any cost.
CITU calls upon the working class of the country to remain vigilant and alert about such conspiratorial move by communal-divisive forces to disrupt harmony among the working people with the ulterior motive to divide the unity of the working people which will finally benefit the employers’ class. It calls upon the working class to intensity its fight for the rights of the workers, including the migrant worker's rights.
CITU calls upon the people in general and workers in particular to expose the machinations of these divisive forces and maintain utmost vigilant against such mischievous misdeeds.
Issued by
Tapan Sen
General Secretary
