Surat textile units feel the heat as labourers boycott work

Police had,on Monday,arrested over 150 workers following a stone-pelting and arson incident. The workers,mostly from Orissa and UP,had resorted to violence after clashes with some local autorickshaw drivers who had allegedly demanded “high fare”.

Now they have decided to boycott work to mount pressure on the police to release their fellow workers. Prabhunath Sahoo,a worker,said: “We are fed up with the nuisance of Rabari community people driving autorickshaws. In the past,they had beaten up the workers but the police did nothing. Such incident took place because we were helpless. We have requested the police to releases our people. We will resume work after their release.”

The police,however,said that more arrests are likely in the coming days. Surat SP K G Bhati said: “We have taken strict action against the rioters. We are not here to force them to go to work. I have come to know that they are demanding release of those arrested. But we will continue with our procedure and may arrest more people.”

Sources in the police said that on Sunday evening,a meeting was organised at Laskana village by textile workers identified as Pradeep Rath,Harish Jana,Deveraj Bishnoi,and Trilochan Sahoo. They had planned to “teach the Rabaris a lesson”.

Textile units,meanwhile,find themselves at the receiving end of the incident. Laskana Industrial Association president Bharat Patel said that over 1,400 factories are located in the Laskana area and most powerlooms workers are from outside Gujarat. “Majority of the factories are not functioning for the last three days. We tried to convince the workers to resume their work but they refused. The industry is facing a huge loss due to this.” he said.