Report

On September 23, tens of thousands of rural poor in Uttar Pradesh, under the banner of All India Agricultural and Rural Labour Association (AIARLA) staged massive protests across district headquarters, demanding 200 days of work and Rs. 600 in wages under the MGNREGA scheme. The protest program also called for debt waiver for microfinance loans, cancellation of electricity bills, 300 units of free electricity, the return of funds deposited in the National Sahara scheme, and a complete halt to the undemocratic and unconstitutional "Bulldozer Raj."

KNCA and AIPWA organised a Candle March at Diphu Bazaar near the Horbong Point bus stand. The march was in protest of a recent incident of rape and murder of a woman in Karbi Anglong Autonomous district, when she was returning home in the evening. This ghastly crime adds to innumerable rape crimes the whole country is worried and protesting. A large number of people gathered to seek justice for the victim, expressing solidarity with her family. Many other organisations including KSA, AISA and RYA also joined this protest.

The KARBI ANGLONG KISHAN SHRAMIK SHABHA (KAKISS) and AIARLA held a protest meeting on 23 September in Diphu town and submitted to the district commissioner a memorandum addressed to the President of India. This was taken up as part of the national campaign of AIARLA to highlight the most basic issues of rural and agrarian workers which are neglected by the Modi government in the centre.

The ghastly incident of setting fire and looting a whole Mahadalit hamlet in Nawada has again brought to the fore disturbing fact that feudal criminal anti-dalit forces are strengthening themselves under the Nitish-BJP regime in Bihar, and, such criminals are serving the ends of land grabbers and mafia. On 18 September a criminal gang of one Nandu Paswan armed with firearms attacked Krishna Nagar, a dalit hamlet at Dadaur in Nawada district.

To investigate into the brutal mob lynching of Sabeer Mallik, a 24-year-old migrant labourer from West Bengal who was killed in Haryana, fact-finding teams visited his native village in 24 Parganas, West Bengal and his temporary place of residence in Charkhi Dadri district in Haryana. Sabeer was from a landless family in the Sundarbans region of 24 Parganas, West Bengal, sought a better life in Haryana where he migrated with hopes of improving his family’s circumstances.

All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) raised significant concerns regarding labour law violations and the infringement of worker rights at various companies and government establishments in Patna. AICCTU State Secretary, Ranvijay Kumar demanded stringent enforcement of labour laws and action against employers who are violating these laws and undermining workers' rights.

CPIML MLA Gopal Ravidas has called for the restoration of peace in Jat-Dumri and called for a high-level investigation into recent attempts of communal polarisation by elements linked to the Bajrang Dal. Gopal Ravidas has expressed concerns over the role of the Masaurhi Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), under whose watch the incident happened and has called for an inquiry into his involvement.

A meeting organised by Association of Protection of Civil Rights and Concerned Citizens on September 17 expressing outrage over the continuing travesty of justice and denial of bail to the Delhi activists including Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Gulfisha Fatima, Sharjeel Imam and others. The meeting titled Curtailed Freedom: A Travesty of Justice! held in the Constitution Club in Delhi.

On September 11, 2024, in BBMP Ward No. 72, six female pourakarmikas (Municipal Sanitation workers) were violently assaulted and subjected to caste-based abuse while performing their cleaning duties. The incident involved a local resident, Chandru, and his mother, who verbally abused the pourakarmikas with caste slurs, destroyed one worker’s phone when she attempted to record the abuse, and physically assaulted several workers, causing serious injuries. Despite the filing of an FIR under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, no arrests have been made to date.

In response to the recent rise in attacks against the Musahar community in Gaya district, a team of Members of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from the CPIML, led by CPIML MLAs Ramabali Singh Yadav and Shivprakash Ranjan, visited in Dehma Tola Pathra, where a Mahadalit Rajkumar Manjhi was brutally murdered by criminals on September 14, 2024.