Delhi police on Monday removed banners condemning Israel’s attack on Palestine and “hate-mongering” by the RSS and the BJP in the country at a national conference of trade unions here.
The All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), affiliated to the CPIML Liberation, had organised a national conference at the Talkatora Stadium to discuss the issues of workers in sectors such as railways, defence production, sanitation and those engaged in different government schemes. It had invited leaders of other trade unions except the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).
Inside the venue, the organisers had displayed banners related to workers’ rights and demands. They had also put up posters to condemn the attack on Palestine and “hate-mongering” against minorities by the RSS-BJP.
Suchta De, the vice-president of the AICCTU, said the police entered the hall when the conference was about to begin and pulled down two banners. “All necessary permissions were obtained from the police for holding the conference. But five police personnel entered the hall and pulled down the two banners without giving any reason. It was shocking,” De said.
“We did not oppose it since it would have disrupted our meeting. They selectively removed those banners which were raising questions on the Narendra Modi government’s policy towards the suffering of people in Palestine and the minorities in India,” she said.
In October 2024, a seminar on the attack on Palestine was cancelled at Jawaharlal Nehru University for “not following procedures in the planning of the event”.
“We kept the banners on Palestine and hate-mongering because they reflect the deteriorating democratic norms,” De said.
Workers engaged in the implementation of government schemes such as midday meals, Integrated Child Development Service and the National Rural Health Mission are poorly paid. Several hundred such scheme workers attended the event and shared their grievances.
Dipankar Bhattacharya, the general secretary of the CPIML, said the eight-hour workday was being eroded and workers were being asked to work for as long as 12 hours. He appealed to workers to protest religious hatred, casteism and exploitation.