BENGALURU: Nearly a thousand members of the Joint Committee of Trade Unions (JCTU) participated in a protest at Town Hall on Thursday as part of the nationwide general strike, demanding withdrawal of the four new labour codes and opposing changes to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Police detained several protesters, citing restrictions that allow demonstrations only at Freedom Park.
Schools, public transport and essential services functioned normally across the city.
As the protest intensified, police rounded up workers and activists and shifted them in BMTC buses. Protesters alleged that at least 23 busloads were taken to the CAR police grounds in Adugodi around 11.30 am, where they continued raising slogans.
They were released by about 2.30 pm. Clifton Rozario, AICCTU national vice- president and human rights activist, said the protest was part of a nationwide strike against the labour codes introduced by the Union government. “Even under the Siddaramaiah-led government, labourers and activists are being denied the opportunity to protest. All the workers were arrested and taken to Adugodi police grounds,” he alleged.
Hundreds of IT employees were arrested, along with Karnataka IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) General Secretary Suhas Adiga and other leaders and activists from KITU and various Central Trade Unions, during the protest.
“By cracking down on peaceful protesters, the Congress government in Karnataka is displaying its undemocratic character and hostility toward working-class struggles. We strongly condemn this repression,” he said. As the crowd swelled and tension mounted around Town Hall, some BMTC passengers alleged that they were asked to alight from buses to enable police to transport detained protesters.
The unions reiterated their demand for repeal of the labour codes and reinstatement of MGNREGA provisions, vowing to continue their agitation.