CASR STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE ARBITRARY ARREST OF TRADE UNION LEADER BACCHA SINGH BY NIA IN JHARKHAND
On January 3, NIA Ranchi called Baccha Singh for questioning in case FIR Number RC-03/2023/NIA/RNC and later arrested him. 6 months ago, under the same FIR, NIA Raided the house of Trade Union and Cultural Activist Kaladas Dahariya in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh and called him to Ranchi for interrogation. Under this same "Conspiracy Case", Anti Displacement Activist Damodar Turi had his house raided in May 2023 and was interrogated as recently as November, 2024 by the NIA.
Baccha Singh was also targeted in another "Conspiracy Case" when his house was raided by NIA on May 2, 2023 along with other activists, including jailed Journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh's house in which, phone and other devices of his life partner Ipsha were seized.
Baccha Singh is a well known Trade Union Activist based in the Bokaro Industrial Area in Jharkhand. He is former General Secretary of Registered trade union - Majdoor Sangthan Samiti (MSS) since 1989, banned for the second time by the Jharkhand Government in August 2023. Colonial era Criminal Law Amendment Act (CLA) 1908, under which the ban has been imposed, empowers the state government to declare an organization “unlawful” if the government in its “opinion” believes that the organization “interferes or has for its objective interference in administration of law and maintenance of law and order or constitutes danger to public peace." This particular "conspiracy case" (RC-03/2023/NIA/RNC) is yet another net of bogus case pertaining to a supposed conspiracy to collect fund and garner support in order to revive Maoist party in Bihar-Jharkhand region.
Majdoor Sangathan Samiti and Bachha Prasad have been facing the state's brunt for organising the working class for far too long. In December 2017, the Jharkhand Government banned MSS, sealed its organisational office and a small medical clinic run by MSS with the contribution of workers. The reason given for the ban was that they were a front organisation of the Maoists and were celebrating the fifty years of Naxalbari, and had invited famous poet Varavara Rao. In February 2022, the Ranchi High court lifted the ban from MSS and said “The State Government has not submitted any such evidence, according to which the MSS could be considered as an ally organisation of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Also, they have never been reported to have been involved in any kind of terrorist or unlawful activities that could cause anarchy." Despite being tagged, banned and acquitted; MSS and its leaders are still being framed in a similar case.
The reason behind the persistent persecution of MSS and Bachha Singh is that MSS has been active for more than the last three decades in organizing contract workers in the coal mines of Dhanbad, Giridih and Bokaro. It struggled to bring together thousands of “doli mazdoors” in Madhuban, whose services are used by Jain pilgrims visiting the hilltop Parasnath temple. They have also been trying to bridge the gap between contract and regular workers and build unity among them. MSS's advocacy of Adivasi rights and support to other progressive movements in Jharkhand, as part and parcel of its trade union activities, has been evident in its engagement with the fight against incarceration of tribals under fabricated cases, land acquisition, rapacious mining and displacement. This present case (RC-03/2023/NIA/RNC) is very similar to the bogus "Lucknow Conspiracy Case", being used to raid, intimidate and jail democratic activists in North Indian State of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Such a state conspiracy of series of "conspiracy cases" is to crackdown on Anti-displacement, Labour, Farmer and Student activists to intimidate or jail them without material evidence, in a bid to suppress the people's growing demand of a just and better society.
CASR demands immediate release of Trade Union Leader leader Baccha Singh and revocation of illegal Ban imposed on MSS- a Registered Trade Union. CASR also opposes the policy of banning organizations, because once an organization is banned, the provisions of the ban can be used to target activists even without committing any criminal offence, solely on the basis of "guilt by association". Governments in power have used bans to outlaw opposition and dissent, and the state government’s ban on the MSS, a trade union working for more than 30 years, raising legitimate and basic demands of workers, is a measure of this kind. It is part of a larger attempt to clamp down those who dare to resist the Jharkhand government’s anti-people policies.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST STATE REPRESSION
Organizing Team
(AIRSO,AISA, AISF, APCR,ASA,BAPSA BBAU,BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, bsCEM, CEM,COLLECTIVE,CRPP, CSM CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity, IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, NAPM, NAZARIYA , Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Samajwadi Lok Manch, Bahujan Samjavadi Manch, SFI, United Peace Alliance, WSS,Y4S)
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