deccan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CPI alleges rights violation of migrant labour in Goa
Devika Sequeira DH News Service PANAJI, July 29 Fifty-year old Shernappa, a labourer from Karnataka, who allegedly committed suicide by hanging earlier this week here, has become a mere statistic in Goa police records. But to the unorganised migrant labour sector, his case is representative of the gross mistreatment and abuse they constantly endure from the Goa police, purely because they are 'outsiders'. Matters came to a flashpoint on July 25, when labour leader and CPI Goa General Secretary Christopher Fonseca led a spontaneous march to the Panjim police headquarters to protest the labourer's death. Mr Fonseca and a 40-odd band of casual labour were later arrested. Quoting an autopsy report, the police says Shernappa committed suicide, in his village of residence, and his body bore no external injuries. But Mr Fonseca argues that the casual labourer from Karnataka, who had settled in Goa Velha, was 'driven to suicide by police excesses'. Shernappa had been living in Goa for over 10 years and was well liked in the village, where he earned a living doing odd-jobs. The village is equally shocked by his death, he says. "Whenever a theft or robbery is reported, it is the non-Goan labour that is singled out and terrorised." Shernappa and some other labourers were picked up and mercilessly interrogated at the Agassaim police station over five days after reported thefts in the vicinity of the police station, the AITUC leader says. He alleges the police employed third degree methods to intimidate them. There were "compelling circumstances" to push Shernappa to kill himself, he believes. A day after the labour leader stormed the police headquarters to protest the "dehumanising" treatment of migrant labour, local newspapers reported that over 250 non-Goan workers had been rounded up for questioning in Pernem taluka, after a series of armed dacoities in the area. It is estimated that close to 50,000 construction and quasi-construction workers have settled in Goa over the years. Though they are largely cosmopolitan, the majority originate from Karnataka. "They contribute to Goa's wealth and productivity. They also contribute to the GMP of the village they live in. How can you just throw them out?" Mr Fonseca asks. The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is lobbying for a bill to protect the rights of the 30,000 workers in the unorganised sector in Goa, on the lines of the ones implemented by Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Mr Fonseca says the proforma for tenants, imposed by the BJP government here smacked of "fascist designs". The proforma had become another tool of harassment in police hands and was being used only against the labour class. "People should have a right to go anywhere in the country," he points out. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
