In Opposition to State Crackdown

The Campaign against State Repression (CASR) demands the immediate release of Nodeep Kaur and strict action against the Haryana police for targeting workers in the Kundli Industrial Area (KIA).

On 12 January 2021, the Haryana police barged into the Majdoor Adhikar Sanghathan (MAS) tent erected in solidarity with the protesting farmers and peasants at the Singhu Border and arrested a 24-year-old Dalit woman, worker and trade union activist Kaur. She was then taken to the Kundli police station where two different first information reports (FIR) were filed against her, FIR 25/2021 and 26/2021. One under Sections 148, 149, 186, 332, 352, 384, 379B and 307 of the Indian Penal Code and the other under Sections 148, 149, 323, 452, 384 and 506; a wide range of sections, including rioting while armed with deadly weapon, unlawful assembly, causing hurt to public servant, assault and criminal force, trespass, extortion, snatching, criminal intimidation and attempt to murder. These FIRs are based on statements by a police inspector and the accountant of the company that had failed to pay the workers’ wages, Elecmech Pvt Ltd.