Trade unions to march in support of Maruti workers

Gurgaon, Aug 16 (IANS) Trade unions of different political hues said they will march here Friday to demonstrate their support for Maruti Suzuki workers who are demanding a judicial probe into the July 18 violence at the car-maker's Manesar plant in which one senior executive was killed and over 100 workers were injured.

Leaders from trade unions CITU, AITUC, INTUC, and AIUTUC told news persons Thursday they would hold a meeting in Kamla Nehru Park here before commencing the march.

A memorandum of demands would be handed over to the district magistrate seeking, among other things, a judicial inquiry led by a sitting or retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court into the incidents of July 18, which claimed the life of senior executive Awanish Kumar Dev.

The trade union leaders said the workers had not intended to kill anyone arguing that if they had murderous intentions, the death toll might have been higher.

The trade union leaders also claimed that the police were acting at the behest of the Maruti management and were arresting innocent workers.

The Manesar plant, which has two production lines assembling some 1,200 cars a day, was shut down following the July 18 violence. Maruti declared a lockout in the plant July 21.

The general secretary of Maruti's Gurgaon plant workers union, Kuldeep Janghu, said workers in Gurgaon fully supported their Manesar counterparts. He claimed that if Gurgaon police had acted in time on July 18, the situation might not have taken a tragic turn.

A special investigation team of Haryana Police is probing the July 18 violence at the Manesar plant. In all, 134 workers have so far been arrested, including 12 office-bearers of the workers' union.