Bengal govt, CITU at loggerheads over jute mill probe

KOLKATA, JAN 15: The Left Front government in West Bengal and the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the labour wing of the CPI(M), to...

KOLKATA, JAN 15: The Left Front government in West Bengal and the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the labour wing of the CPI(M), today crossed swords again on the issue of an inquiry into the lynching of the CEO and General Manager (Administration) at the Baranagar Jute Factory on January 13. One worker was also killed.

While Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya announced at a press conference today that a one-man commission headed by Principal Secretary (Home) Saurin Roy would inquire into the incident, Niren Ghosh, president of the state unit of CITU, today demanded an independent inquiry into the incident.

The most recent case of disagreement between the government and the CITU was on the question of “gherao”. Bhattacharya, who took over as Chief Minister on November 6, declared that he was opposed to the practice of “gherao” and that it had played spoilsport for trade and business in the state in the past. The CITU took umbrage to this and said that peaceful “gheraos” were legitimate weapons for trade unions and it would continue using it to get their dues from managements.

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“There should be an independent inquiry, maybe the government could appoint an eminent personality to probe into all the aspects of the incident,” Ghosh told The Indian Express. “Any other inquiry, CID or anything else, can not bring ot the truth,” he maintained.

Incidentally, it was only today — two days after the incident — that the government sent two ministers Shanti Ghatak and Mohd Amin, to the spot to assess the situation.

“Ghatak is at Baranagar and he will have talks with the police and the municipality,” Bhattacharya said. “We will make an announcement on the question of re-opening the factory in a day or two,” the Chief Minister assured.

However, Ghanashyam Sharda, co-owner of the factory, had something quite different to say. “The future of the factory is absolutely uncertain and nobody can say when it is going to be re-opened,” Sharda told The Indian Express after attending a meeting of the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) that took stock of the situation. “Where do I get a manager from to run the factory? Everybody is afraid for their life,” he added.

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The contradictions do not end here. While the Chief Minister said that what happened at Baranagar was an isolated incident, Sanjay Kajaria, president of IJMA, said that the violence was a culmination of things that were taking place at various jute mills of the state for quite some time.

“The Baranagar mayhem was not a stray incident,” Kajaria told this reporter. “Incidents of assaulting officials, ransacking offices and other violent activities at various factories have become so common. Individual mills have taken this matter up with the administration but the government has done precious little to control militant labour. We are going to meet the Chief Minister in this regard very soon,” Kajarua added.