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Journalism of Courage
A man was killed and another seriously injured when tea garden workers of two unions — affiliated to the CPI(M) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party — clashed at the Birpara tea estate in Jalpaiguri district this morning.
Union clashes have broken out in many gardens across North Bengal. Five months ago, 19 workers were charred to death at the Dalgaon tea estate. Birpara was a repeat of the Dalgaon row, as workers of the Chabagan Workers’ Union, affiliated to the RSP, attacked a CITU leader over alleged wrongdoings.
‘‘Around 7.30 am, miscreants gathered around Nandeshwar Gowala’s home and set it on fire. The house was gutted but the CITU leader escaped unhurt. Then mob immediately turned on Gowala’s son whose house was also ransacked,’’ IG (law and order) Chayan Kumar Mukherjee said. The mob then burnt down the house of another CITU member. With Gowala escaping, the enraged mob attacked two CITU members of the tea estate, stabbing one and seriously injuring the other. The police arrested 35 men and 25 women for the attack. They could not, however, pinpoint the reason of discontent with Gowala.
