OUR CORRESPONDENT
BONGAIGAON: North East Frontier Railway Mazdoor Union will observe Swahid Divas on September 19 in all branches of the union.
Talking to press, Dilip Chakraborty and Ashish Biswas, president and secretary of the union, stated that this day was marked as a symbol of the brutality of the administration on the Railway employees as well as other Central Government employees.
"On 1960, a 5-day long general strike was launched by railway workers and other Central Government employees on the demand of need-based minimum wages and full neutralization of cost of living index by the way of dearness allowances. Five persons were gunned down and thousands were arrested here. But the government was compelled to set up a machinery to resolve the dispute," they stated.
"Due to the refusal of the government to fulfill the demands of the staff, a one-day nationwide token strike was called on September 19, 1968. Eight persons were gunned down and one killed by lethal weapon. Thousands were arrested, suspended and removed from service. Around 48,000 temporary employees were removed who were taken back after massive demonstration in front of the PM's residence," they said.
Both the leaders stated that the continuous agitation compelled the government to bow down finally. "Impact of the anger of the working class people was shown in 1977 during the general election. The brutal government was removed then. The same will be faced by the present government if they do not stop its anti-labour, anti-employee activities. We appeal to all our branches to observe September 19 as Swahid Diwas so that the present government can take a lesson from history and never try to follow the footsteps of the brutal government of 1968," Chakraborty and Biswas said.
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