One diamond worker was shot dead and nearly 45 people were injured, including policemen, when they went on a rampage in Bhavnagar on Sunday morning. Diamond workers have been on strike across the state, demanding a wage hike.
A worker identified as Mukesh Zapalia was killed when he was shot at by a private security guard, Gajraj Bhadolia, at the Jewel Star unit, owned by Bhavnagar Diamond Polishers Association President Mavji Chogat. Bhavnagar SP Anupamsingh Ghelot said the security guard fired at the mob after it allegedly attempted to break into the unit after ransacking several adjacent units.
Several diamond units on Kumud Vadi and Bor Tadav area of the city were ransacked. The mob also set ablaze seven vehicles, including two cars.
Later thousands of workers came out into the open leading to a clash with the police. The police had to resort to a lathi charge to control the stone pelting mob. Some 30 workers and 12 policemen were injured in the fracas.
The diamond workers have been demanding a 20 per cent wage hike across the state, except in Surat where it has already been implemented. They have been on an indefinite strike for the past three days at Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Rajkot, Gondal and Junagadh.
The backlash of the Bhavnagar incident was felt at Amreli also where workers formed a new association with Kanti Kanani as their representative. A meeting was held in the afternoon and the association said it will soon decide on its future course of action.
According to reports, a leaflet in circulation with a message that said that workers were being exploited by the unit owners possibly triggered the violence in Bhavnagar on Sunday. Earlier on Saturday, a big mob of workers pelted stones at Ahmedabad.
On Sunday, protest rallies and dharnas were also organised by the workers at other diamond centres in Saurashtra at Rajkot, Gondal, Amreli and Junagadh.
Ghelot said the guard has been identified as an ex-serviceman from Uttar Pradesh, working with a private firm. He has been charged with murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, he said.
A complaint of rioting and arson has also been registered against unidentified persons.
The timing of the strike and violence cannot be worse for the 12 billon dollar diamond industry in Gujarat, which accounts for nearly 95 per cent of diamond polishing and trade in India.
The industry has been facing recession for two years now, causing a shut down of nearly 25 per cent of the total 10,000 units. More than 2,000 units in Surat function on a larger scale while the remainder are either mid or small level units. Bhavnagar has over 500 units with a total of 50,000 workers.
Apart from Bhavnagar city, diamond units are scattered in talukas like Botad and Gariyadhar. Amreli district too has nearly 500 units, followed by 100 to 150 at Rajkot and Junagadh. Experts believe that workers, numbering some 8 lakh, who do not have a union, do deserve a hike. But the strike and the tension is a cause of worry for many.
Diamond polishing units have a variety of labour work on offer. For polishing a diamond, a worker gets Rs 3.50. They have been demanding that this be increased to Rs 5.50, given the rising inflation. They work for eight hours a day in the units cleaning, cutting and polishing diamonds.
“We can't say their demand is not justifiable,” said K K Sharma, executive director of Indian Diamond Institute, a Central Government research centre at Surat.
But according to Sharma, when one lakh workers in this industry have already lost their jobs to global recession, the current situation will only make things worse for the industry. The rising prices in raw material, imported from African countries, Russia and Canada, in the past couple of years have been stealing the lustre from the industry across the globe.
“In Surat, the workers’ demand was accepted as we felt it was a need,” said Aagam Sanghvi, director, Sanghavi Exporters, one of the big houses in Surat.
At Bhavnagar, however, unit owners have thrown up their hands. “We are subsidiaries of the Surat units. Our job is only to take polishing assignments and we are not into exporting and trading, like the Surat based units, which can afford to meet the workers’ demands,” said Chogat.
courtesy : www.expressindia.com
A worker identified as Mukesh Zapalia was killed when he was shot at by a private security guard, Gajraj Bhadolia, at the Jewel Star unit, owned by Bhavnagar Diamond Polishers Association President Mavji Chogat. Bhavnagar SP Anupamsingh Ghelot said the security guard fired at the mob after it allegedly attempted to break into the unit after ransacking several adjacent units.
Several diamond units on Kumud Vadi and Bor Tadav area of the city were ransacked. The mob also set ablaze seven vehicles, including two cars.
Later thousands of workers came out into the open leading to a clash with the police. The police had to resort to a lathi charge to control the stone pelting mob. Some 30 workers and 12 policemen were injured in the fracas.
The diamond workers have been demanding a 20 per cent wage hike across the state, except in Surat where it has already been implemented. They have been on an indefinite strike for the past three days at Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Rajkot, Gondal and Junagadh.
The backlash of the Bhavnagar incident was felt at Amreli also where workers formed a new association with Kanti Kanani as their representative. A meeting was held in the afternoon and the association said it will soon decide on its future course of action.
According to reports, a leaflet in circulation with a message that said that workers were being exploited by the unit owners possibly triggered the violence in Bhavnagar on Sunday. Earlier on Saturday, a big mob of workers pelted stones at Ahmedabad.
On Sunday, protest rallies and dharnas were also organised by the workers at other diamond centres in Saurashtra at Rajkot, Gondal, Amreli and Junagadh.
Ghelot said the guard has been identified as an ex-serviceman from Uttar Pradesh, working with a private firm. He has been charged with murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, he said.
A complaint of rioting and arson has also been registered against unidentified persons.
The timing of the strike and violence cannot be worse for the 12 billon dollar diamond industry in Gujarat, which accounts for nearly 95 per cent of diamond polishing and trade in India.
The industry has been facing recession for two years now, causing a shut down of nearly 25 per cent of the total 10,000 units. More than 2,000 units in Surat function on a larger scale while the remainder are either mid or small level units. Bhavnagar has over 500 units with a total of 50,000 workers.
Apart from Bhavnagar city, diamond units are scattered in talukas like Botad and Gariyadhar. Amreli district too has nearly 500 units, followed by 100 to 150 at Rajkot and Junagadh. Experts believe that workers, numbering some 8 lakh, who do not have a union, do deserve a hike. But the strike and the tension is a cause of worry for many.
Diamond polishing units have a variety of labour work on offer. For polishing a diamond, a worker gets Rs 3.50. They have been demanding that this be increased to Rs 5.50, given the rising inflation. They work for eight hours a day in the units cleaning, cutting and polishing diamonds.
“We can't say their demand is not justifiable,” said K K Sharma, executive director of Indian Diamond Institute, a Central Government research centre at Surat.
But according to Sharma, when one lakh workers in this industry have already lost their jobs to global recession, the current situation will only make things worse for the industry. The rising prices in raw material, imported from African countries, Russia and Canada, in the past couple of years have been stealing the lustre from the industry across the globe.
“In Surat, the workers’ demand was accepted as we felt it was a need,” said Aagam Sanghvi, director, Sanghavi Exporters, one of the big houses in Surat.
At Bhavnagar, however, unit owners have thrown up their hands. “We are subsidiaries of the Surat units. Our job is only to take polishing assignments and we are not into exporting and trading, like the Surat based units, which can afford to meet the workers’ demands,” said Chogat.
courtesy : www.expressindia.com