Tea Garden Owners Open Fire on Protesting Workers

Ten tea garden workers sustained bullet injuries when the owners of Bogidhola Tea Estate in Golaghat opened fire on them on December 13th. Eight of those who were injured have been shifted to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital and the other two are being treated at the Golaghat Kushal Konwar Civil Hospital. The two owners, Sudhir Roy and Samir Roy, have been arrested and one of the arms used, a double barrel gun, has been seized. The other, a pistol, is yet to be located. According to the police, a large number of workers had assembled outside the home of the owners to protest non-payment of bonus. The workers claimed that the management had promised to pay them the bonus by December 12th. It is alleged that the protesters burnt tyres and shouted slogans, and attempted to enter the residence of the owners, following which they were fired upon. The labourers had been demanding a bonus of 14 per cent since October, the garden authorities however, only agreed to pay 8.33 per cent, which was released but the workers did not waver on their demand.

The police arrived on the scene and brought the situation under control. According to The Assam Tribune Golaghat SP Manabendra Dev Ray stated that the situation has been brought under control and the security in the garden has been tightened. According to him, the arms used were both licensed. Following the incident, activists of the Chah Shramik Mukti Sangram Samiti were detained for demonstrating in front of the Golaghat Deputy Commissioner’s office. The Golaghat district unit of the Assam Tea Tribes Students Association (ATTSA) has declared a 12 hour shutdown in the district from 5 AM on December 14th.

On December 14 the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in a press release denounced the firing by the tea garden owner on their employees and demanded stringent action on the employer by the state or Union Government. They also demanded appropriate compensation to the victims.

The press release stated that “[i]t is most deplorable that the workers have to face bullets from the garden-owner for demanding their unpaid earned wages for the work already done; non-payment of earned wages to workers on time is a serious offence on the part of the employers.”

A BBC investigation in 2015 “found workers living in broken houses with terrible sanitation. Many families have no toilets and say they have no choice but to defecate amongst the tea bushes.” The investigation found that “living and working conditions are so bad, and wages so low, that tea workers and their families are left malnourished and vulnerable to fatal illnesses.” It also stated that “there was also a disregard for health and safety, with workers spraying chemicals without protection, and on some estates, child labour being used.”