Report by correspondent of Mazdoor Ekta Committee (MEC)
From May 16-21, Mazdoor Ekta Committee (MEC) organized a series of mass actions in various industrial areas, workers’ residential areas as well as at Metro stations in Delhi.
Every evening, street corner meetings were held at important locations in Phase 1 and 2 of the Okhla industrial area in South Delhi. These meetings were organized in support of the demands of the wrestlers as well as to oppose sexual exploitation of women at the workplace and in the society. Hundreds of workers from the factories in the area stopped to attend these meetings.
On May 19, a protest march was held, starting from Kalkaji Bus Depot, through the industrial areas of Okhla Phase 2, the workers’ residential colonies and the Harkesh Nagar Metro Station, culminating in a mass meeting at Z block of the industrial area. Participants in the march carried a large banner and placards bearing the slogans: “Down with the police attacks on women wrestlers!”, “Punish the guilty!”, “Justice for our daughters who have brought glory to the country!”, “Support the struggle of the wrestlers against sexual harassment!”, “Down with sexual exploitation at the workplace!”, etc. They militantly raised slogans in support of the wrestlers’ demands and against sexual harassment of women at work as well as on the streets.
The march was organized jointly by Mazdoor Ekta Committee (MEC), Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). The meeting at the end of the march was addressed by representatives of the participating organisations. They called on the workers to raise their voices in support of the wrestlers’ demands and for the security and rights of women.
Street corner meetings and marches are being organised among the workers’ residential areas in the resettlement colony of Madanpur Khadar in Delhi on May 24 and 25.