The protesting sanitation workers’ unions on Monday, August 18, said that their demonstrations will continue despite the events of August 13, when workers were forcibly detained late at night by the police. The unions have now sought Rajarathinam Stadium or Allikulam as alternate sites to continue their protest.
At a press meet held at the Chennai Press Club, representatives of the Left Trade Union Conference, All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and Uzhayipor Urumai Iyakkam addressed the media. Speaking at the event, S Kumaraswami, legal counsel for the protestors, pointed to the recent Madras High Court order on the matter.
On August 13, while passing orders on a writ petition seeking the removal of workers from the protest site, Chief Justice Mandira Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sundar Mohan had observed: "The authorities shall also ensure that if the second respondent applies for a space to peacefully organise protest in accordance with the provisions of law, the same shall be examined and appropriate order shall be passed so as to ensure that second respondent may be allowed to exercise its right of peaceful protest and agitation and, at the same time, pavements/pathways/roads, where such protest is not permissible, are not allowed to be occupied.”
Kumaraswami said the judgement reaffirmed the right to protest and made it clear that the government has to provide space for demonstrations.
The unions also alleged that the public interest litigation (PIL) filed seeking removal of the protestors was politically motivated. They said that the petitioner, Themozhi, had access to information “typically held by police officials,” and alleged that the petition was filed “in connivance with the police” and that the petitioner had ties with the ruling DMK.
Following the eviction, the government had announced certain schemes for sanitation workers, with some workers appearing in programmes to thank the state. The protesting unions, however, denied that these workers were part of their agitation.
“I believe you are capable of discerning which is drama and what is the truth. Will our demands be met if they feed us idli one day? Now suddenly getting some people to say thank you. To end the issue, they have to talk to us,” the protestors said. “The people who expressed gratitude are not the ones that were at the protest site at Ripon building. They are some other unknown persons. Sekar Babu is a very talented man. His influences cannot be dismissed,” Kumaraswami added.
When asked about Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol Thirumavalavan’s statement against permanency for sanitation workers, the unions said it was unclear why he had made such a remark, but emphasised that they were not willing to create a rift with their allies, including the VCK.
“The bearing of human waste by another human is a social crime. If we come to the juncture where machines pick waste instead of humans, then we will welcome that change. But until that happens, what do the workers do? Can we say we will not pick waste anymore? If that happened, what would happen in society? We are trying to get social upliftment from the lowest rungs of society—for the good life of our kids too. And for this purpose, the only way is to give us rights in our work and permanency,” the protestors said.
The unions reiterated that they were waiting for the government to allot a space for the protest, even as the case on permanency of sanitation workers remains pending in the Madras High Court.