Activists, artists question police action on Noida workers

In a statement, about 500 cultural activists, academics and artists, including actor Naseeruddin Shah, musician T.M. Krishna and poet K. Satchidanandan have demanded that the government engage with protesting workers in the Delhi-NCR region sympathetically and not treat the protests as a ‘law and order’ issue. “Immediately release all workers, their leaders, artists and intellectuals who have been arrested in connection with these protests,” a release issued by them stated.

Separately, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and a platform of 10 central trade unions rejected the narrative about the involvement of “anti-national forces and Pakistan” in the workers’ uprising and demanded that the Union and the Uttar Pradesh governments own up to their “criminal neglect” of the workers’ genuine demands and fulfil them immediately.