Trade unions and political parties staged demonstrations in Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts on Monday to express solidarity with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s call for nationwide Bharat Bandh against the three farm laws.
In Coimbatore, members of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) blocked the road at Town Hall and raised slogans against the Central government. They sought the repeal of the three contentious farm laws. They were detained and removed from the place by the police. Ukkadam Police Inspector A. Sakthivel said that 65 SDPI members were detained and released on bail in the evening.
The farmers’ wing of the Coimbatore east urban unit of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam staged a protest in front of the Coimbatore Railway Junction. Led by the wing’s secretary Balu and labour wing organiser Poornachandran, the cadre urged the Central Government to withdraw the three farm laws, bring down fuel price and stop enacting anti-people legislation.
The Federation of Coimbatore District Auto Worker Unions, which includes nearly a dozen unions of auto rickshaw drivers including those affiliated to CITU, AITUC and LPF, staged a demonstration outside the Coimbatore Railway Station condemning the three farm laws. According to R. Selvam, district president of CITU-affiliated Auto Drivers Union, most of the 15,000-odd auto rickshaws in the district stayed off roads till 6 p.m. on Monday.
Tiruppur City Police removed nearly 300 trade union members from CITU, AITUC, INTUC and LPF who staged a demonstration outside the Tiruppur Railway Station. Sources said that the protesters attempted to stage a rail roko and were denied entry into the railway station by the police personnel deployed at the entrance.
Similarly, protesting trade union members were removed by the police near the railway station in Uthukuli and the taluk office in Dharapuram. The protesters were released later in the evening.
