BOMBAY: Only 20 of the 300 Muslim workers in a total workforce of 7,000 turned up for work at the Larsen and Toubro plant at Powai Jan.20. Threats by the Shiv Sena controlled Bharatiya Kamgar Sena have also deterred Muslim workers at the Mahindra and Mahindra plant at Kandivli, Mazagaon Dock and other units. The Mahindra jeep plant employs some 6,000 workers and the tractor unit 4,000 while Mazagaon Dock was a workforce of nearly 12,000. At the dock, nearly one in 10 workers is Muslim.
Several managements did not have separate figures for Muslim workers as they said they never thought of such a problem. They were interested mainly in production norms, so far. However, they will have to take into account such factors from how on.
Attacks outside the factory premises have also created apprehension. A worker at the Godre Boyce plant in Vikhroli, Ismail Chiplunkar, was killed by a mob at his house in Asalfa village, Goatkopar. He had served in the Army during the two conflicts with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. Another worker, a Hindu, was injured in a riot but is reported to be progressing.
However, the attendance at Godrej has not been affected. Godrej Boyce has nearly 8,000 workers with an internal union which replaced the Dr.Datta Samant union in the wake of violent inter-union rivalry in the early 70s.
Swadeshi Mills, one of the oldest Tata units, at Kurla, has suffered two casualties. One worker, Chulam Mohroddin, a resident of Umarkhadi, was killed at Kurla, while Harischandra Mokal died in police firing.
The personnel manager of Swadeshi Mills, Bhaskar Moreshwar Patankar, has himself lived in fear at Brahmanwadi in Kurla near the mill. His father, a Congressman, was a vacuum of a communal riots in 1946.
Muslim workers at Kohinoor Textile Mills in Dadar have suffered badly in arson, according to Haribhau Naik, president of the Congress backed Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sabha.
Though the Bharauya Kamgar Sena has specifically denied any directive to intimidate some workers, staff in each of the affected firms accuse it and ifs supporters of targeting and threatening them.
At the Larsen and Toubro plant, workers say they were told to leave by members of the Shiv Sena union. When they protested, some of them were Slapped and beaten.
In a statement, the and management denied advising workers to go on leave because it allegedly could not ensure their safety on the 40acre grounds. “Most of the employees belonging to the minimally community, are, however, not attending duties, and the company is making every effort necessary to create the atmosphere for the return of these employees,” it claimed.
At the Mazagaor dock, these. efforts have taken the form of a sadbhavna committee that is trying to talk to workers on the shop-floor, reason with them and persuade them to avoid any intemperate action, according 10 Officials.
Though none of the four unions at the Mazagaon dock is Sena dominated, workers with Sena affiliations are nevertheless making things difficult for workmen.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 29, 1993
