Mill workers held for blocking highways, freed later

SILCHAR: The Hindustan Paper Mills Revival Action Committee along with local people put up blockades on NH-6 at Kalain in Cachar and NH-37 at Dholeswar in Hailakandi district to demand re-opening of the paper mills at Cachar and Nagaon. Police later arrived on the scene, arrested more than 1000 protesters and dispersed the rest of them.
Workers of the Cachar Paper Mill, with support from locals, put up blockades on the two highways from 9am. The blockades completely stopped vehicular movement on the two national highways which Silchar with Shillong and Imphal. However, police reached the spots at 11am and requested the agitators to withdraw the blockades. Deputy SP (Cachar) AJ Bora said when the protesters refused to call off the blockades, police were compelled to arrest them to free the highways. However, most of them were later released on PR bonds.

HPC Paper Mills Revival Action Committee chief convener Manabendra Chakraborty said their agitation was peaceful. More than 5000 people joined the blockade, with local residents also giving support to the mill workers, he added. Chakraborty said other forms of agitation, such as a rail roko and Barak bandh, would be taken up soon.

While production at Cachar Paper Mill stopped on October 20, 2015, the Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad was closed down on March 13, 2017. With their salaries having stopped, 37 mill employees have died due to starvation and lack of access to medical facilities, Chakraborty said, adding that the state government is yet to take any step to re-open the mills and pay salaries to the workers.

On September 18, Chakraborty had said blockades will be put up on the highways from 9am to 1pm. "We feel that the government lacks the will to resume production because it is pandering to the whims of private players. We assume that the government, both at the Centre and in the state, has surrendered itself before corporate interests," he had added.