Unemployment and Bullets for Bailadilla Workers

Bailadilla Workers N K Singh a coincidence that on onstabulary of the Special was sent to arrest the he striking workers of one mines just as it had for the same purpose ra about a year back? developments in the two to police firings and and members of their also broadly similar. Con- our in the two iron ore on strike and the police the labour colony to arrest leaders, presumably to rale of the strikers. There- ng to the official version, attacked the police party policemen to fire "in selt- t something more hap- liladilla. According to the orkers set fire to their own ap the policemen". Of of the 'trapped' police- lured in the arson which shes hundreds of workers' union leaders and repre- nolitical parties visiting the en expressed the fear that s and members of their ht have perished in the hara, the Madhya Pradesh lias again tried to raise the e "outside extremist ele- tting the workers" at Bail- organised attempt.'' said er V K Sakhlecha, "is be- disturb law and order in ireas throughout the state. is organised recently in a nt at Ujjain as well as in a I at Nagda. A systematic read dissatisfaction among Bailadilla had been going sometime. Some persons Bengal had come for the haps the fear of these lements" which forced the ties at Kirandul, the mining Bastar where the firing to impose a virtual censor- h the firing took place at m on April 5, no news e to the outside world till of April 6 when, tipped by "an unknown source", a Congress(I) MLA brought an adjournment motioa in the, Vidhan Sabha. Even the Inspector General of Police, contacted late in the night of April 5, said, "I've no knowledge about any firing taking place". Jagdalpur radio station, situated at a distance of 150 kms front Kirandul, reported the firing after 30 hours. Newsmen at Raipur and Jagdalpur, who had heard that ''something had happened", tried to contact Kirandul on April 5