EPF row: When cops showed power against helpless Bengaluru women

The images of Bengaluru police wantonly caning hundreds of women garment workers while they were staging sit-ins during the protests on Tuesday, even as the vandals who indulged in arson and violence got away, will not fade away quickly from public memory. When police begin to act like the mob, citizens begin to ask questions. Neither the police top brass nor their political masters can walk away from these questions. What was the provocation to beat up the already harassed women? Worse, with the the State Human Rights Commission headless, there is no one to fight for these women.

It’s an industry dominated by women workers. And so when the employees of the many garment factories in Bengaluru exploded in anger recently over the government’s attempts to restrict their right to withdraw from their provident fund, a large number who took to the streets in protest were women, many of them young, raising slogans and demanding justice.

But as thousands of garment workers held up traffic on the roads, things inevitably got out of hand. Traffic was held up for hours and mobs went on the rampage , setting vehicles on fire and destroying property. In the process, the women were caned by an outnumbered police force, trying to restore order.
But the spectre of helpless women being lathicharged and beaten has got the law men into trouble and far from winning them any brownie points for trying to curb the rioting, has earned them widespread displeasure instead.

Read: EPF row: Did Karnataka govt fiddle while Bengaluru burned?

“The women were not the troublemakers, they didn’t set any vehicles ablaze as the videos clearly show. They were just raising slogans and were badly beaten up for it,” say protesting women activists, pointing out that  the Karnataka Police Act clearly lays down police officer  must exercise “reasonable gentleness”  and act with decency when dealing with women and children.

Also women officers are supposed to be  deployed to deal with women agitators, or when  women are to be arrested or detained, they note. “But the policemen  lathicharged the women protestors throwing all rules to the wind. The events of  Monday and Tuesday are  shameful.  Let’s assume that the police were not prepared the first day of the protest. But what about the second day?  It is clear that the police failed to gauge the situation and mobilise more women staff,” says Ms Vimala K. S of Janawadi Mahila Sanghatane.

“Everybody knows that garment factories employ more women. This was clear on Monday ,  but still the police did nothing. Now, they are saying the  women were violent as well. But when hit by lathis, is it any wonder that they tried to resist?  It is high-time  the police learnt to behave appropriately in such situations. It must recruit more women,” the activist insists.

Read: EPF row: Bengaluru pays price for police, intel failure!

But former DG and IGP, Dr. S. T. Ramesh, says it is impractical to expect the police  to deploy a large number of women personnel to deal with situations in which they are badly outnumbered any way.  “Going by the reports 80 per cent of the agitators were women, which means that over 80,000 women took part in the protests. When there are not even 500 women police in the city, how can anybody expect so many of them to be out on duty? The only solution may be to recruit more women police,” he says.

Karnataka Police Act breached?

• The Karnataka Police Act says, “It shall be the duty of every police officer in dealing with women and children to act with strict regard to decency and with reasonable gentleness.”
• Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara has now proposed increasing the presence of  women police from the present six per cent of the state police force to 20 per cent

Collateral damage: A bystander fights for life
He was merely at the wrong place at the wrong time.  Injured in firing during the recent garment workers’ stir in the city, Manjunathappa, 45 ,  is still in ICU in a city hospital. His son Rakshit says  he is doing better although there is a blood clot in his chest and the doctors are still trying to deal with it. “He is able to move his fingers and nod to us. So we are more relaxed now,” he adds.

An employee of a courier company, Manjunathappa, who lives in Hebbagodi, had come out of his office to see whether it was safe for his son to return home after his CET coaching , when he was hit  by a sharp metal object during firing by the police to disperse the mobs. “A sharp metal object pierced his left chest leaving an entry and  exit wound,” said a hospital staffer. His ribs and shoulder bone were fractured, according to the doctors, who, however say his condition is improving. Rakshit admits the last few days have been traumatic. “We were shocked and afraid of losing him. I called my mother and lied to her that he had received a minor injury and was in hospital,” he recalls. Manjunathappa’s wife, Arundathi , who was in their native village at the time with their daughter, says she,  however knew intuitively that there was more to it and rushed back to Bengaluru to be by his side.

Read: Guest column: We women have the right to protest

Another innocent bystander, Bharathi, who received a bullet injury during the riots, is being treated at the K C General hospital and is said to responding well to the treatment. A close relative said, “We are praying that she gets well soon. This is a very tough time for all of us. She is suffering for no fault of hers.” Meanwhile, a second year B.Com student of the BTL Institute of Technology,  Preethi N,  who was injured on her  right thigh in the mayhem,  has been discharged from  hospital.