Solidarity with Manesar Workers: CASR Condemns State Repression Amid Growing Industrial Unrest Across India

New Delhi – The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) has issued a strong statement expressing unwavering solidarity with contract workers at IMT Manesar and across India, who are currently resisting what labour groups describe as exploitation and authoritarian crackdowns.

In early April 2026, spontaneous strikes erupted across multiple sectors, with the industrial hub of IMT Manesar in Haryana emerging as the epicentre of unrest. Beginning April 2, contract workers from at least a dozen factories including Honda, Munjal Showa, Satyam Auto, Roop Polymers, Richico Global, Modelama Exports, Rico, Suprajit Engineering, and Syrma SGS launched coordinated and successive work stoppages.

CASR has strongly condemned what it terms "brutal and coordinated state repression" by Haryana police in IMT Manesar. According to the organisation, several worker representatives and labour activists were detained from protest sites and picked up from their residences, often during midnight hours.

Allegations include:

1. Detainees being taken to police stations and forced to sign documents under coercion

2. Reports of lathi-charge and physical assault resulting in injuries to multiple workers

3. Heavy police deployment creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation

CASR has alleged that the state response "prioritises corporate interests over workers' rights."

The organisation has framed the Manesar events as part of a larger national pattern, pointing to specific cases:

Baccha Prasad Singh – The trade union leader remains imprisoned for over a year after arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. His organisation was subsequently banned under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, despite an earlier ban being struck down by the Ranchi High Court.

Kaladas Dehariya – The trade unionist and cultural activist from Chhattisgarh has reportedly faced NIA raids and interrogations, which CASR describes as evidence of central agencies being deployed to suppress workers' movements.

CASR has linked the Manesar repression to India's new labour codes, arguing that the legal framework:

• Restricts the right to strike

• Expands employer control over hiring, firing, and working hours

• Undermines protections for contract labour

The organisation contends that these codes "institutionalise precarity and empower corporations to suppress dissent."

Despite arrests, violence, and intimidation, CASR noted that workers continue to resist and organise. The organisation has called upon all democratic forces, trade unions, and civil society to stand in solidarity with Manesar workers, demand accountability for police repression, and oppose the criminalisation of labour movements.

The statement was issued by CASR's Organising Team, which includes a coalition of over 35 organisations such as AIRSO, AISF, Bhim Army, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, NTUI, People's Watch, and the United Peace Alliance, among others.