APPEAL TO OBSERVE BLACK DIWALI IN SUPPORT OF PROTESTING BHU EMPLOYEES
Dear friends on BHU campus and those living nearby,
As you know over 80 employees are on dharna at the BHU main gate for over hundred days now. 5 of them were also on fast for 34 days. But the BHU administration and the government are simply ignoring this protest. Some of these employees, technically considered on daily wages, have been working at BHU for 20-25 years and they are demanding to be regularized.
It is a pity that the authorities are pretending ignorance. BHU has probably got one of its most insensitive Vice Chancellors in its history. The matter has been brought to the notice of various central government ministers who frequently visit the Prime Minister’s constituency but there is no response from the government either.
Future appears to be bleak for these families. Most of the employees are at an age where they cannot possibly start a new job. This is an appeal to express solidarity with these employees by not observing Deepawali this year as their own families are not in a position to celebrate the festival. If we cannot be part of their struggle can we at least share their grief by not lighting the lamps or bursting the crackers this year.
Let the darkness of BHU and around on Deepawali night will convey to the authorities our anguish on their authoritarian ways.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Sandeep Pandey, Socialist Party (India) and Chintamani Seth, Gumti Vyavsayee Kalyan Samiti, Lanka, 9450857038
28th October, 2016 (two days before Diwali)
