India – CASR Expresses its Unwavering Solidarity With the Workers of IMT Manesar
We hereby share a press statement issued by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR).
We strongly condemn the brutal and coordinated state repression by the Haryana police in IMT Manesar
In early April 2026, a wave of spontaneous strikes spread across India, particularly in the energy sector and the industrial hub of IMT Manesar (Haryana). The situation in IMT Manesar became the epicenter of this unrest. Contract workers from multiple factories—including Honda, Munjal Showa, Satyam Auto, Roop Polymers, Richico Global, Modelama Exports, Rico, Suprajit Engineering, and Syrma SGS—launched coordinated and successive strikes beginning from 2 April onward. Workers’ key demands included Increase in minimum wages, Implementation of an 8-hour workday,Double overtime (OT) wages, Better safety standards and dignified working conditions.
Key worker representatives and activists—including members associated with labour groups—were detained from the protest site and even picked up from their residences. They were taken to police stations and allegedly forced to sign documents under coercion.There were reports of lathi-charge and physical assault, with several workers injured. Heavy police deployment created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. The midnight detentions, coercion, forced agreements, and physical violence used against workers and their representatives expose the true nature of state response—one that prioritizes corporate interests over workers’ rights.
Not an Isolated Incident: A Pattern of Repression
What is unfolding in Manesar is part of a larger pattern across India. Workers and labour rights activists have repeatedly been Criminalized for organizing, Arrested under draconian laws, Subjected to custodial violence and harassment.
Trade union leader *Baccha Singh* remains imprisoned for over a year after being arrested by the NIA under the UAPA. His organization was banned again under the CLA Act, despite an earlier ban being struck down by the Ranchi High Court.
Similarly, trade unionists and cultural activists Kaladas Dehariya in Chhattisgarh have faced NIA raids, interrogations showing how central agencies are increasingly used to suppress workers’ movements.
Labour Codes and Corporate-State Nexus
The repression in Manesar must also be understood in the context of the new labour codes, which Restrict the right to strike, Expand employer control over hiring, firing, and working hours, Undermine protections for contract labour These laws institutionalize precarity and empower corporations to suppress dissent, while the state acts as an enforcer. The events in IMT Manesar clearly show that Workers legitimate demands are being met with force, Democratic rights are being undermined the state is actively siding with corporate interests. Yet despite arrests, violence, and intimidation, workers continue to resist and organize.
CASR calls upon all democratic forces, trade unions, and civil society to stand in solidarity with the Manesar workers, Demand accountability for police repression oppose the criminalization of labour movements
The struggle in IMT Manesar is not isolated—it represents a growing wave of working-class resistance across India.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST STATE REPRESSION
Organising Team*
(AIRSO,AISF, APCR, ASA, BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, bsCEM, CEM, COLLECTIVE, CRPP, CSM, CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity, IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, NAPM, Nazariya Magazine , Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Smajwadi lok manch, Bahujan Samjavadi Mnach, United Peace Alliance, WSS, Y4S)
