Meena Harris highlights Indian woman and trade unionist’s plight - been vocal about the misogynist online trolling

Nodeep Kaur, arrested on January 12, was agitating against erratic wage payment in an industrial cluster near Delhi

Meena Harris: File picture

Pheroze L. Vincent   |   TT   |   New Delhi   |    07.02.21 : A tweet by American activist Meenakshi “Meena” Harris, niece of US Vice-President Kamala Harris, has drawn public attention to the arrest of a young Indian woman and trade unionist who was agitating against erratic wage payment in an industrial cluster near Delhi.

Nodeep Kaur, arrested on January 12 after a demonstration in front of metal-cutting firm Sharan Elecmech in Haryana’s Kundli Industrial Area, faces charges of attempt to murder, extortion and other offences and has twice been refused bail. The cluster is close to the farmers’ Singhu protest site, where she has delivered speeches.

Meena Harris has expressed support for the agitating farmers and been vocal about the misogynist online trolling she has since faced from Right-wing Indians.

On Saturday she tweeted two photos, one of a Hindu extremist group burning her picture on Thursday and the other of a girl holding a poster for Kaur’s release at a protest on Wednesday.

“Weird to see a photo of yourself burned by an extremist mob but imagine what they would do if we lived in India,” Harris tweeted.

“I’ll tell you — 23 yo (year old) labor rights activist Nodeep Kaur was arrested, tortured… in police custody. She’s been detained without bail for over 20 days,” Harris added, mentioning a charge that does not permit under law identification of the victim in India.

The police of Sonipat, Haryana, issued a statement on Saturday that did not mention Harris but denied the specific charge.

According to the police, seven of their personnel were injured by the protesting workers, including Kaur, a Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan activist. She was arrested from the spot on January 12 and is in Karnal district jail.

A January 17 statement by a rights group, Campaign Against State Repression, said that Kaur — who is from a poor Dalit family of activist peasants in Punjab’s Muktsar district — was thrashed in police custody and specified injuries.

In response to a question on the charge levelled by Harris, Kaur’s lawyer Jitendar Kumar told The Telegraph on Saturday: “She was beaten up…. She was present at the protest in front of the factories when police did a lathi charge. When she tried to defend herself, she was arrested and booked.”

Kaur’s photo has been displayed at the anti-farm-law protests, and farmer leaders have called for her release. An interview she gave at the Singhu protest was widely circulated after her arrest.

In the video, tweeted by several people including poet Rupi Kaur, Nodeep Kaur says: “Farmers and labourers are inseparable. We are both producers. Workers produce in the factories and farmers produce in the fields…. We are both constantly being pushed backwards. The government is selling us, our rights, to make money for themselves.”

She goes on to castigate privatisation and the violation of minimum-wage laws at Haryana’s factories.

“Women are even more oppressed than men, be it in the fields or the factories,” she says. “When a revolutionary organisation speaks out against the government, there are other things that happen like a change in mindset. That’s why we ask more women to join us.”

Weird to see a photo of yourself burned by an extremist mob but imagine what they would do if we lived in India. I'll tell you—23 yo labor rights activist Nodeep Kaur was arrested, tortured & sexually assaulted in police custody. She's been detained without bail for over 20 days. pic.twitter.com/Ypt2h1hWJz

— Meena Harris (@meenaharris) February 5, 2021

Kaur had begun working as a daily wage earner in Kundli a few years ago to save up to enrol in Delhi University, where her sister Rajveer is doing her PhD in Punjabi. Kaur had not been employed for the past few months since joining the farmers’ protest at Singhu.

The Sonipat police’s statement came ostensibly in response to a report by the “Sikh Press Association” that said Kaur had been assaulted in custody. Apart from denying the charge, the police shared videos of the workers clashing with personnel on January 12.

“From the police station, she (Kaur) was taken to Civil Hospital, Sonipat, on the same day after her arrest for the mandatory medical examination. Here again she was escorted by two lady personnel the entire time,” the statement says.

“At the Civil Hospital, she underwent not just a general medical examination but also a special medical examination by a lady doctor… where she herself gave a written statement to the female doctor that she doesn’t want to be medically examined as she had not been assaulted.

“Immediately after the medical examination, she was presented before the chief judicial magistrate within a few hours of arrest to seek judicial remand. Notably, she was again escorted by two lady police officials for this purpose. Here again, she did not disclose/ mention anything about any assault by police officials to the magistrate.

“As per the directions of the magistrate, she was taken to Karnal jail that very night, accompanied by two lady police officials, for judicial custody. And she has been staying there for the past three weeks.

“It is pertinent to mention that police did not seek any police remand in the case and the accused was arrested, produced in court and sent to jail on the same day within a matter of a few hours following due procedure under law.”

Informal workers in India last year witnessed an average 22.6 per cent fall in wages, while formal-sector employees had their salaries cut by 3.6 per cent, according to the International Labour Organisation.

Its report, released in December, said that real wage growth in India was one of the lowest in the Asia Pacific.