Protest by workers over being enslaved as 'bonded labourers'

Around 40 workers, led by social activist Swami Agnivesh, today staged a protest here against Haryana administration alleging that they were trapped as "bonded labourers" for nearly three months at a construction site in Rohtak.
Delhi Police detained around 35 protesters who were demonstrating at the Baroda House intersection near India Gate at around 11 PM. They were released within two hours, police said.
Agnivesh, who heads the Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM), slammed police for adopting "brutal attitude" against the labourers, who he said were pressing the authorities to release their wage of three months, among several other demands.
He accused the Rohtak district administration of not taking any "appropriate action" against the concerned builder who had enslaved the workers as bonded labourers, and instead merely deporting them to Delhi.

"I have informed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in this regard. He (Rajnath) assured me that he will look into the matter," he said, adding that a petition has also been filed before the National Human Rights Commission in this connection.
"The builder, who took us to Rohtak, stopped paying us after completion of a month so we decided to return home," Makhan, one of the protesters, said.

But the builder allegedly "forced" the workers to continue working for three months.
"I managed to escape from the site and came in contact with Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM)," he said.
"Around 35 labourers from Haryana gathered at Baroda House intersection near India Gate. They were detained around 11 AM and released two hours later. Agnivesh had come to the Parliament Street police station to meet senior police officials," DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal said.