[APWSLMembers 53] Indian strikes turn violent again

[Oidon]

>From BBC NEWS http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4716623.stm
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Indian strikes turn violent again

Protesters in India have fought running battles with police for a second 
day, as politicians battled in Parliament over who was to blame for the 
unrest.

The clashes flared on Monday as workers from Honda Motorcycle and 
Scooter India protested at the firing of colleagues.

Many people were injured during the fighting and taken to hospital in 
the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon.

Trouble erupted outside of the hospital again on Tuesday amid reports 
that the injured people were not being treated.

Police charge

According to the BBC's Nagendar Sharma in Delhi, workers manhandled the 
deputy commissioner of Gurgaon before a large crowd gathered at the 
hospital.

As angry relatives raised slogans against the government, police 
officers ordered a cane charge to disperse the crowd.

Water canons were also used to break up the protests, and hundreds of 
policemen were deployed across the city.

Some of the protesters said they were looking for relatives who were 
still missing after Monday.

"I want to see my brother," said one man called Veermati. "I saw him on 
TV yesterday, he was one of the leaders. We don't know what happened to 
him after that.

"I am furious. Nobody's telling me where my brother is."

'Animals'

His anger was reflected in the mood of many politicians, and in Delhi 
the Congress Party-led government came under a heavy attack.

Members of the opposition National Democratic Alliance walked out of 
parliament in protest, while others called for the state government to 
be dismissed and disciplinary action taken against the police.


"Even animals are not treated like this," said Devendra Prasad Yadav, 
leader of ruling coalition member Rashtriya Janata Dal group.

India's National Human Rights Commission demanded that detectives from 
the Central Bureau of Investigation probe the incident.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, head of Haryana, the state where Gurgaon is 
located, said he was ordering a judicial inquiry into Monday's violent 
clashes.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had earlier expressed "anguish" over the 
clashes.

'Violence from both sides'

Monday's protest was called after four workers at the Honda plant in 
Gurgaon, near New Delhi, were fired and 15 others were temporarily 
suspended on charges of insubordination a month ago.

Workers have been demanding the reinstatement of the sacked workers and 
an increase in wages.

According to local television estimates, as many as 700 workers may have 
been injured in the violence on Monday.

Authorities said that the figure was closer to 100, with about half of 
those people needing hospital treatment.

"There was violence from both sides," said Mr Hooda.

Honda's plant employs some 1,900 staff, the majority of whom have been 
working a go-slow since May.

The company has estimated that the industrial action has cost it about 
2.5bn rupees (£33m; $57m).