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Amid shocking allegations of mass burials of women and children who were allegedly sexually assaulted, the Karnataka State Commission for Women has written to the Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, seeking detailed information on missing women and students in the Dharmasthala area over the past 20 years.
Taking suo motu cognisance of statements made by a whistleblower and recent media reports, the Commission’s Chairperson, Nagalakshmi Chowdhary, has called for urgent answers and accountability.
In a letter dated July 14, the Commission cited the testimony of a former sanitation worker who claimed he was forced to bury bodies — many of them women and girls who appeared to have been sexually assaulted — while working for the Dharmasthala temple between 1995 and 2014.
“Many families have also alleged that the staff did not respond properly when they went to the police station to register a case of disappearance or death of their children,” the letter stated.
The Commission has sought the following information from the district police:
> How many women and students have gone missing in the Dharmasthala area in the last 20 years?
> How many of them have been found and how many remain untraced?
> What action has been taken in cases of unnatural death, murder, and rape?
The Commission has asked the authorities to submit a detailed report within seven days of receiving the letter.
The ongoing investigation was triggered by a complaint from a former sanitation worker, who approached the police on July 3 through his lawyers. He claimed that while working for the Dharmasthala temple administration between 1995 and 2014, he was forced to bury several bodies, some of which, he alleged, bore signs of sexual violence. He said he fled the area nearly a decade ago and returned recently, driven by guilt.
The Dharmasthala police registered a case on July 4. After initial delays, the man recorded his statement on July 11 before the Principal Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class in Belthangady, under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Stepping onto a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus at the Shivajinagar bus stand, TNM was greeted by seven red, round buttons that read “STOP/Emergency.” Shrinivasa, the driver of the bus, had overseen the installation of these panic buttons and a Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) on his bus a mere six months ago. He asked us to watch, and pressed one of the buttons. It made a loud beep, and then, nothing. Had it been functioning properly, Shrinivasa would have soon received a call from a Command and Control centre.
A safety initiative under the Union government’s Nirbhaya Scheme, the tracking device and panic button are turning out to be rather ineffective on the ground. Although the initiative was meant to act as a lifeline for women and children in distress situations, the public do not seem to be aware of its usage.
The panic button alerts are monitored by a 30-member team at the 24/7 Command and Control centre at the Transport Department Head office in Shanthinagar. According to the mandate, whenever the control centre receives an alert, they are supposed to call the driver and ask if everything is alright.
Through our conversations with bus and cab drivers, TNM learned that the initiative is largely ineffective.
Shrinivasa recalled the instructions they received when the VLTD and the panic button were installed in the bus in January this year. “While setting it up, the BMTC officials gave instructions about the button—that it’s set up for emergencies under the Nirbhaya Scheme, and if anyone presses it, the bus drivers will receive a call asking if everything is alright. But since then, we have barely received a call back from them, maybe in one in 100 cases”
Shrinivasa added, “As time progressed, people started pressing it randomly, and so the command centre stopped calling us back.”
According to reports by the Deccan Herald and the Bangalore Mirror, the Command and Control centre receives an estimated 500-600 alerts per day. However, only an average of 18 are genuine distress calls, indicating a lack of awareness among the public.
“If a woman is feeling unsafe, they would call the women’s helpline number rather than pressing the panic button. If there is a fight aboard the bus, they call the BMTC helpline directly,” Shrinivasa added.
Mallapa and Hema, both BMTC bus conductors, also concurred. “We get a call when someone presses the button. It's not so useful, as people often press it out of curiosity. That's the reason the helpline doesn't really call back at times,” Mallapa added.
The Union government issued a notification in 2016 mandating Public Service Vehicles (PSV) to have a VLTD and one or more emergency/panic buttons to be installed and be effective from April 1, 2018. The notification excluded two-wheelers, e-rickshaws, three-wheelers, as well as PSV and other transport vehicles not requiring permits under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
However, the dates for installation kept getting pushed. The Karnataka government set a deadline to install the device between December 1, 2023, and November 30, 2024, but according to an article by Bangalore Mirror, out of 6.04 lakh PSVs registered with the Transport Department, only 4.11% have complied and installed the device in the year 2024.
After talking to his friends who had installed the panic buttons on their cabs, Vijay, a cab driver, concluded that he would not install one. “If a person wants to commit a theft, they will do it anyway. The device is not working in any case,” he said.
Vijay first heard about the VLTD and panic buttons from the media. Mahesh, another cab driver, said that he was informed by Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials. “The RTO told us that we have to ensure that we have installed the devices in time for the yearly renewal of vehicle registration. Without this, the renewal won't happen. They come and check if everything is working.”
Shrinivasa and other BMTC drivers did not have to make any payments towards setting up the VLTD and panic button. The cab drivers told a different story, of being charged an extra amount by the RTO-approved vendors for the VLTD and panic button.
Mahesh, a cab driver, complained that the button does not even work. He pressed it in front of us—no light, no beep, no call. He explained how it was a waste of money as the cab owner had spent Rs 16,000 to install it.
The Transport Department has set the price of a VLTD at Rs 5,424, with each panic button costing Rs 325, and a maintenance fee of Rs 1,800. The number of panic buttons to be installed in the vehicles depends on the vehicle size and capacity. A five-seater cab needs to install three buttons, whereas a passenger bus with 21 seats needs seven.
A single button is supposed to cost between Rs 4,000-6,000. According to the number of seats in the vehicle, the cost of setting them up in a cab can range between Rs 11,000-16,000.
“As there is a government order, we have to install it. But RTO-approved vendors charge high prices. They charge differently depending on the size of the vehicle,” added Vijay, the cab driver.
This year, transport unions urged the Transport Department to revise the pricing structure of these tools, as it has become hard for the driver to comply with the costs.
Vijay said, “I'll install the VLTD only if the price is low. In Bengaluru, we earn very little. It takes around one hour at the peak hour to travel a mere eight kilometres. Do you think a person can drive for 12 hours? I think the minimum charge for one panic button should be less than Rs 3,000.”
TNM also reached out to Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) regarding the installation of VLTD and panic buttons on State-run buses. The approval for the same was passed in August 2023 and was implemented as a partnership programme with Dassault Systèmes, a French multinational software company.
A KSRTC official said, “So far, we have not implemented the scheme. We have received a fund from the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways. We are implementing this under the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) project. We have floated a tender for that, but it is yet to be implemented.”
The KSRTC official clarified that installation of the panic buttons will be done in the next three months.
TNM tried to contact the BMTC public relations officer handling the Control and Command Centre several times. Even after repeated attempts, we have not received any response from them.
BMTC helpline number: 080 2248 3777
Women helpline number: 1091, 181
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Harshendra Kumar D, the brother of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade, has obtained an ex parte injunction to delete/de-index a staggering 8,842 links on the coverage of the allegations made by a sanitation worker that he has buried several bodies in Dharmasthala. These links include coverage by newspapers, TV channels, websites and YouTubers. Several tweets, Facebook posts and Reddit threads by individuals too have been mentioned in the petition filed by Harshendra.
The court has also issued an injunction order restraining the publishing, circulating, forwarding, uploading, transmitting and telecasting any defamatory content and information against Harshendra, his family members, institutions run by the family of the plaintiff and Sri Manjunathaswamy temple, Dharmastala, either in digital media, including YouTube channels, all social media, or print media of any kind, until the next hearing.
Judge Vijaya Kumar Rai of the 10th Additional City Civil & Sessions court said that the court was fully satisfied that the plaintiff had made out a strong prima facie case for the grant of ex parte orders. “Further, the balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and irreparable loss and hardship would be caused to the plaintiff if an order of ex parte temporary injunction is not granted,” the order said. Though Harshendra has named 338 organisations and individuals in his petition, he insisted on a John Doe order, which was granted by the judge. A John Doe order means the gag will apply to named and unnamed parties.
The petition was filed by Harshendra on July 18 and the injunction order was given on the same day.
Media houses across the country have been reporting on the complaint made by the sanitation worker as well as the surrounding legal processes emerging from it. In his complaint, the sanitation worker said he worked for the temple, but he had not named anyone in particular as being responsible for any crime. However, he had mentioned ‘supervisors’ had threatened and coerced him to bury the bodies.
A John Doe order of a similar nature had been obtained earlier by the employees of the Dharmasthala temple.
Harshendra has listed 8,842 links, including 4,140 YouTube videos, 932 Facebook posts, 3,584 Instagram posts, 108 news links, 37 Reddit posts and 41 tweets. Five videos produced by The News Minute, including two of the ‘Let Me Explain’ episodes, have been named in the injunction order.
The list of respondents includes Third Eye, Dhoota, Sameer MD and DTox, who have put up YouTube videos. Some of the media organisations on the list are The News Minute, Deccan Herald, The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Times of India, Indian Express, Prajavani, Kannada Prabha, Hosa Digantha, Bangalore Mirror, Udayavani, Dinamani, Dina Thanthi, Dinakaran, Samyukta Karnataka, Vijayavani, Vishwavani, News 18, Kerala, Kerala Kaumudi, Rajasthan Patrika, EeSanje, Sanjevani, Dinasudhar, Sanmarga, Hindustan Times, PTI, ANI and IANS, Mathrubhoomi, Malayala Manorama, News 18, Kerala Kaumudi, TV9 group, India TV, News X, News18, Suvarna, News First and Daiji World TV.
In his petition, Harshendra argued that Shri Manjunathaswami Temple, Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, the institutions run by the Educational Society, the organisations established by Dharmasthala Temple, elder brother of plaintiff D Veerendra Heggade and family members were being affected by ‘false, fabricated and concocted’ material published by media houses.
“I submit that the invaluable good reputation of the plaintiff, his elder and his family members, the temple and the institutions run by them will be affected if any reckless allegations are made against them without any basis,” the petition said.
Harshendra asked the judge to stop any mention of Harshendra, his family members, institutions run by his family, and Sri Manjunathaswamy temple, Dharmasthala, either in digital media, including YouTube channels and all social media, or print media of any kind until the next date of hearing.
Granting the order, the judge said, “The Court cannot ignore the fact that though the reputation of every citizen is very important, when an allegation is made against the institution and temple, it affects a wider range of people, including the employees and students who are studying in various colleges and schools. Therefore, even a single false and defamatory publication would seriously affect the functioning of the institutions.”
Third Eye, a YouTube portal named in the petition, has approached the Supreme Court, arguing that the order violates freedom of expression and has sought to have it quashed.
Human rights organisations Human Rights Watch (HRW) and civil rights group Human Rights Forum (HRF) have demanded criminal prosecution of police personnel involved in the killing of three Maoists on June 18 in the forests of Rampachodavaram mandal, Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district, Andhra Pradesh. According to them, the Maoists were killed in a staged encounter.
In a joint statement released on Monday, July 21, HRF and HRW called for an independent investigation into the incident, either by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or under the supervision of the Supreme Court. “The investigation cannot be entrusted to the local police or special forces, since they themselves are implicated in the crime,” the rights groups stated.
A three-member fact-finding team from HRF and HRW visited the site on July 18 and spoke with Adivasi residents of villages including Vemulakonda, Akuru, and Kintukuru. The team rejected the police version that the killings occurred during retaliatory firing in self-defence by the elite Greyhounds unit.
According to the rights groups, the three Maoists – Gajarla Ravi, Venkata Ravivarma Chaitanya, and Kovvasi Anju – had been camping for over two weeks in a forest area locally known as ‘Oota Mamidi’, about 3.5 km west of Kintukuru village.
The HRF-HRW team alleged that Greyhounds personnel, having obtained specific intelligence about the Maoist camp, launched an operation past midnight on June 17. They claimed the commandos surrounded the camp from the south and opened fire at daybreak, killing all three Maoists in what they described as a “targeted execution.”
“There was no exchange of fire. The Greyhounds could have easily apprehended the three alive but chose to kill them instead,” the statement read.
The groups further alleged that the post-mortem at Rampachodavaram Area Hospital was intentionally delayed, forcing the families to wait for hours. “It was only after sustained media pressure that the decomposed bodies were handed over late on the night of June 19. By then, the bodies were infested with worms,” the statement claimed.
Calling the incident part of a “systematic campaign” of extrajudicial killings, HRF and HRW cited figures claiming that since January 2024, over 440 Maoists and unarmed civilians, mostly Adivasis, have been killed in alleged fake encounters, particularly in Chhattisgarh.
“No democracy that claims to uphold constitutional values can legitimise such a brutal policy of state-sanctioned bloodletting,” the statement said.
The rights groups urged the Union and State governments to halt counterinsurgency operations that result in extrajudicial killings and instead take Maoist overtures for peace talks seriously. “There is a rare political opening to mitigate suffering among Adivasis and address deep-rooted grievances,” they added.
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“She is mine, and mine alone. That's why it happened.” This is what 40-year-old Satheesh Sankar said when asked about the physical assault he subjected his wife Athulya to. He was speaking to the media on Sunday, July 20, two days after the death of 30-year-old Athulya, a native of Kollam living in Sharjah. While he admitted that he used to beat his wife, he justified it saying it was “out of love”.
He said, “I won't claim that I didn’t beat her. I did that when I was drunk. But I didn’t do that every day. Her family claims I drink every day and I physically assaulted her every day, that’s not true,” he said. He further said, “I know it's not right to beat my wife.” He also said that these were their personal matters and that it is something that happens in every home.
Meanwhile, he also alleged that Athulya used to beat him, which too he believed was out of love. “I don't know what to do next, what will happen to my job, or my future. She used to physically abuse me. When she got angry, she didn’t know what to do,” he said, showing marks on his hands and legs. “I won’t blame her for this. She did it because she was angry, because she loved me. I just want to know what happened to her. She would never die by suicide. Maybe she did this to scare me, or something else happened to her. I want to find out,” he added.
Meanwhile, according to reports Satheesh has been fired from his job on Monday, July 21.
Athulya, a native of Kozhivila in Kollam, was found dead in her apartment in Rolla, Sharjah, on July 18. In the days leading up to her death, she sent a voice note to her sister describing repeated instances of physical and emotional abuse by her husband. Following her death, several news channels in Kerala aired videos allegedly showing Satheesh wielding a chair in what appeared to be a threatening manner.
Meanwhile, Satheesh claimed that in many of those videos, he was acting after noticing that Athulya was recording him. “She used to record videos for fun. Since she did that, I also started overacting. I did it out of stubbornness. Now all that has come back to haunt me,” he said.
Satheesh also told the media that Athulya had wanted to live separately, but he had opposed it. “She used to say she wanted her own space. But for all these years, I’ve struggled, for whom, and for what? In the end, I’m the one who’s left alone. I have no one,” he said. He also claimed that he had been estranged from his family in recent years, saying Athulya discouraged his contact with them.
Separately, a friend of Athulya, speaking anonymously to the media, alleged that the couple had experienced issues from the start of their marriage and that Athulya had been a victim of both physical and emotional abuse.
“He used to cause problems and then apologize. Her family asked her to return home, but she chose to stay. Most of the time, after harassing her, he would say he didn’t remember what he had done and then apologise. He is an alcoholic. There’s a significant age gap between them, and that led to frustrations,” the friend said.
Athulya and Satheesh were married for 12 years and have a daughter. The child now lives with Athulya’s family, reportedly due to Satheesh's alleged behavior.
A case has been registered against Satheesh by the Chavara Thekkumbhagam police following a complaint by Athulya’s parents. He has been charged under Indian law with murder, cruelty against women, voluntarily causing hurt, grievous hurt using dangerous weapons, and dowry harassment.
If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help. Here are some helpline numbers of suicide-prevention organisations that can offer emotional support to individuals and families.
Tamil Nadu
State health department's suicide helpline: 104
Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in Tamil Nadu)
Andhra Pradesh
Life Suicide Prevention: 78930 78930
Roshni: 9166202000, 9127848584
Karnataka
Sahai (24-hour): 080 65000111, 080 65000222
Kerala
Maithri: 0484 2540530
Chaithram: 0484 2361161
Both are 24-hour helpline numbers.
Telangana
State government's suicide prevention (tollfree): 104
Roshni: 040 66202000, 6620200
SEVA: 09441778290, 040 27504682 (between 9 am and 7 pm
Aasara offers support to individuals and families during an emotional crisis, for those dealing with mental health issues and suicidal ideation, and to those undergoing trauma after the suicide of a loved one.
24x7 Helpline: 9820466726
Click here for working helplines across India.
The friends and family of Anna Sebastian, the 26-year-old chartered accountant who died in July 2024 allegedly due to workplace stress, have launched the Anna Sebastian Initiative with the aim of helping young people navigate corporate life.
Anna died merely four months after she started working at the Pune office of Ernst and Young. Anna’s family had alleged that she died due to the overwhelming work pressure she faced.
In a letter penned a month after Anna’s death, her mother Anita Augustine had urged the company to initiate reform. “It is time to reflect on the work culture within your organisation and take meaningful steps to prioritise the health and wellness of your employees. This means creating an environment where employees feel safe to speak up, where they are supported in managing their workload, and where their mental and physical well-being is not sacrificed for the sake of productivity,” she said.
According to the Times of India, her father Sibi Joseph said that Anna had always wished to give back to society. The family is trying to fulfil this wish of hers, he said.
The Anna Sebastian Initiative can be accessed at www.theannasebastianinitiative.com. The website says, “This is a small personal initiative, created by family and friends who knew Anna, and miss her deeply. We aren’t an organization. We aren’t raising funds. We’re just here to tell a story that matters, and to help make sure fewer stories end this way.”
The website includes a 11-step first year corporate survival guide. It also provides the option “to write to Anna or someone like her”. The page says, “Sometimes the things we couldn’t say in time are the ones that need space the most.”
“Through simple online sessions and shared experiences, we guide students and fresh graduates to build confidence, prepare better, and feel less alone as they begin their journeys,” the initiative says, adding, “Each year, in Anna’s memory, we will conduct a small empowerment or kindness drive to create real change, however small.”
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Amid recurring speculation of a power-sharing arrangement with the BJP, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has made it clear that his party intends to form the government on its own after the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
Speaking at the party’s campaign, ‘Makkalai Kappom, Tamilagathai Meetpom’ (Let us protect the people and redeem Tamil Nadu), in Thiruthuraipoondi, Tiruvarur district, on Saturday, July 19, Edappadi Palaniswami denied any coalition government arrangement and asserted that the AIADMK would secure a clear majority on its own.
“The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is claiming that the AIADMK will share power with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) if elected. We are not fools to give away power,” he said.
DMK leaders, including Minister KN Nehru, have consistently raised this concern in public speeches, pointing out that EPS has never directly contradicted Amit Shah’s coalition remarks.
The AIADMK leader’s comments also came in response to repeated claims by BJP leaders — including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai — that a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government would be formed in Tamil Nadu after 2026.
Palaniswami clarified that the alliance with the BJP was forged solely to remove the DMK government, which he accused of corruption and implementing anti-people policies.
He also hinted that more parties, including members of the current DMK-led alliance, could join hands with the AIADMK. However, he maintained that the AIADMK would lead and call the shots in any such alliance.
Contradicting this, Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagendran said he had reached out to EPS over the phone on Sunday and claimed that the AIADMK leader’s remarks were merely a response to the DMK’s narrative that the BJP had “swallowed” the AIADMK.
“There is no hidden message behind his statement. The NDA will form the next government in Tamil Nadu, that is certain,” Nagendran said.
More than two weeks after shocking allegations emerged about the secret mass burial of women and children in Dharmasthala, and a day after the Karnataka government announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT), the powerful temple administration of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala has issued its first official response.
In a statement released on Sunday, July 20, the temple authority expressed support for a “fair and transparent” investigation and expressed hope that the SIT would uncover the truth.
“A case was recently registered at the Dharmasthala police station, alleging that multiple dead bodies were buried within temple premises. This has triggered widespread public debate and confusion across the country,” said K Parshwanath Jain, the official spokesperson for Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala. “In light of public demand for accountability, we understand that the state government has handed over the case to a Special Investigation Team.”
He added, “Truth and belief form the foundation of a society’s ethics and values. We sincerely hope and strongly urge the SIT to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation and bring the true facts to light.”
An FIR was registered following allegations by a 48-year-old Dalit man, formerly employed as a sanitation worker by the Dharmasthala temple administration. In his complaint, he claimed he was instructed to bury the bodies of women and children between 1995 and 2014, and alleged that some of the victims bore signs of sexual assault. He also submitted skeletal remains to the police, which were reportedly exhumed from one of the alleged burial sites.
The SIT, formed on July 19, will be led by DGP Pronab Mohanty and include DIG (Recruitment) MN Anucheth, DCP (CAR HQ) Soumyalatha and SP Jitendra Kumar Dayama.
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The Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged a protest on Sunday, July 21 against the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led Andhra Pradesh government’s plan to allot the old RTC bus station land in Vijayawada to multinational conglomerate Lulu Group.
Spearheading the protest, CPI(M) leaders Babu Rao and D Kashinath told media that the move would hamper the interests of local traders and public assets. “This is economic colonisation,” Babu Rao said, adding that the move would affect small scale vendors.
The Old RTC bus stand, a five-acre parcel of land, is valued at approximately Rs 400 crore. Lulu Group Chairman MA Yusuf Ali announced last year that the company will start a shopping mall with an eight-screen IMAX multiplex in Visakhapatnam and state-of-the-art hypermarkets in Vijayawada with modern food processing and logistics centres.
AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) had approved setting up of these two Lulu Shopping Malls which they argued would provide employment for 15,000 people.
The CPI(M) held a similar protest in April 2025 against the establishment of another Lulu Mall in Visakhapatnam’s 13 acre Beach Road. CPI(M) leader Ganga Rao had said that the establishment of the mall was a clear violation of ‘Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.’
The Garment and Textile Workers Union (GATWU) passed resolutions urging the Karnataka government to fix the minimum monthly wage for garment workers at Rs 42,000 and also prohibit night shifts for women workers in the garment industry.
At a convention held in Bengaluru on Sunday, July 20, GATWU, which is affiliated to the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), demanded that they also be included in the minimum wage revision notification issued on April 11 this year.
GATWU demanded that the four labour codes enacted by the Union government be repealed, that working hours remain fixed to eight hours a day – which was a “hard-won historical right” – and not raised to 10, and ban women’s employment in hazardous industries, according to a press release. They also demanded that the state government withdraw proposed labour amendments and urged enacting a law that would guarantee recognition of unions with majority worker membership.
A book titled A Life with Needle and Thread authored by GATWU president R Prathibha, released during the occasion, examines the exploitation of workers in garment companies that reaped profits.
“It also chronicles the determined struggles of garment workers through the Garment and Textile Workers Union, through collective organising and protest, which have compelled companies and the state to recognise and uphold their rights,” the release added.
“Despite being the backbone of an industry that contributes significantly to this country’s export economy, garment workers are paid among the lowest minimum wages. All the workers are women. This is nothing short of institutional gender-based discrimination,” Prathibha said, according to the release.
She pointed out that the government was discriminating against garment workers by limiting their wages to Rs 12,800 a month, while workers in other industries received Rs 18,000.
Rangamma, GATWU vice-president, said it was impossible to live on wages of Rs 12,000 a month. “Rent, food, school fees, medicines—everything costs more. Do women not have the same needs as others? Why are we excluded from wage revisions? Why are we treated as lesser workers?” she said.
Chikamma, executive committee member of GATWU, criticised the Union government’s move to introduce night shifts for women and the state government’s eagerness to amend the laws to allow this to happen.
“Pushing women to work late nights in unsafe and unregulated conditions is not empowerment—it’s exploitation. Women’s health, family lives, and safety are being sacrificed at the altar of profit,” she said.
Renukamma, another executive committee member of GATWU, spoke about the continuing and extensively documented harassment and humiliations they face every day on the factory floor.
“We get shouted at if we take a toilet break, so many of us avoid drinking water during the day. This has such a severe impact on our health,” she said, according to the press release.
Ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, the Union government on Sunday, July 20, said it was open to discussing all “important issues” raised by the Opposition, including Operation Sindoor and US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, speaking at an all-party meeting convened before the session, emphasised the need for better coordination between the government and the Opposition to ensure smooth proceedings in Parliament.
“We are very much open to discussing important issues like Operation Sindoor in Parliament. There should be government-opposition coordination in running Parliament smoothly,” Rijiju said.
His comments come at a time when the Opposition is preparing to corner the government over Trump’s recent assertions that he had played a role in facilitating a cessation of hostilities between the two south Asian neighbours.
Responding to a question about the Opposition’s plans to raise the issue, Rijiju stated, “The government will respond appropriately in Parliament.”
On Saturday, the Opposition INDIA bloc held a virtual meeting with participation from 24 constituent parties. The alliance finalised a list of eight major issues it plans to raise during the Monsoon session. These include the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, the subsequent Operation Sindoor carried out by Indian armed forces in Pakistan, President Trump’s ceasefire announcement, India’s foreign policy, and concerns over the Election Commission’s ongoing revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Leaders present at the meeting included Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh of the Congress, Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Abhishek Banerjee from the TMC, Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP(SP)’s Sharad Pawar and Jayant Patil, National Conference’s Omar Abdullah, JMM’s Hemant Soren; RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and DMK’s Tiruchi N Siva.
Other attendees were D Raja (CPI), MA Baby (CPI(M)), Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI(ML) Liberation), Jose K Mani (Kerala Congress M), NK Premachandran (RSP), Thol Thirumavalavan (VCK), and KM Kader Mohideen (IUML).
The upcoming session will be the first since the April Pahalgam attack, in which 26 people were killed. Following the incident, the Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor in Pakistani territory targeting terror infrastructure.
