Hoshiarpur / Daljeet Ajnoha /July 30— Garhshankar remained completely shut today as municipal sanitation workers staged a shutdown in protest against a lathicharge on their colleagues in Barnala. In a show of solidarity, the Congress, Youth Congress, All India Jatt Mahasabha, Brahmin Sabha Garhshankar and several other organizations held an angry march through the town, raising slogans against the Punjab government and the DSP accused of the baton charge.
Former Congress MLA Lov Kumar Goldi condemned the state government, saying the lathicharge demonstrated that the administration is hostile to all sections of society and is attempting to stifle people’s voices. “We will not tolerate this and will stand firmly with the sanitation workers,” he said. He added that people across Punjab have been forced onto the streets to fight for their demands, and accused the Aam Aadmi Party of reversing its pre‑poll promise that protests would no longer be necessary once it came to power. “Now that it is in government, its leaders are using the police to beat every section,” he said.
Speakers at the protest included Ajaib Singh Boparai, Punjab general secretary‑in‑charge of the All India Jatt Mahasabha; Bindu Bhumbla, district vice‑president of Congress; senior Congress leader Kulvinder Singh Bittu; Kulbhushan Shori, president of Brahmin Sabha Garhshankar and a contractor; senior vice‑president Pawan Sharma; former Youth Congress Garhshankar unit president Mandeep Singh Moila; Youth Congress Garhshankar unit president Jashandeep Singh Jashan; and Block Garhshankar president Amrik Singh Laddi.
They alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government has resorted to goondaism, and accused a DSP of striking women with batons, adding that the officer was merely suspended instead of being dismissed and prosecuted under criminal sections. “Suspension alone shows the DSP has the chief minister’s blessing,” they said, pledging to stand with the sanitation workers in every struggle. They also criticised the central BJP government for alleged incidents of assault elsewhere and accused the Punjab administration of granting police a free hand to beat civilians.
After the march, protesters proceeded to the Garhshankar Municipal Council to intensify the movement over the Barnala lathicharge and to discuss the sanitation workers’ local grievances. Organisers assured the workers, “We are with you; whenever a struggle is needed, we will lead it.”
Also present at the protest were leaders from the Sweeper Union, including Kiran Kumari, Raj Kumar Raju and Ram Murti Bangania; Youth Congress Garhshankar general secretary Chetan Aeri; All India Jatt Mahasabha Hoshiarpur district vice‑president Dalwinder Singh Dhillon; Block Mahilpur president Harvinder Singh; Manoj Bedi; former sarpanch Balwinder Singh Megowal; Dinesh Kumar; Deepak Kumar; Mukesh Kumar; Banka Pandit; Sanjeev Kumar Pandit; and Shashi Bhushan.
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