Indefinite strike of FWICE called off (main post and title edited)

Today, not a single shoot will go on floors in Mumbai, the entertainment capital of India. This is in response to the indefinite strike called by the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE). The strike has been called to protest the alleged unlawful detainment of five members of FWICE namely Kamlesh Pandey, Dilip Pithva, Zahid Sheikh, Feroz Khan Raja and Sudhakar Sharma. FWICE allege that they have been detained unlawfully at BKC police station at the behest of a bogus assault case filed by the Registrar of Trade Unions. FWICE also allege that chief mischief maker Gangeshwarlal Shrivastav was let go scot free without any inquiry.

In a letter written to all producer bodies, FWICE has made clear their decision to go on an indefinite strike starting today and has sought support from all concerned bodies.

We spoke to Sanjay Singh, an integral member of Allied Mazdoor Union who confirmed the strike and said, "Yes, we are on an indefinite strike from today in response to the call given by FWICE which is the mother body of all other unions. This strike has been called to protest the wrongdoings of the Registrar of the Trade Union in collusion with Gangeshwar Shrivastav. Gangeshwar along with Deepak Shrivastav, Ambi Shrivastav, Rakesh, Lal Bahadur Jaiswal, Mangal Yadav were expelled by the Federation (FWICE) for indulging in goondaism, hafta vasooli, illegally stalling shoots and many other similar activities. The federation expelled them, dissolved their committee and announced new election dates on 23rd January. Gangeshwar tried his best to stop the election and even moved the courts but nothing worked. Elections happened and I won the post of general secretary, Prem Singh Thakur became the Chairman, Abdul Ghani, senior vice chairman."

Real trouble started brewing two days back when Gangeshwar allegedly threatened Dilip Pithva of FWICE. "Two days earlier when Dilip Pithva, general secretary of FWICE went to the trade union office where he was threatened with dire consequences by Gangeshwar. So when we attended the hearing today in relation to that at the registrar's office, Ganesghwar forced his way into the registrar's office and threatened again by saying that if we say anything more, he will bring in 100 more goondas. Now FIR has been registered in BKC police station against Gangeshwar. Our men who were detained were Dilip Pithva, President of FWICE, Kamlesh Pandey, Dilip Pithva, Zahid Sheikh, Feroz Khan Raja and Sudhakar Sharma. Thankfully, they have been released for the moment and Kamlesh bhai told me that Aamir saab (Aamir Khan) had put in a word with the CP (commissioner of police). We are holding a strike today and all bodies will be meeting to discuss the further cause of action."

http://www.tellychakkar.com/movie/movie-news/aamir-khan-intervenes-federation-of-western-indian-cine-employees-calls-strike

It was a call from Aamir Khan to police commissioner Rakesh Maria that secured the release of the five detained members of FWICE Kamlesh Pandey, Dilip Pithva, Zahid Sheikh, Feroz Khan Raja and Sudhakar Sharma as reported by us yesterday. The five were allegedly illegally detained yesterday at BKC police station after FIRs were registered against them under stringent IPC sections 353, 149 and 151. The same were apparently diluted to Section 186 of IPC after Aamir' call to the police commissioner which finally secured them bail.

In a press conference held today, all members except Sudhakar Shetty were present. Addressing the media, all the members earnestly requested support in fighting the rowdiness of Gangeshwar Shrivastav who has been causing trouble for all the federation members.

Said Kamlesh, the President of FWICE, "The major issue is that of corruption created by Gangeshwar Shrivastav who is the chief mischief maker. He has been stalling shoots, forcibly collecting haftas and terrorising everyone. He was debarred once and then later expelled from the Allied Mazdoor Union. But he is reluctant to let go the post he once held because of the more than 36 crore rupees that the corpus of Allied Mazdoor Union holds. He is not ready to vacate his office and nor is he ready to give keys. Complaints after complaints and FIRs have been registered in many police stations against him and yet he is roaming scot free."

Gangeshwar was the same person against whom the federation had protested last year. The situation hasn't changed since the last one year and it is his new terror tactics that has made the federation members concerned.

As per Kamlesh, Gangeshwar approached the registrar of trade unions and demanded that FWICE be declared illegal and all its members be expelled. "He approached Ashok Dhonte, the registrar of Trade union to register a complaint seeking to declare the federation illegal and that he has been expelled illegally. We don't know what pressure he was under but that gentleman (Registrar) was going to give an order in Gangeshwar's favour and Gangeshwar was dictating the order."

Continuing in the same vein, Kamlesh said, "When on 10th February, we took the reply before the Registrar and Gangeshwar was already there trying to get the registration cancelled. We then entered into a meeting with the registrar and someone from Gangeshwar's gang passed some unparliamentary remarks against us which snowballed the matter into a big thing but we never assaulted anyone. I am a writer and my hand is meant for writing and not fighting. Then cops came and asked us to come with them to the police station. Once there we were detained under sections 353, 149, 151 and held like common criminals. Police didn't give us a chance to offer our replies. Then all the bodies workers came there and protested. We never wanted the strike and it is the workers who decided to strike to support all this wrongdoings."

Director Rakesh Omprakash Mehra rang up Kamlesh to offer his support post which Aamir too intervened.

All the members including Kamlesh and Dilip Pithva have now made a fervent appeal to the state government and police to help them deal with the menace called Gangeshwar. They plan to approach the Chief Minister and other top ministers in their fight against this one man who obviously seems to be enjoying great power from sources unknown. FWICE also urged action to be taken against the registrar for conspiring with Gangeshwar to illegally disband FWICE.

Meanwhile, there will be no strike as it was called off at 6pm today and work will resume as normal from tomorrow.