An attack on human dignity, says Rahul Gandhi on forced labor incident in UP

File Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi. | Photo credit: PTI

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) reacted sharply to the alleged incident of forced involuntary labor in Muzaffarnagar, describing the incident as an attack on human dignity, when jobs are disappearing due to a collapsed economy, the most vulnerable sections fall prey to such exploitation.

“The case of forced labor in Muzaffarnagar is very shocking. Apart from being forced to work without wages, the workers were bitten by dogs, speared, whipped and fed cattle fodder. This is an attack on human dignity – the victims deserve justice and rehabilitation and the perpetrators deserve the harshest punishment,” Mr Gandhi wrote on X.

He added: “It is also important that we ask what compulsions drive workers into such dangerous situations. As jobs disappear, incomes stagnate and protections for the most vulnerable, such as MGNREGA and labor laws, are weakened, desperation grows. Those who have no other options or protections become easy prey for such exploitation. This is not a typical criminal incident – it is the wreckage of a collapsed economy.”

For more than a year, 13 workers have been working at a factory in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, lured by the promise of jobs, fair wages and a better quality of life. However, the workers claimed they were trapped within the walls of the factory, their mobile phones and identification documents were confiscated, they were denied food, they were subjected to severe physical abuse and they were constantly monitored by two pit bull dogs kept on the premises to deter any escape attempts. A June 22 raid by joint teams from the Department of Labour, police and local government uncovered what officials characterized as a case of forced labor at the bag factory. The workers are from UP, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Ajay Kumar Lallu said that the failed economic policies of the BJP government were responsible for such oppression of the common poor people. “These workers joined the factory for a living but the gradual collapse of the Indian economy along with weak labor laws, favorable government policies towards factory owners and lack of regulatory oversight is leading to such oppression. The Uttar Pradesh government talks big about investment from big industries and global capital but no investment is coming, it is a structural failure of the BJP government,” said Mr Lallu, former state Congress president.

Published – 25 Jun 2026 03:13 IST