When the Uttar Pradesh government invoked the National Security Act against Aakriti Chaudhary and journalist Satyam Verma following the Noida workers’ protests, it raised a question that went far beyond the two individuals in jail: how had a labour protest become a matter of national security?
The protests had begun over minimum wages in Noida’s industrial belt. They later turned violent, with incidents of stone-pelting, arson and attacks on private property and the police. The violence led to mass arrests, but the police’s case went much further than identifying those allegedly involved in it.
