WASHINGTON: Over 100 Indian workers, who allegedly faced "slave-like treatment" in a Mississippi shipyard and unhelpful attitude from the embassy here, have threatened to stage a 'satyagraha' in Washington if New Delhi does not take up their cause with the US government. The protesters, who launched a 'long march' from New Orleans to Washington -- a distance of 1,500 kms, alleged that the Indian government failed to protect them.

They are expected to reach Washington DC on March 26 to meet Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen in their search for justice. "We write in response to your seven-day-long silence, followed by a 97-word letter that adds insult to the workers' injury as survivors of human trafficking. Apparently 18 months of human trafficking merited less than 100 words from you," the workers have said in a letter to Sen. "You leave us no choice but to launch a 'satyagraha' so that the truth will come to light and justice will be served."

"My doors are always open to any of my fellow citizens of India," Sen had said in a letter to Saket Soni of the Alliance of Guest Workers for Dignity.