On behalf of Federation for People’s Rights (FPR), Puducherry, a consultation meeting was held at Chambre de Commerce, on 22.08.2010 at 10.00 am to 1.00 pm. The meeting was presided by its Secretary G. Sugumaran and about 50 volunteer in and around Puducherry were attended. The following resolutions were passed unanimously:

1)     We urge the Puducherry government to take steps to scrap the regional reservation in higher education in Puducherry, which is contravene to the Constitution of India and the Judgment delivered by the 11 Judges of Constitutional Bench in Indra Sawhney case. Otherwise, we will organize the people and students and fight against it.

2)    We urge the Puducherry government to get the approval of Medical Council of India for the Puducherry Government Medical College and start the courses in the current academic year itself to protect the interest of the students of Puducherry.

3)    We appreciate the Puducherry government for announcing the separate reservation for Muslims and Fishermen community providing 2 percent reservation in education and employment and also we press the government to issue the G.O. at the earliest enabling them to enjoy the reservation in the present academic year itself.

4)    The Home Ministry of India has filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India to recall the whole judgment allowing the private port project in Puducherry. In this context we urge the Puducherry government to cancel the agreement entered with private port developer. The MHA has published the Special Audit Report on Puducherry port project in website, which was constituted by the MHA to probe the various complaints received against the project. The Report reveals lot of deficiency, irregularities and corruption in the port project agreement. In this juncture we urge the Central government to order for a C.B.I. enquiry in this regard.

5)    The village panchayat leaders of Puducherry are struggling for a long period demanding finance, office employees, application for welfare schemes and dilution of powers to the panchayats. We condemn the attitude of the Puducherry government which is totally neglecting the demands of the village panchayats. We urge the Puducherry government to consider their demands and proper implementation of the Panchayat Raj Act.

6)     In the selection process of post of TTGT, the Director of School Education Mr. Sundaravadivel and other officials indulged in mark scandal and corruption. In this regard we complained to the authorities with the bulk of evidence, but the government not yet took any action against the corrupt official is condemnable. We urge the Puducherry government to order for a C.B.I. inquiry.

7)    The petitions sent to the office of the Lt. Governor are not properly enquired and they were merely endorsed and sent to the authorities on whom the complaint was made for comments is a wrong precedent.  We request the Lt. Governor who is having the uppermost power to take stringent action against the erring officials to develop a corruption free administration in Puducherry.

8)    Federation for People’s Rights First State Conference will be held at Puducherry on January 2011 and Former Judges, Human and Social Rights activists will be invited for the conference.

9)    To run a newsletter in the name “Kural (Voice)” to take up the activities and issues taken by Federation for People’s Rights to the people.

10)    We thank the newspapers and visual media for extending the support for the activities of Federation for People’s Rights.

The School and College Students of Puducherry around four thousand boycotted the classes and rallied towards the Lt. Governor’s office and submitted a Memorandum to the Lt. Governor of Puducherry on 14/07/2010 demanding to implement 11 vital demands of students issue:

We are submitting this representation for your Excellency’s kind attention and for suitable action to protect the interest of the students’ community of Puducherry.

1)    On 05.07.2010 in the Immaculate Higher Secondary School at Nellithoppe, a girl student studying 10th standard was severely beaten up by the Head Mistress of the School. The student fell unconscious and admitted in the Government Hospital and treated. The parents have lodged a complaint in the Orleanpet Police Station but till date no action was taken by the Police. We request your authority to take steps to file FIR against the Head Mistress responsible for this heartless attitude towards the students and also to remove the Head Mistress from the service by initiating departmental action. We urge your authority to instruct the Puducherry Government to strictly follow the guidelines sent on 09.08.2009 to all State and UT Governments by the National Child Rights Protection Commission banning the corporal punishments in Schools and Colleges.

2)    The administration of the St. Joseph Cluny Higher Secondary School at Lawspet ‘compulsorily’ collecting Rs. 6,000 to 10,000 from all the students as building fund and also getting around Rs. 1 Lakh as capitation fee from the parents for the admission of L.K.G. This compulsory collection is totally illegal and amounts to penal punishment under the prevailing Law. We request your authority to initiate action against the school administration and also to take action to refund the illegally collected fund to the parents.

3)    The student’s admission to various professional colleges through CENTAC is delayed reason best known to everybody. We request your authority to take steps to finalise the CENTAC list and admission by fixing the counseling date at the earliest.

4)    The Priest University at Tanjore is running an off campus Engineering College at Abishegapakkam in Puducherry without any valid recognition from UGC and AICTE. The off campus study centers are not permitted as per the UGC norms and other provisions of Law. The University administration is going on admitting the students without bothering the future of the students. We request your authority to take action against the Priest University and also prevent the administration from admitting the students.

5)    We request your authority to take steps to run the Government Medical College in full-fledged manner immediately by getting recognition from the Medical Council of India and also to start the MBBS and other related courses in this academic year itself.

6)    The Government failed to place order for the text books for the school students from Tamilnadu in time. The school students are very much affected due to this.  We request your authority to take steps to get and supply the text books to the school students.

7)    The Government had issued a G.O. that the students who have continuously studied in Puducherry for 3 years will only be eligible to apply for the CENTAC. We request your authority to withdraw the said G.O. to protect the interests of the Puducherry students.

The private schools in Puducherry are collecting enormous fees from the parents for admitting the students without any norms and forms. The Tamilnadu Government enacted an Act to regularize the fee structure (Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act). We request your authority to instruct the Puducherry Government to bring an Act immediately to regularize the fees structure following its counterpart.

9)    The Private Medical Colleges are cheating the Government in allotting the MBBS seats every year. We are sorry to state that the Government almost surrendering to the administration of the Private Medical Colleges. We request your authority to intervene and take necessary steps to get 50 percent MBBS seats this year as Government quota and also in PG courses.

10)    The Bar Council of India had cancelled the recognition for the Government Law College due to various reasons including lack of facilities. The first year admission was also barred due to this decision of the Bar Council. The students of Puducherry are very much affected by this. We urge your authority to instruct the Government to take steps to get back the recognition of Bar Council of India and resume the first year admission.

11)     The U.G.C. recognition of the Kasthuribai Government Women’s Arts College in Villianur is in peril due unavailability of adequate buildings for the college. We request your authority to take action to allot fund and construct the building for the college to retain the U.G.C. recognition. It is worth to note here that the poor students in and around the Villianur area are studying in this college.

We, the organization concerned in the student’s welfare and students of various schools and colleges kindly place these demands before your Excellency for immediate attention and necessary action.

Signatories:

1) G. Sugumaran, Federtion for People’s Rights (FPR), Puducherry.

2) C. S. Saminathan, Convener, Puducherry Students’ Federation.

3) S. Sathiamurthy, President, All India Students’ Federation (AISF).

4) V. R. Elumalai, Secretary, Students Wing, AIADMK.

5) P. Saravanan, General Secretary, Puducherry Makkal Vizhipunarchi Iyakkam.

6) M. Narayanasamy, President, Parents, Teachers and Students Association.

7) Veera. Mohan, Treasurer, Periyar Drividar Kazhagam.

K. Ayyanar, Tagore Arts College, Puducherry.

9) A. Madan, Government Law College, Puducherry.

Federation for People’s Rights (FPR) organized a demonstration on 12.02.2010, at 10 am, near Swadesi Mill, Puducherry, pressing the Government to consider the Central Jail prisoners reasonable demands and end the on to death fast struggle of prisoners. The relatives of the Jail inmates participated in the demonstration in huge number. The demonstration was presided over by the FPR Secretary G.Sugumaran.

The prisoners are undergoing onto death struggle for the past 4 days at the Central Prison, Kalapet, Puducherry. The prisoner’s demands to provide pure drinking water, proper water supply for the latrines, cut shot the distance in the visitor’s interview room to speak and interact with the relatives closely, parole leave without discrimination and delay and premature release of lifers who have completed 7 years imprisonment.

Various political party and social organization leaders including Village Panchayat Presidents Coordinating Federation’s Vice President G.A.Jaganathan, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Party’s Organising Secretary Su.Paavanan, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Organiser C.Murthy, All India Forward Bloc General Secretary U.Muthu, Lok Jana Sakthi Party’s President Puratchivendan, Manitha Neya Makkal Katchi Secretary M.A.Asraf @ Ragamathulla, Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazahagam President A.Abdul Rasak Khan, Vice President Abubakkar, Marxist Periyar Communist Party’s President Thirunavakarasu, Puducherry Students’ Federation Convener Sathish @ Saminathan, Makkal Vizhipunarchi Iyakkam Secretary Saravanan are participated in the demo and spoke. More than 200 people were attended the demonstration.

Various organisation representatives of “Joint Action Committee Against the Introduction of GM Foods like Bt Brinjal” submitted a memorandum to His Excellency Lt. Governor’ s office on 09.02.2010 pressing not to allow Bt Brinjal. They also handed over the thousands of signatures obtained from the village people and farmers.

The Committee comprises with 13 organisations: Puduvai Ariviyal Iyakkam, Poovulakin Nanpargal, Sempadugai Nanneeragam, Confederation of Puducherry State Govt Employees, Phoenix Science Forum, Kalanjiyam Organic Farmers’ Association, Federation for People’s Rights (FPR), Puducherry, LIC Employees’ Union, Samam Makalir Suyasarbu Iyakkam, All India Kisan Sabha, Puducherry, Teachers’ Association, Puducherry, Centre for Ecology & Rural Development, Murpokku Ezhuthaalar Sangam.

Memorandum:

Your Excellency might be aware that the United Nations Organization have announced the year 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. But thousands of our traditional Brinjal varieties are facing severe danger of being becoming extinct due to the introduction of the genetically modified (GM) BT Brinjal by the Union Government, if it goes ahead with the approval of this GM crop.

We, the citizens and civil society organizations of Puducherry request the Union and State governments not to allow this extreme step which will completely erase the diversity of not only the Brinjal crop but other vegetables species like Potato, Tomato etc. which fall in the same family of Brinjal.

In BT Brinjal, a gene from the bacteria Bacillus Thuringeinsis (BT) which occur in the soil in trace quantities are extracted and introduced into the DNA of Brinjal where the BT toxin is introduced into the whole plant. This BT is known to be active against the major pest of Brinjal, the fruit bore worm but not against lots of other pests of the plant.

Already leading scientists like Dr.Pushpa Bhargava (former Director of the Central for Cellular Molecular Biology (CCMB, Hyderabad & Member of the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee), Dr.M.S.Swaminathan (MSSRF) etc have expressed that the BT Brinjal or any other GM foods should not be allowed to be introduced in India for lack of adequate and transparent testing by public sector laboratories.

Already states like Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Kerala have banned the crops in their respective states. Large number of biotechnologists and Agricultural Universities have come openly against this. Organisations like World Health Organisation (WHO) and many countries including many states in the US have not allowed introduction of GM crops. The impact of high doses of BT in the soil could also harm the soil bacteria, earthworms and other macro fauna and adequate studies have not been conducted in these aspects.

In this context, we the voluntary organizations in Puducherry request the Government of Puducherry and Government of India not to allow the introduction of BT Brinjal or for that matter any other GM food crops in our soil as India is one of the rare countries where the majority of vegetable and plant biodiversity in the world still exists.

In line with as many as 10 states have banned the entry of the genetically modified crop BT Brinjal in their respective states, we earnestly request His Excellency to ban the GM BT Brinjal in Puducherry also thereby protecting the interests of not only the farming community but also the population of Puducherry from the short term and long term ill-effects it could cause.

A One Day National Seminar on The Scope and Extent of Civil Rights Organizations was held at Chennai on 30.01.2010, organised by People’s Union for Human Rights (PUHR), Tamilnadu and Federation for People’s Rights (FPR), Puducherry.  The veteran human rights activist and noted writer S.V.Rajadurai delivered key note address.

Let me first whole heartedly congratulate the organizers of the one day National Seminar since they could not have chosen a better time. It takes place in a city that has a significant, if not a glorious record of human rights activities. It can boast of having the first provincial chapter of the first Civil Liberties Organization of this country-Indian Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) founded by Jawaharlal Nehru in the course of the anti-British Nationalist struggles. In 1937 I believe, it organized one of its National Conferences in this City. Its history and its commitments to uphold the civil and democratic rights are yet to be properly documented. Though Nehru dismissed the need to keep alive this organization after 1947 - in his view civil rights movement had become superfluous once the country became independent - one can not but remember some of the admirable positions- non partisan ones- it took despite the leading lights being the Congressmen themselves.The ICLU took strong positions against C.Rajagopalachari government of 1937-1939 when it invoked the draconian  laws of the British - not so draconian as our Swadeshi versions like POTA and UPALA- such as 124A and Criminal Law Amendment Act 1908 - to arrest Socialist leaders like Batliwala, ban certain journals and publications and put down with an iron hand the anti-Hindi agitation.In stifling the civil and democratic rights the rivals within the Congress closed their ranks to the extent that S.Satyamurthi even clamoured for death sentence to the anti-Hindi agitationists.

Some of the stalwarts of the ICLU such as Thiru.Vi.Ka. a nationalist to the core, a great Tamil scholar and a respected  trade unionist continued with the spirit that inspired and animated the ICLU in the initial years. He was joined by other civil rightists, some of them Brahmins in condemning in no ambiguous terms the repressive measures of the Congress Government. He stood with the workers of Buckingham & Carnatic Mills in the first year of independence while the Congress ministry chose to be on the side of the employers.He and some of his colleagues  linked themselves up with those of the Communist movement and Periyar’s Dravidar Kazhagam to protest against the repressive measures the members of the banned Communist Party faced-particularly the brutal torture to which the Communist prisoners were subjected to. The last of these first generation civil rightists - former Mayor of Madras Krishnamurthy, together with Dr S.Vijayalakshmi of the erstwhile Socialist Party, continued well into the 1970s, though by that time there was no ICLU - we had TNCLU (Tamil Nadu Civil Liberties Union) that sprang up in the 1960s just as APCLC and APDR- to name a few- to respond to the ways in which both the centre and states handled the naxalite problem.

Though the focus of the TNCLU was narrow, it enjoyed credibility in view of its links with such impeccable characters as ‘Mayor’ Krishnamurthy and Dr.S.Vijayalakshmi. Subsequent years saw the emergence of quite a few Human Rights outfits in Tamil Nadu, some of them, despite their claims and pretentions to be non-party organizations and  their occasional interests in issues that affect popular masses, ended up as front organizations of this or that naxalite parties and groups. There have been, following the international and national trends, funded Human Rights NGOs, a few of which have assumed Corporate dimensions. I must confess that due to paucity of funds within the organizations in which people like us functioned and also in view of the lack of imagination or the inspiration generated from within and without, an inspiration that would have propelled us into identifying the important human rights issues- many of them pertain to the terrain of  micro-politics which nevertheless in the long or short run aggregate into the larger terrain of macro politics and address them adequately without the kind of tokenism with which many amongst us indulge in self-delusion if not outright bad faith, or because of the urgency with which we had to tackle certain problems, we sometimes found ourselves sharing the platforms of these funded organizations, thus unwittingly subscribing to the unethical principle of end justifying the means. This naturally met with sharp criticisms, the substance of which were essentially correct, but which instead of appreciating the genuine concerns and commitments with which we had dedicated the best part of our life for the cause of human rights, tended to throw the baby with the bathed water. Most of these criticisms came either from those friends, who,enjoying the cozy warmth of their comfortable sectarian cocoons, were deeply convinced of the effectiveness of their cultural and political propaganda in being the universal panacea for all the social evils including the violation of human rights or from the  militants for whose cause we had many a times risked  our skins - the militants whose self-righteousness blinded them from seeing the beam in their eyes.

These observations lead us to reflect on the question of the credibility the position paper says the Civil Rights Organizations must strive to achieve - one of the main themes the paper is concerned with. The position paper correctly identifies the dangers and pitfalls that lay ahead of the path the Civil Rights movement treads and offers a few suggestions to avoid them. These suggestions are laudable but the question remains: In whose eyes we want to establish our credibility? Definitely not in the eyes of the State. There had never been an Ideal State, nor, as non-Millenarians like me tend to believe, there is going to be one in a foreseeable future which would allow an honourable co-existence of a viable Civil Rights Organisation.We can however speak of establishing our credibility in the Civil Society. However, to what extent is it possible? The Civil Society itself has been corroded by the intrusion of the organs of State Power aided and abetted by the mass media, which manipulates and manufactures ‘consent’. The position paper speaks of the shrinking of public space. This is a feature shockingly characteristic of Tamil Nadu. When we speak of the printed media, with a sole exception, the vernacular dailies never entertain regular columns through which people of different ideological or political persuasions can air their opinions and contribute to the general debate of problems of public nature; these papers do not carry even editorials. The only exception is a right wing daily, which in tune with the electoral fortunes or misfortunes of the major political parties, some times expresses its explicit Hindutva bias and at other times masquerades as a Nationalist paper with a penchant for Tamil cultural nationalism. We sometime envy our friends in neighbouring state who manage to find spaces in liberal dailies, but we are not sure to what extent their journalist skills mold the public opinion. As regards the electronic media, less said the better.

As the positions paper says, even the hall meetings are rendered rare and at times impossible. There are almost no public halls. In my life I have attended or spoken in a number of public halls, but the situation started changing from beginning of 1980s, thanks to the naxalite challenge. Today, one need not be a naxalite sympathizer to be denied access to a public hall owned either by the Government or by private institutions and individuals. By threatening the owners of the hall, by refusing permission to hold meetings either in the halls or in public places the opposition groups are forced to seek legal remedy, but the court either denies justice or delays it. Thus the state indirectly ensures that one’s material and human resources are thoroughly exhausted and frustration sets in.One public hall, that happened to be relatively easy to access, is one that is attached to the Government run Library authority. Even during the emergency days meetings were held in this hall, though most of them were organized by the right wing opposition to Indira Gandhi.It was during the emergency, the authorities in charge of the hall started insisting on getting prior permission from the police. In the post-emergency years,police permission to conduct the meetings was made mandatory. Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer, who addressed a number of meetings in this hall,  questioned the illegality of this procedure and asked the Civil Rights Organizations to take up this issue. One of the failures of Civil and democratic rights movement in Tamil Nadu was that it did not challenge this illegality in the Court of Law, though the authorities would nevertheless have found other means to prevent the meetings in this hall, as they have done recently. The present Government fixed air-conditioners in the hall and hiked the rent to Rs7500 for three hours!

One can list out any number of such impediments in the way of normal, legal, democratic functioning of a Civil Rights organization. But I would like to focus on certain problems that we have to face in the caste ridden Civil Society. Whatever may be the shortcomings of the Civil and Democratic right organizations,all over the country,they have never wavered in their support and solidarity with the Dalit and Adivasi masses and in addressing the multiple injustices inflicted on them. It is easy to focus on the upper caste elements or the state machinery with its cattiest prejudices. But the castes and Brahmanism are much more deeply rooted in our social life and in our individual and collective psyche. It operates both in converse and reverse methods. It can always be used as a trump card to discredit and defeat the opponents .As anti-caste radicals Dr.Ambedkar and Periyar said, casteism has negated the spirit of brotherhood, fraternity and evolution of a common ethical life. I am concerned about the last aspect, because it puts us in tricky situation where, however much you try, you can not achieve credibility amongst a section of the masses. We are not bothered to be called an anti-Brahmin, anti-Reddy, anti-Thevar, anti-Rajput and so on.But to be called an anti-Dalit is really painful. Not only painful, it sometimes makes us baulk at taking honest decisions. It is easy to be politically correct and turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of the elements from Dalit community, especially when the misdeeds injure the interests of oppressed and exploited people themselves. Can the fact that the justice long denied to the Dalits has been slightly restored to them by having a Dalit Chief Justice in the Apex Court and another in a High Court can be held against another fact that the judicial functions of these two judges have only been serving the interests of the neo-liberal regime and that the one in the Apex Court, uses the unchecked judicial authority not only to shield the one in the lower but also induct him into the higher echelons of the judiciary for the sole reason that both of them are Dalits?

Similarly, the task of the Civil Libertarians in Tamil Nadu in making a correct judgments was rendered difficult when there was a clash between the caste Hindu students and Dalit students in the Law College premises last year.Surely,one needed to approach that issue with a high level of sensitivity to the genuine grievances of Dalit students, the extremely inhuman conditions obtaining in their hostels and implacable casteist arrogance of the caste Hindu students ,but many of us found it easier to come to an a priori, politically correct conclusion and issue statements for the fear of  getting the anti-Dalit labels stuck on our shirts. One needs to be a Balagopal with a very high degree of moral caliber to remain unruffled by unfair criticisms and vicious canards and carry on with the conviction that all human beings are equal in all respects.

Likewise, most of us were hesitant to address the fact that the immature behaviour of some young lawyers and their irresponsible speeches and acts in the High Court premises helped to make the entire community of lawyers vulnerable to police brutality and helped strengthen the hands of  the most hated right wing elements.

Another point - related to the above issues - I would like to make, is that whatever claim we Civil Rightists make about our impartiality, non-partisanship and so on, the hard fact is that most of us have come from certain social or political milieu which are not ideologically neutral -we still suffer from the hangovers and as public intellectuals, writers and publicists we  indulge in polemical exercises which rarely help endear ourselves to all sections of the Civil Society. We definitely do not know where to draw the line, if that could exist, between on the one hand our role as writers and publicists and on the other our role as civil rightists.

The last point I want to make in relation of the question of credibility of Civil Rights organizations is about the need to reflect on the role of lawyers associated with them. While not denying that the crucial role the lawyers play in the Civil Rights Organizations, I feel there must be some parameters which ensures their pursuance of their profession for livelihood does not become totally incompatible with the commitments they are expected to make as Civil Rightists. I do not expect every one becoming a Balagopal, but he should be a role model to be emulated, because in my limited experience in the Civil rights movement in Tamil Nadu, I have seen a few lawyers using the Civil Rights platform as a spring board to build their careers, promote their self interests, taking advantage of the situation where acceptance of certain briefs was viewed dangerously anti-national and pro-fundamentalist. This careerism has helped such people build their own net works about which the members of the respective Civil Rights Organizations themselves are not aware of and travel across the lands and seas as  Human Rights Messiahs from India. One may argue,“why single out lawyers, there are careerists  amongst non-lawyer members as well”. Yes, in that case, similar ethical standards that applies to everybody become all the more essential.

The position paper talks about the neo-liberal regime and its ramifications particularly the Special Economic Zones. It seems to me that a unique kind of fascism is building up in our country, a secular version of fascism sharply distinct from the blatantly communal variety of Hindutva forces. The neo-liberal agenda has consistently targeted the organized working class, without making any radical changes in the existing Labour Laws since its purpose is being achieved by other means: by measures to circumvent the provisions of the Labour Laws which protect workers’ interests, by preventing the formation of trade unions and by informalising the economy.Similarly,the SEZ acts and rules contain an in-built provision that allows the state machinery to declare the SEZs as public utilities to facilitate invoking ESMA.In Tamil Nadu, state repression relating to SEZ affair is not very pronounced since there has been no well organized mass movements similar to ones we witness in Bengal or Orissa. The judiciary continues to approve the taking over of lands from the people in the name of development. In most cases, there is no presence of the state in the acquisition of lands. The TNCs also avoid making themselves visible. The job is taken care of by the by the seasoned real estate brokers. There are instances where people are willing to sell their lands, which they feel, are not productive.

The grand plans of beautification of our cities have already displaced millions of slum dwellers, in some instances even the lower middle class residents. Now, the Tamil Nadu Government has launched a plan to construct an elevated High Way from Maduravayil (one of the suburbs of Chennai) to the Chennai Port. This zig zag High Way is to be built over the entire stretch of Coouvm river starting from Maduravayil covering more than double the distance between these two points.This means above all displacement of millions of slum dwellers who managed to survive the unbelievably inhuman conditions for several decades. No opposition party has taken up this issue though there have emerged  pockets of resistance which may or may not aggregate into mass mobilizations. I add the provision ‘may not’ here, because, Tamil Nadu has perfected a model for corrupting not just the political class, the three pillars of democracy and the so called ‘fourth estate’. It has corrupted the minds and souls of the popular masses, through the welfare schemes, through bribing the voters and buying off the opposition leaders. If one goes by the methods by which the by-elections are held in Tamil Nadu,she/he may expect the common people getting disillusioned with the electoral processes. But people want elections, though they know for certain only the ruling party  would win, because if there are no elections, you won’t get the money for the vote. In popular perception, the politician who shares at least a tiny part of the loot is preferable to the one who does not share. If the money can not do the work, the muscle power would do it. Recently, nearly 50 villages showed signs of concerted resistance to the scheme of constructing a thermal plant in Nagapattinam. Money made its journey accompanied by muscle power Now the villagers are divided into two groups, one pitted against another. I may be exaggerating things, but we who talk about human rights must understand that popular masses, if not all at least a sizeable chunk of them - from whom nine things are taken away while  given one thing is given as Balagopal used to say-tend to acquiesce into the dirty games of the government and the ruling parties. So where is the head of the SEZ where one can put his pistol onto?

Democracy  can be sustained only by the struggle of the people and in the course of these struggles, the scope and meaning of democratic rights get enlarged. Once the fighting spirit of the people is blunted, no law of the land or the Court (which is menacingly becoming anti-people) can not do much.

Things may not remain static. People won’t keep quiet for long. Stirrings will be there and the struggles may break out.

I am making these submissions for deeper reflections and for evolving efficient methods of work and a proper tactics that are capable of coping with the time and its spirit in which we are all living.

THE SCOPE AND EXTENT OF CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS

NATIONAL SEMINAR

Date: 30-01-2010 SATURDAY Time: 10 AM to 6 PM
Venue: IKSA CENTRE, EGMORE, CHENNAI-08

FIRST SESSION (10 AM - 2 PM)

CHAIR: KO. SUGUMARAN, FPR, Puducherry.

WELCOME & INTRODUCTORY NOTE: A. MARX, PUHR, Tamil Nadu.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: S.V.RAJADURAI

MAIN SPEAKERS

KAVITHA SRIVATSAVA, PUCL, Rajasthan

V. S. KRISHNA, HRF, Hyderabad

APOORVANAND, Delhi University, New Delhi

SATYA SIVARAMAN, Columnist, New Delhi

NAGARI BABIAH, PDF, Bangaluru

- Lunch Break –

SECOND SESSION (3 PM to 4.30 PM)

CHAIR: RAJINI, PUHR, Madurai.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: PRABA. KALVIMANI

MAIN SPEAKERS

K. KESAVAN, CPCL, Madurai.

A.S. ABDUL KADER, NCHRO, Madurai.

P. PUGALENTHI, TPRF, Chennai.

THIRD SESSION (4.30 PM to 6 PM)

OPEN SESSION

- All are invited. Lunch and Tea arranged -

Drawing Courtesy: Brydie Cromarty.

We are living in a period in which the hard earned civil and political rights are under severe threat from the state. The neo-liberal politics unleashed by the state deprives large number of people their basic livelihood especially in areas that are rich in mineral and water resources. The new laws enacted by the state serve the carporates as instruments of appropriation of common properties that belongs to the adivasis and peasants. When the victims of such dispossession and the movements that represent them fight for their rights they are brutally repressed. The state never hesitates to wage a war against its own citizens. Paramilitary forces trained in violent repressions are deployed in such areas and violence let loose on innocent people. Apart from such paramilitary forces, armed goons paid from state exchequer are also brought into service against the poor tribals and peasants. They move with arms and indulge in all sorts of heartless and brutal activities against their own people. In this way the local people are divided into two factions and made to stand against each other. Hundreds of villages are forcefully emptied and lacks of adivasis are made internally displaced. Fake encounters, unlawful arrests, sexual violations and forceful disappearances have become day to day affairs in such areas of conflict.

Even in states where there are no such conflicts, restrictions are imposed on the rights to speak and assemble. Permissions are denied for peaceful meetings and demonstrations. Even hall meetings for which no police permission is required, are obstructed by threatening the hall owners. Black laws with extraordinary provisions to curtail the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution are enacted by the central and state governments. The draconian provisions of the infamous POTA are now incorporated into the ULAPA which is a permanent act in the sense that it requires no parliamentary approval for every two or three years. These illegal and abnormal provisions incorporated into the preventive detention and anti terrorist laws and the procedural lapses by the executive are often legalized and made normal by the judiciary.

In these circumstances the importance of civil rights movements has increased. They have to move the courts, come to the streets and fight for constitutional governance. In such a situation the civil rights activists functioning in the conflict zones have to bear the brunt of the oppressive instruments of the state. Draconian provisions of preventive detention laws are deployed against them and they are accused and arrested for ‘abetting’ the terrorists and extremists. The police and the illegal brigades nurtured by them do not even hesitate to eliminate such activists. There are innumerable examples of attacks and killings of HR activists in India. Even the United Nations human rights rap-por-teur Hina Jilani had registered that the attacks against the HR activists are increasing in the conflict zones which are rich in mineral wealth.

In the past civil rights organizations have played a significant role against the violations of human rights in the sub-continent? They have done immense work to expose fake encounters, emergency excesses and hunger deaths. They had also waged legal battles against the draconian laws that appropriated the fundamental rights of the citizens.

However it is sad to find that there is no coordination between the civil rights organizations that function today. This has weakened the civil rights movements in the sub-continent.

The civil rights movements have to fight not only against the state but against the corporates and the media networks also. We have to do this with the meager resources in our hand. The only strength and power that we enjoy is the hard earned credibility from the people. This credibility can be sustained only in two ways. When the state and media are propagating certain ‘truths’ that are naturally against the people, if the civil rights organizations say something against these imagined ‘truths’, the credibility earned by them should be such that the common sense should believe only what the civil rights organizations  say. For this to happen a civil rights movement should not be a frontal organization of a political party or a people’s movement. It is not enough that it is not a frontal organization but it should behave like that also. Secondly, a civil rights organization should not also depend on any external funding agency. In a globalised world, human rights have become an industry and mega HR organizations are functioning with huge foreign aids. Though they speak vociferously against the HR violations of the state, they also collude with the state in many ways such as conducting HR classes for the police officers.

To what extent the civil rights organizations fulfill these conditions today? This question has to be answered. Though many civil rights organizations claim that they are not the frontal organization of any political party, in practice they don’t behave like that. When a civil rights organization raises its voice only when a particular political party or people’s movement is repressed or an activist of that party is either arrested or killed and keeps quite in other such circumstances, it begins to loose its credibility. When they try to build a coordination with other civil rights organizations for such a cause, this exercise becomes one that of using others for their purpose. Thus a real strong coordination does not evolve.

A civil rights organization looses its credibility when it either amplifies the truths in favor of the movement they support or suppress or downplay the truths when they are not in its favor. A civil rights organization should not also restrict itself to issues which are only relevant to the present politics of the party or movement they support.

This doesn’t mean that civil rights organizations are not committed to any cause and are neutral in an abstract sense.  Of course they are committed to the cause of victims of all kinds of violations. Whenever the state and the ruling class suppress a fact or derail a people’s movement, a civil rights movement will take this issue against all oddities and risks it faces. Protecting the human dignity is the ultimate aim of a HR organization. It should be bold enough to oppose the violation of the human dignity in any form and from whichever direction this violation comes from.

Though a civil rights movement will not behave like a frontal organization to any political party it will strive hard to establish a civil space for all the people’s movements including those which believe in armed struggles.

We are speaking all these things with the sole aim of strengthening the civil rights movements in a time when HR violations are increasing. A dialogue becomes necessary between the various civil rights organizations functioning today. This dialogue should be conducted concurrently with our ongoing struggles against the violations of state agencies.

With this aim we are initiating a dialogue among the civil rights activists functioning in different parts of India. The one day seminar we have arranged will have two sessions. In the morning session activists from various states will share their views and experiences. In the afternoon session representatives from different organizations will air their views followed by an open session.

The possibilities of a coordinated action against the war proclaimed by the Indian state against the tribals will also be discussed. An appeal signed by all those assembled will be released in the evening.

ORGANISED BY:

People’s union for Human Rights (PUHR), Tamil Nadu
Federation for People’s Rights (FPR), Puducherry

CONTACT:

Prof A. Marx

3/5, First Cross St., Sastri Nagar, Adyar, Chennai - 600 020

Cell: 94441 20582, e-mail: professormarx@gmail.com.

Ko. Sugumaran

179 - A, Upstairs, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Puducherry - 605 001.

Cell: 98940 54640, e-mail: peoples_rights@hotmail.com

The Political Parties , Social Action Groups and Human Rights Organisations of Puducherry met External Affairs Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee on 15-12-2008 at 12.30 PM at his office in Parliament at New Delhi and submitted the following memorandum and pressed him to intervene in Sri Lanka Ethnic issue and save the Tamils by immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

The delegation was led by Dr. Barun Mukherjee, MP of All India Forward Bloc and delegates are Su. Pavanan, Organising Secretary, P. Amuthavan, Secretary, Viduthalai Siruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Puducherry, V.Selvarasu, Organising Committee Member,  Marumalarchi D.M.K., Puducherry, G.Sundramoorthy, President, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Puducherry, U. Muthu, General Secretary, All India Forward Bloc, Puducherry, Puratchi Vendan, President, Lok Janashakthi, Puducherry, G. Sugumaran, Secretary, Federation for People’s Rights (FPR), Puducherry, M.Ilango, Spokesperson, Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK), Puducherry.

The memorandum:

On behalf of the people of the Union Territory of Puducherry, We, the representatives of Political Parties, Social Action Groups and Human Rights Organisations functioning in the State, would like to prefer this Memorandum to consider taking up the Ethnic and Human Rights issue of the Marginalised Tamils with the Neighbouring Country.

Your Honour may aware the untold sufferings faced and hardships suffered by the Ethnic Tamils for nearly half-a-century on various counts in the Sri Lanka. The adversities they underwent have no parallels in the history of similarly situated nascent democracies in the Sub-Continent.

Stifling voices of Democracy; suppressing genuine aspirations of people of their own country with iron hand; unleashing of State Terror by embarking on military adventure; depriving basic amenities for food, shelter and  disregard of medical facilities have displaced the Minorities, within the State, on a massive scale, apart from driving them to endless miseries in the Island Nation.

As a result of relentless campaign undertaken by the various political formations within the united Sri Lanka had in the past yielded a little. On the other hand the neutral and secular voices once supported the traditional rights in the course of time faltered. This ground realities had encouraged the non-secular forces to firm up their un-democratic grip over and indulged in calculated discrimination and subjugation of Tamils as second class Citizens.

The systematic ploy of the Government of Sri Lanka had left the Tamils in disarray and resulted in internecine conflicts and clashes frequently affecting the peace loving, enduring Tamils over all these years. In the wake of the renewed armed conflicts the Tamils have lost their homes, possessions of lifetime and finally dignity.

This one sided war is truly catastrophic and taken heavy toll of human lives. So far the figure in this regard is one lac precious lives. Besides, left 3.5 lacs Tamils as refugees in their own country. The gravity of the situation is that in different countries of the world about 9 lac Sri Lankan Tamils have taken shelter with loss of face and human dignity. Their pathetic conditions for a decent, honouarable and secured life along with other citizens of their country have become a distant dream in their homeland. The situation of the Tamils in this context could be seen as vagabonds without sails. Their ignominy and insecurity can be compared to that of Jews during world wars and the condition of Palestinians now obtaining in the Middle East.

Fearing incessant reprisal from the army and fear for safety of life left more than a lac people to cross over to our Country as refugees in Tamilnadu and they are settled peacefully at our patronage. Besides, people, who ill-afford and could not shift across continued to live and suffer in tents on the roadsides and in forests fearing onslaught by the army and vagaries of weather. Their conditions are worse than their counterparts in their Country.

Negotiations and conciliations attempted earlier in their Nation could not scrape through as desired and now a stalemate situation has ensued. The unilateral cessation of dialogue and adoption of a rigid posture at all levels in the Island Nation has created a point of no return.

This attitude and intransigence exhibited at the level of the rulers and others  in resolving  age old - colonial power - created conflict, by military means are not going to resolve the conflict and would not certainly  in good taste and augur well for the People of Sri Lanka.

International condemnation on the ongoing, undeterred military action on unarmed, peace loving Tamils still have not evoked adequate purposeful response from the Sri Lankan Nation. In this connection, we would like to draw your kind notice to the provisions of the United Nations that declared genocide as an international crime and the declaration of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted in 1948, that states as follows:

‘any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: a) Killing members of the group; b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.’

This goes to amply testify that what is happening in Sri Lanka certainly is a clear case of genocide against the ethnic Tamils and calls for immediate and timely intervention by civilised nations of the world.

Therefore, We firmly believe that India as a strategic power and a leader of the SAARC shall have a moral stake and could use its good offices in the first instance, to urge the Sinhala Majority Government, to order immediate ceasefire and stop all kinds of hostilities against the Minority Tamils and also to resume dialogue for a lasting and enduring settlement.

The Signatories are:

Su. Pavanan, Organising Secretary, Viduthalai Siruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Puducherry.

V.Selvarasu, Organising Committee Member,  Marumalarchi D.M.K., Puducherry.

T. Sanjeevi, President, Rashtriya Janatha Dal (RJD), Puducherry.

Thanga. Kalaimaran, President, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Puducherry.

G.Sundramoorthy, President, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Puducherry.

U. Muthu, General Secretary, All India Forward Bloc, Puducherry.

Puratchi Vendan, President, Lok Janashakthi, Puducherry.

G. Sugumaran, Secretary, Federation for People’s Rights (FPR), Puducherry.

R. Mangaiyarselvan, Organiser, Meenavar Viduthalai Vengaigal, Puducherry.

M.Ilango, Spokesperson, Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK), Puducherry.

S. Moorthy, Organiser, Puratchiyalar Ambedkar Thondar Padai (PATP), Puducherry.

The delegates from Puducherry also met Nationalist Congress Party’s President Mr. Sharad Pawar, Lok Janshakthi Party’s President Mr. Ramvilas Paswan, All india Forward Bloc General Secretary Mr. Debabrata Biswas and submitted the memorandum to intervene in Sri Lanka’s crisis and save the Tamils.

The External Affairs Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee and the National Political Parties leaders assured the delegates that they will take steps to save the Tamils of Sri Lanka.

The said memorandum was also sent to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Defense Minister Mr. A.K. Antony of Government of India.

The degree of civilization in a society

Can be judged by entering the prisons

INAUGURAL CONFERENCE

COMMITTEE FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS

MARCH31,APRIL 1, 2008, LTG AUDITORIUM, MANDI HOUSE,NEWDELHI

Maulana Nasiruddin, Sheela Didi, Nanak Baghel, Suraj Tekam, Nirmal Brahmachari, Dr. Binayak Sen, Lachit Bordoloi, Mohammad Afzal,Perari Valan, Pozhilan, Kunangudi Haneefa, activists of Bhoomi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) in West Bengal, Narayan Sanyal, Sushil Roy, Malla Raja Reddy—these are just a few names of the growing list of political prisoners abounding the prisons in various regions. Besides, there are the Sri Lankan Tamils, Bangladeshi Muslims, and people from Bhutan, Pakistan and Afghanistan who are being denied the rights of refugees, put behind bars. A year before, numerous people from Nepal were put behind bars in India accused of being associated with the Maoist movement there. The growing statistics of prisoners lodged in various prisons in India run into several lakhs. A fairly good number of them are political prisoners. The numbers are fast increasing day by day. The overwhelming approach of the government to dub any issue of socio-economic and political significance as a ‘law and order’ question has made prisons the venue of ‘disciplining’ through torture, rape, humiliation and mistreatment.

The Kashmiris, Nagas, People of Manipur, Assam, the Bodos, Kamtapuris and other communities demanding their right for self-determination have been put behind bars for waging war against the sovereignty and integrity of the Indian nation. There are thousands of Kashmiri Muslims lodged in various prisons in India. Most of them are even without proper charges framed against them. The Muslim community have been a specific target of the so called ‘war against terror’ of the Indian State. The cases of Naxalites such as Maoists and others being arrested from various regions such as West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala have filled the headlines of news papers.

Media as the court of trial: It is the media, its multi-dimensional effects on public psyche where the image of the ‘terrorist’, the ‘anti-national’, the ’single largest internal security threat’, all get profiled; towards manufacturing the consent for a State devoid of impunity—any regard for norms, procedures, for the basic human rights of the detained as guaranteed by the UN. The construction of the ‘enemy’ of the State starts well ahead in the media as it caricatures all outstanding problems faced by the vast sections of the people. The obliging media in the times of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation produces a surfeit of images of the people, their issues, their movements against exploitation, oppression, mistreatment and discrimination, against displacement, destitution, destruction and death as something which have frozen and fossilised in time and should hence be repackaged akin to the politics of charity promoted by foreign and State funded NGOs and the so-called civil society.

Thus tribal communities are poor as they are anti-development; Muslims have gone astray because their religion is conservative and they don’t feel proud to be Indian; every Kashmiri Muslim is a suspect because of being a Kashmiri as well as a Muslim; the Maoists are trigger happy Robin Hoods devoid of any politics who resort to extortion, drug peddling and live out of plunder of the forest wealth. All nationality movements are against the sovereignty and security of the Indian nation. The civil and democratic rights activists who demand the enforcement of norms and procedures, the rights of the political prisoner are portrayed as accomplices in fomenting terrorising, against the integrity of the nation.

In the age of standardisation, protests or dissent has not been an exception. Dissent has also got standardised in terms of advocacy as well as petitioning. All other forms of dissent hence are against civility and should be punished. Thus when a detainee is brought before the people through the trial enforced by the media the prejudice is so much that the opinionated public gives a passive consent to the State to do whatever it wants to the political prisoner. Any such vilifying campaign of the media goes against the right of the detained to be presumed innocent as required by Article 14 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Being a political prisoner is a definite political act: To confine a people, a person, a community behind bars for the reason that they have refused to be treated the way the state is dealing with them; they have refused to be oppressed, exploited, discriminated and mistreated; is the inability of the State to deal with its own limitations. It is also a clear sign that the State has lost the humanity that it claims to have or vouches for every citizen. The haste with which the State has targeted all these people as ‘evil’, ‘anti-national’, ‘foreign’, ‘anti-development’, shows that it has lost its possibilities and is threatened by its own limitations. Yes it dreads the free movement of such citizens. Thus limitations take precedence and become the norm. Today, in addition to the already existing draconian laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Disturbed Areas Act and Unlawful Activities Prevention (Amendment) Act, we have every state in India enacting its own internal security laws that have given the military, paramilitary and police sweeping powers to apprehend anyone under the slightest of suspicions or even without it. It is the State that has violated the norms and procedures and the rule of law, to act politically to prevent the other opinion from taking precedence among the people. The fight for the release of these prisoners becomes important at a juncture where the law has failed to be impartial and fair. In fact, going through the numerous cases of incarceration one is forced to say that all laws and procedures have been bypassed to ensure the confinement of the political prisoner for life. Even in cases where the prisoner has been released in certain specific instances, the traumatic life after acquittal for the prisoner denotes the magnitude of the prejudice that society has undergone vis-a-vis the hatred and hysteria of the ‘war against terror’ created by the state.

Political Prisoners are the measure of our humanity: Political prisoners are people who are convinced about the possibility of a better society for the greater common good. Not only were the convinced about the need for a better world but were deeply involved in making it a possibility. One might disagree with their ideology. Yet some might have reservations about the means they resort for the betterment of a world of miseries and wretchedness. Those who are in power might strongly disagree with their socio-economic and political aspirations. These people, who are defied the light of the day, condemned to live death within the dark walls of the prison by the powers that be, belong to a wide spectrum of political beliefs through which they dream to espouse the social cause that they have given their life.

It is this conviction that forced Rabindra Nath Tagore to defend the cause of the political prisoner during the days of anti-colonial struggle against the British. The people who fought against British were also against the exploitation and oppression of the freedom loving people of India. Today when India is being sold in the form of Special Economic Zones, for loot and plunder of her forest wealth, mineral wealth, water, land, people, everything, by the rich and powerful, made possible by the rulers of this country, it is natural for the freedom loving people to oppose and fight it. Anyone who fights against any form of oppression, exploitation, mistreatment and discrimination cannot be a prisoner.

Defending the rights of the Political Prisoner: The jails are often overcrowded with the worst hygiene conditions. The jail manual is hardly followed. A good number of prisoners are condemned to rot in the prisons as they have hardly any means to meet the bail fee. The preamble of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights ensures the need for countries to uphold the rights of anyone resorting to dissent against the policies of the State. This guarantees the rights of the political prisoner. Contrary to the claim of being the largest democracy in the world, India has not even recognised political prisoner as a category. Though the West Bengal government has come up with a definition of the political prisoner it is never implemented. It becomes important to defend the right of the political prisoner to have safeguards against all forms of torture, rape, solitary confinement, right to have a lawyer of their choice, right to books, periodicals, to communicate, assemble among themselves, right to their religion.

Especially, at a time when there is a growing consensus among the judiciary, executive and the legislature with active connivance of the fourth estate to deny any possible rights to political prisoners, for a political prisoner, it becomes important to fight for every moment of her/his life behind bars. There is no other way the right of the political prisoner can be achieved as she/he has been denied the right to express their political opinion or to organise on that basis.

The inaugural conference on political prisoners is a historic and definite step in this direction. The memories of the days of emergency revisits us a cold reminder. It brings back the memories of the days of anti-colonial struggle, that of the valiant resistance of Bahadur Shah against the East India Company and the attendant hanging to death of thousands of Muslims belonging to the slaughter community. It enlivens the spirit of the heroic martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and Ashfaqullah; of Bhoomaiah and Kishta Goud in Telangana in the 60s; the memory of Maqbhool Bhat being shown the gallows in the 80s.

In Solidarity,

Amit Bhattacharyya, Coordinator.

Convenor’s Committee of the Conference Preparatory Committee:

Surendra Mohan, A Marx, Amit Bhattacharyya, SAR Geelani, GN Saibaba, Rona Wilson

5 March 2008.

For the Conference on Political Prisoners

Address: 185/3, Fourth Floor, Zakir Nagar, New Delhi-110025

Ph: 09836318354 09810081228 09871498354 Email: thearrested1@gmail.com

Mumbai, June 26: The different communities living in India should join hands together to counter the state terrorism in order to bring dignity of life to each and every individual.

The unholy alliance between the politicians in power, police and the media should be exposed with the concerted efforts of one and all whether one is affected or not  directly or indirectly.  Media has played a major role to project naxalites as anti-nationals and Muslims as terrorists. The Muslims are being targeted in fake encounter killings in the name of terrorism while earlier Dalits and other have-nots were shot down in the name of naxalites.

The above thoughts were expressed in more or less in unison by different speakers at the National seminar on fake ‘Encounter Killings’ organized by National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations, (NCHRO), here today in association with the Amnesty International India on the Anti-Torture Day at Marathi Patrakar  Sangh Hall. Prior to the seminar an inter-action session was held in the morning at the same venue.

The speakers stressed the need to develop a database of encounter killings in order to follow the cases to their ultimate conclusions of bringing the accused to be booked under the law. This would give some solace to the relatives of the encounter killings, they added.

Prof. Shams-ul-Islam of Delhi University asked Muslims to come out of their mind-sets and to unite with Dalits and others to fight out the state terrorism being unleashed on them. Keeping aloof and remaining confined in their ghettos will make the situation much difficult for them in the times to come.

Dr. John Dayal, general secretary of All India Christian Council, said:” We must have a national register of custodial deaths, fake encounters and military encounters.

Dr. Arshi Khan of Aligarh Muslim University while speaking at the seminar outlined four types of police encounters which he called fake or counterfeit encounter. They are “open encounter, “cluster encounter”, “police encounter” and “proxy encounter”.

Dr Arshi said police encounter began in early 70s. Previously it was area specific but now it is spreading all over India. Over 10,000 people are missing in Kashmir, while 2500 missing in Punjab.

He said that psychological operations are also going on in India to widen and divide between Hindus and Muslims. He named six police encounters specialist only in Bombay. He expressed fear that state level parties are now in alliance state party leadership.

Dr. Arshi sad that growing dominance of anti-Muslim political parties in power is posing threat to Muslims to be victims of police encounter. He said that all fake encounters should be investigated and the accused be punished.

The delegates and the relatives of victims of fake encounter killings took part in the seminar and inter-active session. The relatives made terrible narrations of their woes giving graphic details of how their dear ones were eliminated by those who are supposed to protect their lives in a welfare test. The sessions were presided over by E. M. Abdurahman, general secretary Popular Front of India. Advocate K.P. Muhammed Shareef, general convener NCHRO, delivered the welcome address.  Dr. John Dayal inaugurated the seminar. Justice Hosbet Suresh, retired judge of Bombay High Court, delivered concluding marks. Prof. Nagari Babbaya (Bangalore), Prof. Shams-ul-Islam (New Delhi), Ms Gouri Lankesh (Bangalore), Adv. Yousuf Hatim Muchala (Mumbai), Adv. Suresh Kumar, Lateef (Andhra Pradesh), Pattabi Somayaji, B.V Sitaram, Arshi Khan (Aligarh), Taeedul Islam (West Bengal), Subramanian G, Adv. Sunder Raj, G. Sugumaran (Puducherry) and M.A. Khalid (Mumbai) and this Bhopal-based journalist spoke during the two sessions.

Earlier, in the morning in the inter-action session of the Human Rights activists Justice Hosbet Suresh said the extra-judicial killings will put an end to the law abiding society. Criminalization and extra-judicial power given to the police forces is the main reason for the fake encounter killings. In the existing system police can book anybody and kill them at any time in fake encounters in the name of extremism and terrorism. This is a violation of rights and right to live, he added.

Relatives of encounter victims Gopinatha Pillai (father of Pranesh Kumar alias Javed who had converted to Islam was killed in Ahmedabad), Mrs. Sajida (wife of Pranesh Kumar alias Javed), Muthu Lakshmi (widow of Veerappan, the alleged sandalwood smuggler who was gunned down by STF, Tamilnadu), Philomina (mother of Sudheer killed by  Mangalore police) Noori (widow of Abdul Rauf who was killed by Bangalore police) shared their woeful experiences with the Human Rights activists).

The new national committee of NCHRO also formed on the occasion which is as follows:

President: Justice Hosbet Suresh (Mumbai), Vice Presidents: Dr. John Dayal & Dr Shams-ul-Islam (both New Delhi), Prof. Babayya (Bangalore), Dr. Abraham Mathai   (Mumbai); Secretary General: Adv. K.P. Mohammed Shareef (Kerala); Secretary: Ms Gouri Lankesh (Bangalore), G. Subramanian (Chennai), Dr. Abdul Salam (Kerala)
Treasurer: Justice (Retd.) Co Chenna Basappa, (Mangalore).

Executive Committee members : Prof. Ramesh (Karnataka), Pervez Bari (Bhopal), E.M. Abdurahman (Kerala), Dr. Mehboob Shariff (Karnataka), Adv Suresh (Andhra Pradesh), Lateef Mohammed Khan (Hyderabad), Abdul Hafiz Gandhi & Prof. Arshi Khan (both Aligarh), Pattabirama Somayaji (Karnataka), K.M. Shareef (Karnataka), Adv. Sunder Rajan P. (Tamilnadu), A.M.M. Shafi (Karnataka) and Adv. Sultan, (Tamilnadu)

RESOLUTION

Meanwhile, at the end of day-long deliberations resolutions with 11-point demands were passed which are as follows:

The encounter killings are part of a deliberate and conscious state administrative practice for which the Indian government must bear the responsibility. The successive political groups in power sanctified this de-facto policy of extra-judicial killings by members of the police forces, the Armed Forces and para-military security personnel in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Manipur and Tripura and by the State armed police in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat in the name of eliminating naxalites, terrorists or criminals.

The State has armed itself with Draconian laws such as Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, and derivative state legislations which  are irrational, unjust and against the principles of natural justice. These laws justify preventive detention and encourage to extract confessions by any method.

The United Nations Basic Principles emphasize that the use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials should be in consonance with respect for Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (ICCPR), provides that “every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” Extra-judicial killings clearly contravene the right to life.

India ratified ICCPR in 1979  and signed  the convention against Torture since 1997, but has betrayed it commitment to take effective measures to ensure that extra-judicial killings do not occur. It is yet to follow that up and ratify the convention. The rapid increase in the number of such killings flies in the face of the Right to Life as enshrined in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Antiquated laws are yet to be reformed and brought in line with international practices. There is no real investigation of extra-judicial killings. It is not surprising that the guilty in the police and security forces remain unpunished.

The hopes that Civil society had in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), have been belied because of serious flaws in the Statutes. The NHRC and other National Commissions have not been able to call the guilty to account for violence against Religious Minorities, Women, Dalits and Tribals.

This National Convention on Encounter Killings organized by the NCHRO in association with Amnesty International of India on this 26th day of June 2007, the International Anti-torture day, notes gross violations of Human rights, specially of torture and extra-judicial deaths in many countries. The Convention condemns the assault on human dignity in the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay in the Cuban island, the military prisons in Iraq, and the situation in countries of South Asia demands.

The convention demanded of the Government of India and State Governments, the following:

1. Urgent and effective measures to stop fake encounters, disappearances, custodial violence, custodial death and extra-judicial killings by police, special squads and security forces;

2. Reform the criminal justice system and the Indian Penal code, beginning the process by repealing all special legislation that enable a culture of torture and culture of impunity;

3. Prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments by authorities;

4. Stop discrimination and violence against women, indigenous peoples, Dalits and minorities and ensure genuine safe guards;

5. Strengthen the statutes of the  NHRC, State Human Rights and Minorities Commission and other statutory bodies;

6. Protect and rehabilitate the victims and survivors of encounter killings and other police atrocities, and give them affirmative compensation;

7. Ratify UN convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment (convention against torture) by making amending statutes;

8. Establish a National Register  of the Missing, and of Victims of torture, custodial deaths and encounter killings under the supervision of the NHRC;

9. Establish  public grievance redressal mechanisms on the pattern of   Lokayukta and Ombudsman to take cognizance of excesses committed by police and armed personnel, and to enforce Command Responsibility;

10. Maintain the sanctity of the ultimate power of Clemency now being exercised by the President of India and by State Governors from judicial and political aggression and encroachments and Immediate release of Dr. Binayak Sen (National Vice Chairman PUCL, Chhattisgarh).