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വായന

05 June, 2008

Ten-day fast in protest against arrests and black laws in Chhattisgarh

A 10-day fast, beginning June 16, 2008, is being organized at Raipur in Chhattisgarh to express solidarity with Dr. Binayak Sen, Ajay T G, both members of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, and many others detained under the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (1967) amended in 2004.

These draconian laws sanction violation of due process by the state, and thus contravene internationally accepted norms of jurisprudence as well as democratic governance. As Senior Advocate K G Kannabiran, National President of PUCL, argues in his letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the CSPSA and UAPA operate by criminalizing the very performance of civil liberties activities, and culpability is decided upon not by direct proof, but through guilt by association.

The PUCL-Chhattisgarh Unit, with Dr. Binayak Sen's active leadership as its General Secretary, had exposed the government-sponsored campaign Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh, which legitimizes extraconstitutional violence and pits Adivasis against Adivasis.

The fast is to ensure that human rights of marginalized people are not trampled upon and human rights defenders continue to work fearlessly. The fast will end on June 25, the day Emergency rule was declared in 1975.

This will be followed by a National Convention on Repressive Laws & Human Rights on June 25 and 26 at Raipur.

We invite you to join the campaign to end arbitrary abuse of state power and protect democratic rights of ordinary citizens by joining in the fast for any number of days either in Raipur or at your own place.

Rajendra Sail (9826804519) , Gautam Bandopadhyay (9826171304) , Ilina Sen (9425206875) , Kavita Srivastava (9351562965) , Faisal Khan (9313106745) ,
Sandeep Pandey (ashaashram@yahoo.com)

The above message has been received from the Rights Support Centre

Those wishing to demonstrate solidarity by joining the fast for one to ten days, remaining wherever they are, may sign up at the Asha Parivar site.

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