People’s March, which ceased operations following the arrest of its editor, P. Govindan Kutty, in January 2008 and the cancellation of its registration by the District Collector of Ernakulam, is set to reappear.
The charge against Govindan Kutty and the publication was that they had links with extremists. Govindan Kutty was released on bail a month after he was arrested. No charge-sheet was filed against him. The Collector’s order canceling the journal’s registration was set aside by the Press and Registration Appellate Board in New Delhi last month.
In a communication, Govindan Kutty says:
On 7th August 2009 the Hon'ble Press & Registration Appellate Board, New Delhi, set aside the order dated 15-01-2009 of the District Collector, Ernakulam cancelling the Declaration furnished by People's March, which was forwarded to the Registrar of Newspapers for India, New Delhi. It showed the utter vindictiveness of the Government/State to suppress views hostile to it. People's March has uncompromisingly stood on the side of the oppressed, exploited masses and the middle classes of our country who comprise an overwhelming 90% of our population. The Government/State represents the mere microscopic moneybags of this country and their agents and hangers-on who comprise barely 5% of the population. Both stand in direct conflict to each other. But the interests of the country must and always be the interests of its bulk population. Before the Appelate Board stood a lawyer paid by the Government. On the other side stood me, the Editor without any lawyer. The Government/State has no answer for the arguments and grounds put forth by me in my appeal as to under which clause under Section 8 B of the Press and Registration of Books Act 1867 the Declaration furnished by me was cancelled. After a few minutes of silence by the Government advocate, the Press & Registration Appellate Board set aside the order of the Collector, Ernakulam. A copy of the order is awaited.
Likewise after my illegal and arbitrary arrest and release on bail, even after 21 months the Government/State charge-sheets were not filed. But the cases foisted on me are pending as a form of threat.
It is clear that both the arrest and the banning of the non-publishing magazine while I was under custody together with the earlier banning of the website www.peoplesmarch.com was nothing but a crude attempt by the Government/State to stifle the freedom of speech in this fake democratic setup. It sought to muffle the revolutionary voice of the oppressed masses, their cries of agony and their call for liberation. People's March represented the truth and stood on the side of justice. The moneybags and their government/State could not tolerate this, so they resorted to suppressive measures.
People's March will never be cowed down by these efforts of the Government/state to muffle its voice. It will continue to stand up for the truth, will forever be on the side of justice and will never bow down before any fascist authority.
We apologize to our readers for this gap, but we thank you for your unstinting support in this period of trial. We request you to fight this conspiracy of silence by the Government/State by supporting People's March in all possible ways and propagating widely this victory of People's March to renew publication. You can do by renewing your subscription and each reader making personal attempts to get at least 10 subscribers. We request you to propagate widely in the media and the net this victory of People's March fraternity of patriotic, democratic and revolutionary people can grow and grow, both in India and abroad. We also request you to donate your mite with all your material and financial support in our attempts to change the world. We once again thank you for your unstinted support in our period of difficulty.
With revolutionary greetings,
Editor
Related posts:
Release P. Govindankutty unconditionally (January 26, 2008)
P. Govindankutty gets bail (Februaty 25, 2008)
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