HR DAY MEMORANDUM To, The District Magistrate,, Hooghly. Dear Madam, Human Rights activists of the district are observing International Human Rights Day (which falls on 10 December) through a sit-in demonstration at the Tower Clock Intersection, Chinsurah from 11 AM today to highlight alarming overall Human Rights situation and of our district in particular. As in previous years, An APDR team is at your office to draw the attention of the district administration and through you, to draw the attention of the state and central administration and seek redressal on the issues raised below. I. On the growing communal tension and attempts of polarization amongst people in communal line: The situation worsens during the pre-parliamentary election period all over the country and became evident in our state after the Khagragarh incident. The investigation of the incident targeted a particular community. The neighbors, relatives and acquaintances of the persons accused of explosive making have been targeted and persecuted. The legal and human rights of two women with children in lap were trampled as well as the rights of the arrested persons, their constitutional right to legal defense were denied, violated and trampled. We strongly condemn such violations and demand that the state, its policing mechanism and investigating agencies including NIA must abide by the country’s law even when handling persons accused of ‘terrorism’ or ‘dreaded’ criminals. We also demand that the Khagragarh trial be conducted in open court and so called confession extracted by torture in custody must not be used for trial. II. Utter failure of the state and its agencies like CID, CBI, SEBI, RBI to protect people from the trap of Sarada, Rose Valley and other pongees: These cheaters laid under the patronage of politicians, ministers and police and administrative higher ups and Government as a whole. This denied more than two million people of the state of their right to their lawfully earned money. We demand that all those involved in the scam be brought to book irrespective of their status and their properties be seized to compensate the hapless small investors. We think you are aware that apart from headline making pongee cheaters more such schemes are in vogue in our district and here also the police blatantly refuses to register FIRs, here also right to life several peole were snatched as a fallout of pongees. We have already brought two such incidents to the notice of the administration. III. In our memorandum no. 342/2013 we drew your attention to the Curtailment of democratic rights, right to assembly, right to freedom of expression and political activity in large areas of the district The policy of suppression of dissenting voices from the erstwhile Left Front regime has further intensified in the new regime of parivartan. Concerted attack on rights enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution of India and Article 19 of the UDHR has become the order of the day. The police, the administration, and the ruling political party of the state are acting in a concerted manner to throttle the voices of dissent. Our district and particularly areas of Arambagh Subdivision, Tarakeswar, Haripal Dhaniakhali are among the most affected. The activities of some OCs and ICs of police stations of the district are limited only to fulfiling the wishes of the ruling party bosses and powerful faction of the ruling party of the area. The situation not only remained the same, rather it detoriated. From the parliamentary election campaign period the police became active partner of the ruling party’s ‘campaign of suppression of opposition voters’. Immediately after the Parliament election of 2014, while conducting a fact finding of the incidents of violence in areas under Goghat PS, an APDR team found that the political opponents of the ruling party were terrified, manhandled, and were not allowed to harvest crops from their field. Members of all the families under attack categorically told that approaching police, they believe, would be futile. Even apolitical voices of dissent are not spared as is evident by an attack and breaking of an assembly of civic volunteers by the ruling party flag holders at Arambagh, in the first week of November,2014. IV. Attack on right to livelihood, right to life and living not only continues to be snatched, it has become more intense and multipronged. The new NDA Government has embarked on a plan of new land acquisition law to replace the one enacted an aftermath of Singur and Nandigram which contains a few positive features. The state Government has also enhanced the urban land ceiling. All these will only serve the purpose of corporate and foreign capital and land mafia. In our district, nobody knows what is going to be the fate of more than 500 acres of Hindmotor land. But it is known one third of the land allotted to it for a song was sold to harvest a profit about 300 crores. The land policy pursued by the state government at Andal(aeropolis) Raichak, Haldia is against the Singur and Nandigram spirit riding on the crest of which the present government came to power. In our earlier memorandum we dwelt upon the plight of the Singur people, the land policy of the central and state government will produce more hapless agricultural community like Singur and destroy the already stressed food sovereignty. On this Human Rights day we demand and call upon the state and central government to scrap the land policy of serving the corporate and foreign capital and land mafia. In this connection we also demand that Hindmotor land must be used to provide alternate employment to the existing employees and creating new employment opportunities. Perpetrators of Nandigram, Netai massacres and police atrocities are yet to be brought to book. The state Government must take positive step to vacate the Apex Court’s stay on Calcutta High Court Judgment which declared section 155B of the West Bengal Police Regulation as unconstitutional. V. Onslaught on the autonomy of the universities and educational institutions in general and corporatization of education: Exercising its brute majority in the assembly the government changed the statute of the universities at will to ensure ruling party’s political dominance. University VCs are made to tow the dictates of the political masters at the cost of education, students and teacher-student relation. The most glaring example is Jadavpur University. Only yesterday a bill was passed on establishing Private Universities which will further pave the corporatization of education and transform education to a market commodity. The present central government replaced key persons in premier educational bodies with incompetent persons with RSS background whose vision is behind a couple of thousand years of history. All these steps encroach upon peoples’ right to Education. We demand all these steps be withdrawn. VI. While drawing your attention to the imminent danger on the right to life and livelihood of a large number of riverside potter families in Ward No. 29 of the Hooghly-Chinsurah Municipality in the face of eviction effort by the sand and brickfield mafia, we pointed out that large tracts of the river Hooghly (almost a third of its width) are being claimed by some private parties. These stretches of the river remain under water for most parts of the year and at times appear during low tides in the winter season. They also claim that the L & LR Department has duly recorded these stretches as land plots in their respective names. We also showed the Additional District Magistrate (Dev.) a map of a portion of the area under Ward No. 29 showing such claims. We were told that the matter will be investigated, but nothing has been heard since then. The eviction is temporarily stalled as the Hooghly Chinsurah Municipality denied permission of the project which was to evict the potters. In view of the present Central Government’s stress on cleaning the river and allotting a huge amount for the purpose, we once again demand that the above matter be investigated properly and clean the river from the clutches of brick-field, sand and land mafias, while ensuring protection of the right to life and livelihood of the riverside potter families and other people who live there. We request you to update us on the issue. We demand that the police must act according to law and must not encroach upon freedom of expression and right to association, right to assembly and freedom of expression VII. We reiterate demand of a thorough examination of the IT Act and repeal of Sec 66A of IT Act which came under sharp criticism by the judiciary and democratic voice throughout the country in recent times. We also demand that all perpetrators of violence on democratic freedom must be brought to book. VIII. On Unconditional Release of All Political Prisoners : The government continues to pursue the policy of persecution of political activists and common people who took or take part in various movements. Some of them languishing in jails for more than 10 years. Many of them are ailing and old This year at APDR and its fraternal organizations’ intervention, two of them had to be taken to New Delhi’s AIMS. One of them (Sushil Ray) arrested from Uttarpara PS area died in custody at the AIMS. Another (Bappa Debnath) has undergone brain tumor surgery. Family of Raja Sarkhel, now lodged in Hooghly Jail informed that he is not receiving proper medical attention. Most of these prisoners are harassed in fictitious and vindictive by branding them as Maoists. On Human Rights Day we reiterate the democratic demand of unconditional release of all political prisoners. Once again we strongly object the amendment of sec 24A of WB Correctional Services Act 1992 passed by the government by the ruling party’s brute majority and demand its immediate repeal. IX. On repeal of UAPA, AFSPA, NIA Act and other draconian Acts : National and International Human Rights Organisations and commissions and democratic voices of the country including eminent jurists are long demanding repeal of draconian black laws like UAPA, AFSPA, NIA Act Sedition Act (Sec 124A of IPC). To the long list of opponents to the acts now the erstwhile home minister P chidambaram, J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah and even the recently retired BSF DG lent their voices for repealing AFSPA. Manipur braveheart Sharmila Chanu’s Hunger strike is now in the fifteenth year. Through you, rights activists and democratic people of the district put forward the demand repeal of UAPA, AFSPA, NSA Sedition Act (Sec 124A of IPC) and other black laws to the Government. X. On police reform : Though the present state government came to power with a promise of affecting police reform within a year But the state even failed to implement all the urgent requirements of Prakash Singh case (1996) mandated by the Apex Court. Police in the state is not serving the law and society, rather it has transformed itself as a tool of the ruling party in recent years. Denial of registering FIRs, total disregard to the directives of the Apex Court and Cr. PC in respect rights of the arrested persons, extortion, hobnobbing and acting in collusion with promoters and antisocisals and criminals are blatant and open. One of the ruling party’s websites admitted to all these maladies all over the country. Through you we demand that the state and central governments must take urgent steps for police reform which should include a public debate on the matter XI. On environmental matters, incidents of inaction on the part of the administration against complaints of illegal filling of water bodies: A mass petition dated 24 Jan. 2014 was submitted to the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Chinsurah by the locals against illegal filling of a water body measuring about 4 bighas at plot no. 7309, Kulihanda, Jl no. 18 under Kodalia II Gram Panchayet, Chinsurah-Mogra Block. Despite repeated attempts APDR could meet the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Chinsurah twice and urged upon him to act in accordance with the provisions of West Bengal Inland Fisheries Act,1984 to restore the water body to its .original condition. Till date, after 10 months of the mass petition no substantial action to restore the water body appears to have been taken. On 04/12/10, on being learnt that a water body of ward no. 5 of Bansberia Municipality is being filled up illegally, an APDR activist went to the spot. On his way to return some persons encircled the activist and used abusive languages. A writ application was made before the Kolkata High Court and the Hon’ble Kolkata High Court on 02/04/2013 ordered the Fisheries officer to take necessary action in the matter of filled up water bodies after holding a hearing. In this case also no substantial action to restore the water body appears to have been taken till date. Promoters of multistoried buildings and high-rises are having their field days in collusion with some unscrupulous local body representatives and official and acting against all environmental norms, felling trees, destroying water bodies at will for profit. Illegal sand mining in the Arambagh Sub divisional areas defies all mining and environmental rules. Here also collusion of a section of police and administration with the politician- mafia nexus is open . We demand such rampant destruction of environment be stopped and instead of further dilution of environmental and Green Laws, such laws be judiciously applied. Illegal Sand Mining in the Arambagh are not only destroying environment, it catalyses flood, causes loss to exchequer. The district administration should urgently look into the matter XII. On implementation of the provisions of RTI ACT, 2005 In our memorandum no. 342/2013 we mentioned “the district websites are simply out of tune and practically of no use. It lags miles behind even other district websites. The state websites are no better. The state Information Commission is a limping authority incapable of fulfilling the mandates of RTI act 2005. Our demand for implementation of the provision of suo moto disclosure of information by the district administration and regularly updating such information on status of complaints, transfer and posting of the officials with their contact cell nos. etc remain unaddressed for years.” The situation remains largely the same. The WBIC mechanism is in shambles—appeals are pending for years We hope the matter will be taken up with due seriousness as mandated by the RTI Act and denial of Right to Information should be stopped forth with. XII. On attempts to denigrate and undermine Human Rights and HR Institutions. We strongly object to the state government’s attitude of disobeying important recommendations of the WBHRC. As the recommendations of the WBHRC are not pleasing to the state government, it appointed the retired DGP against whom cases of human rights abuse are pending, as the Chairman of the commission effectively making functions of the WBHRC stalled. We have already lodged a PIL against the appointment of the just retired DGP as a Commissioner of the WBHRC. The Chief Minister, the members of her council of ministers and MLA-MPs continue to make utterences which are ominous signs for democracy and Human Rights. On this HR Day, through you convey to all concerned our resolve to continue to fight for Human Rights and place it in the primacy. We hope to receive response from your end on the matters that fall in your jurisdiction. Thanking you, Yours faithfully, Bapi Dasgupta Amitadyuti Kumar SECRETARY, DISTRICT APDR PRESIDENT, DISTRICT APDR
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 02:21:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015