> > *COMMITTEE FOR THE RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS* > > 185/3, FOURTH FLOOR, ZAKIR NAGAR, NEW DELHI > > *CONDEMN THE ARREST OF Medha Patkar, Gopal Menon, Sujato Bhadra * > > *and others on their way to Lalgarh! * > > *Punish the police men who brutally assaulted filmmaker Gopal Menon!* > > *RELEASE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY!* > > > > The Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) strongly > condemn the arrest of Medha Patkar, Sujato Bhadra, Gopal Menon and Anuradha > Talwar at Bombay road on their way to Lalgarh by the West Bengal Police. > They were arrested and booked under Cr PC 151 & 188. > > Gopal Menon the filmmaker was specifically targeted by the vindictive > police of West Bengal who brutally assaulted him with rifle butts and > batons. He was beaten under the specific instructions of the Additional SP > of police Pranab Kumar as per the information from several civil rights > groups. After being beaten on the chest and other parts of the body he had > to be admitted to the Debra Hospital near by as he started profusely > vomiting. Gopal Menon had also tried to accompany another fact finding team > a few days before comprising of senior trade union activists, women’s > activists, lawyers and other social activists. This team also was arrested > at Midnapore. May be the crime of Gopal Menon was his assertion to his right > to know and document the activities of the state in supposedly bringing back > ‘normalcy’ in Lalgarh and Jangal Mahal. > > If this is what a documentary filmmaker has to face before the lawless > police and paramilitary of the CPM-led government in West Bengal then one > can imagine the state of affairs of the faceless Adivasi people of Lalgarh > and Jangal Mahal. No wonder why the police and the paramilitary are not > allowing anyone with an independent mind to visit the area under occupation > by the forces. This also brings to the fore the fear of several civil rights > bodies and other independent observers that the police and paramilitary can > resort to any level of barbarism in order to ‘sanitise’ the area. And this > also makes it clear why the central home minister P. Chidambaram does not > want any civil society group or human rights bodies to visit the area! > > The only way that this government can deal with the issues of life and > death for the toiling masses, pertaining to the four dreaded > Ds—Displacement, Destruction, Destitution and Death—are only through the > baton and barrels of the police and paramilitary. Otherwise any people > oriented government would have first listened to the just demands of the > Adivasis of Lalgarh. The latest reports coming from independent sources also > say that the paramilitary has started burning the huts and destroying the > poultry of the people in Lalgarh. Their wells are being poisoned and excreta > being thrown into the water bodies that are normally used for drinking > purposes. All these exercise of brutality point to Salwa Judum kind of > campaign being undertaken against the defiant masses of Lalgarh. Already > there are reports of harassment of children, women and the old. > > The Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) demand the > immediate and unconditional release of these prominent social and civil > rights activists. We demand that the Additional SP Pranab Kumar who had > specifically instructed his police men to brutalise the filmmaker Gopal > Menon should be booked under the law of the land for abuse of his power. > Such high handed and authoritarian behaviour of senior police officers > should be curbed firmly. Such police officers can only be a bane ot the > society. > > 03.07.09 > > > > Gurcharan Singh Amit Bhattacharyya > SAR Geelani > > President Secretary General > Vice President > >
> > Rona Wilson > > Secretary, Public Relations --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
