---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Campaign for Survival and Dignity <[email protected]>
Date: 30 June 2011 09:53
Subject: Central Government: Stop Playing Games With People's Lives
To: [email protected]
Judges, journalists, academics, civil society activists jointly sign
statement condemning the cynical double games of the Central government in
land struggles.
For more information please contact at 9873657844, 9868259836
*CENTRAL GOVERNMENT: STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH PEOPLE'S LIVES IN ANTI PROJECT
STRUGGLES
*
To:
Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, New Delhi
Dear Dr. Singh,
As concerned citizens of this country, we are appalled at the callous and
cynical manner in which the Central government is seeking to exploit
people's struggles for short term political gain. Rather than enforce the
law as it stands, the government is playing both sides of the fence. *On the
one hand it violates the law to favour companies, and on the other it seeks
electoral mileage by loud declarations of sympathy when people rise to fight
these illegalities. *
We refer to the recent statements by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and
by other leaders in connection with the POSCO project in Orissa, wherein the
Minister, for instance, has asked the State government to follow "democratic
practices" and engage in "dialogue and discussion." But, under the Forest
Rights Act, it was the Environment Ministry's duty to engage in precisely
such "democratic practices" before it handed over forest land to POSCO.
Meanwhile, long before any process of any kind was complete, you and your
office, as well as the Steel Ministry, were making public commitments to
POSCO and the South Korean government that the project will be carried out.
*If the Central government and the ruling party really believe in democracy
and dialogue, why have they systematically violated required democratic
procedures when handing over land - and forest land in particular - in the
first place? *
Under the law, forest land cannot be taken until people's rights over it
are fully recorded, and the government must respect forest dwellers' power
to protect and manage their forests. On July 30, 2009, the Ministry itself
recognised this when it issued an order explicitly stating that no clearance
for diversion of forest land will be given without a gram sabha resolution -
i.e. a majority vote at an assembly of the village - that their rights have
been respected and that they consent to the takeover. Yet the Ministry broke
the law and gave clearance to the POSCO project without a single majority
resolution from any village in the area. Indeed, the Minister questioned the
majority resolutions actually passed against the project and asked for
action against the elected sarpanch, while ignoring the fact that his State
government and the Ministry were the ones actually breaking the law.
The same gross illegality is happening in projects across the country.
Till date there has not been a single case known of a project being rejected
on the basis of a gram sabha resolution - a basic "democratic practice" that
the Minister is now advertising. The Minister meanwhile stated in an
interview on June 5th that he plans to amend this order because it has
become too difficult for the Ministry to comply with the law.
Now, as children, women and men form human barricades to save their lands
from POSCO, the very same Minister who violated every tenet of both law and
democracy declares that democracy should be respected. Will your government
wait, as it did in Sompeta, Srikakulam and elsewhere, for people to die
before it remembers its legal duties? Do you seek another Bhatta Parsaul for
electoral benefit? *Your government is playing a cynical game with people's
lives to benefit corporate profits on the one hand and it's "aam aadmi"
image on the other.*
We demand that your government immediately cancel all illegal forest and
environment clearances to projects, uphold the Forest Rights Act and the
democratic process it requires, and ensure that all land acquisition in
non-forest areas too is made legally and practically subject to a democratic
decision making process. *The government cannot be allowed to continue
playing games with the blood of innocent people. *
Sincerely,
(total of 132 signatures)
Kuldip Nayar, Journalist and Writer
Justice (Retd) Rajinder Sachar
Swami Agnivesh, World Council of Arya Samaj
Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan
Sandeep Pandey, Asha Parivar
Dr. Sunilam, Samajwadi Party
Gabriele Dietrich, National Alliance of People's Movements
P. Chennaiah, APVVU
Prafulla Samantray, Lok Shakti Abhiyan
Rajendra Ravi, National Alliance of People's Movements
Bhupendra Singh Rawat, National Alliance of People's Movements
Mamata Dash, POSCO Pratirodh Solidarity & NFFPFWSoumitra Ghosh,
NFFPFWShankar Gopalakrishnan, Campaign for Survival and DignityDebjeet
Sarangi Sahana Basavapatna, Lawyer, New DelhiDr. Manohar
Chauhan, CSD, OdishaShiba Desor Kiran Shaheen, Media action
GroupVasundhara Jairath, New Socialist InitiativeManohar
Chandrika, www.dakhalkiduniya.blogspot.comRohit Jain Saswata
Sourava Panda Naveen Chander, New Socialist Initiative
(NSI)Stan Swamy, Jharkhand Bachao AndolanAlok Agarwal, Narmada Bachao
AndolanVille-Veikko Hirvelä, Emmaus AurinkotehdasSipra Devi ,
Chhattisgarh Mahila Manch, CMMTanya Matthan Xavier Dias
Suma Josson Asit das Chintan Gohil Georgekutty
A.L, Bangalore film societyDillip Kumar Das Sirisha Naidu
Aruna Rodrigues, Sunray HarvestersShruti Jain, JNUPurnima
Sukla Sen, EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity), MumbaiBenny Kuruvilla,
Focus on the Global South, New Delhivijendra singh Kranti,
Ambedkar Organisation, GujaratDhirendra Panda Ullash Kumar R K
Dulali Nag Dr Mookhi Amir Ali Prashant Deodas
Rahulkar T. Vijayendra Rahul Hansa and Daniel
Mazgaonkar, Sarvodaya movementGirish Agrawal P. R. Sahoo
Snehal Shingavi, University of Texas, AustinLalit Batra, University of
MinnesotaRebecca Kurian Mary Mathai agneta zuppinger
Vivek Sundara Sanjay PattnaikEunice David Arun Kumar,
CESP, JNUThomas Kocherry, World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP)William
Gomes Tapas Ray Mr. Bobbie Dee Flowers Rohit
Prajapati Mukul Dube Arun Aseem Shrivastava
S Seshan Ramesh Nandwana, AdvocateRana Roy Jumyir Basar
JOHN DENIS HORO Carol Scheller Shumona Goel,
Faisal Khan , NAPM , Asha ParivarD.W.Karuna Himanshu Thakkar
Samit Kumar Carr Kisan Mehta, PrakrutiMahadev Hansda
Alankar, Sarai, CSDSAshim Ahluwalia Jennie Aubert Suresh
Bhat, PUCLjyoti punwani nisha biswas Manoranjan
Aditi Joshi jasveen jairath Madhuri Krishnaswami, Jagrit
Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, MPArunanshu Rampuri Arunanshu Rampuri
C S Rama Lakshmi Bichitra Biswal K. Chaitanya
KumarSujata Patel, University of HyderabadPravin Patel, Tribal Welfare
SocietySadhana Dadhich Vinod K Jairath, University of
HyderabadSaswati Swetlena Surya Shankar Dash Varunika
Srihari Dukkipati vinayak Dr. C.Ramachandraiah,
Researcher and Social ActivistPrabindra Shakya, Asia Indigenous
Peoples PactMadhumita Ray S.Vatsyayan K Babu Rao
Afsar Jafri SujataKavita Krishnan, CPI(ML) LiberationMohan
Bhagat, Dept of Physics,Univ of MDHari Mohan Mishra Amit Anand,
BASIXPujitakChandran KKNoorjehan Safia Niaz, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila
Andolan - Nabajit Malakar, AARTH-ASTHAShiraz Bulsara Prabhu,
Kashtakari SanghatanaJames Pochury Pete Klosterman
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