[DEBATE] : Fwd: [initiative-india] Massacre in Nandigram: Time to Rise Up: People ofMumbai Voice

[Jai Sen]

5

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Mukta Srivastava <mukta.srivastava at gmail.com>
> Date:  November 13 2007 9:13:41 AM GMT+05:30
> To: initiative-india at googlegroups.com, suklasen at yahoo.com
> Subject: [initiative-india] Massacre in Nandigram: Time to Rise Up:  
> People ofMumbai Voice
> Reply-To: mukta.srivastava at gmail.com
>
> Massacre In Nandigram: Time to Rise Up!
>
> The juggernaut of development threatens to roll on and on!
> From Narmada to Nandigarm, Mumbai to Kashipur. No respite, no  
> regard - for human lives and livelihoods! Corporate profit is the  
> only thing that counts! Nothing else matters!
> That's why the struggle of WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA is indivisible!  
> From Narmada to Nandigarm, Mumbai to Kalinganagar!
>
> The history of resistance - against "development", against "SEZ",  
> against "Sanghai", against "big dams", against forced eviction,  
> against further pauperisation of the already poor, is thus being  
> written all over the place in the blood and sweat of ours.
>
> Nandigram is a burning leaf, still burning, from the pages of that  
> ongoing history.
> It is in a remote corner of West Bengal in East Medinipur district,  
> 180 kms. From Kolkata. On January 3 this year a notification was  
> issued by the Haldia Development Authority indicating that 19000  
> acres of cultivated land would be acquired for establishment of a  
> Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the area to be developed mainly by  
> the Salim group of Indonesia as a chemical hub. But the villagers  
> of Nandigram protested and refused to budge and all hell broke loose.
>
>  On March 14 the police came, and came the CPIM cadres from  
> outside, to raid the villages. The villagers were fired upon.  
> Official death toll stood at 14. But still the villagers refused to  
> budge. And because of High Court intervention the raiders had to  
> turn back. After a relative lull of about 8 months, large gangs of  
> professional mercenaries came down heavily on the area on Nov. 5  
> early morning from all the sides to recapture Nandigram with  
> sophisticated arms – gunning down people, burning huts, looting and  
> raping. The state machinery deliberately looking the other way  
> chillingly mimicking, in fact even surpassing, what had happened in  
> Gujarat in early 2002. Roads were blocked. Journalists were  
> stopped. So were social and political activists. Prominent and well- 
> known respected figures were publicly roughed up.
>
> The mayhem is still on. However, the operation recapture got  
> virtually over in about a week. Thousands stand evicted, tens  
> killed, innumerable huts burnt, women raped.
>
> Under the circumstances, we the people of Mumbai voice our  
> strongest protest against the state-sponsored mafia-raj, the rule  
> of jungle in Nandigram.
>
> We all demand that the West Bengal government must immediately:
> I.      Halt all violence, overt and covert.
> II.    Provide relief and rehabilitation for all those affected and  
> full reparations for all the damages/losses caused.
> III.   Arrange a meeting involving all stakeholders including both  
> political parties and non-party people's organisations.
> IV.    Put in place an inclusive people's committee representing  
> all sections of the concerned people out of that meeting to monitor  
> and oversee the measures to restore peace
> V.    Conduct an open credible enquiry into the violence  
> perpetrated and punish the guilty. Fix the responsibility of state  
> officials for dereliction of duties including those at the highest  
> levels.
>
>
> National Alliance of People's Movements, Shahar Vikas Manch, Gha  
> Banao Ghar bachao Andolan,  Narmada Bachao Andolan, Sarvahara Jan  
> Andolan,  Chemical Majdoor Sabha, Shramik Janata Sanghatan, Build,   
> Focus on the Global South, Akshara Centre,  Awash Adhikar Sanyukt  
> Kriti Samiti,  Nirbhay Bano Andolan, Yuva, Yuva Manch, Samata  
> Vichar Prasarak Sansatha, India Centre for Human Rights and Law,  
> Committee for Right to Housing, EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity)  
> and others.
>
>
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______________________________

Jai Sen
jai.sen at cacim.net
CACIM, A-3 Defence Colony, New Delhi 110 024, India
www.cacim.net
Ph : +91-11-4155 1521, 2433 2451

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