Wednesday, 16 December 2009 04:22
Sonila Swaminathan
For the People's Right to say NO to displacement and Tribal Genocide
And to demand the right to live with justice and peace
Raipur / Dantewada
1 December 2009
Dear Friends,
You are aware that the Tribals of Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh State are continuously facing large-scale displacement from their homes, fields and forests. Activists, journalists and scholars working in this area have also provided evidence of tribal genocide in the last five years by State and its various agencies, including the police.
The recent past of gross human rights violations has consisted of the aggressive onslaught by the State sponsored vigilante group called the Salwa Judum. Simultaneously, an anti-democratic draconian law called the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 was brought in to silence all dissent. In the last four years it has been systematically used against human rights defenders, journalists, film-makers, lawyers, intellectuals and ordinary citizens whenever they have the State has felt the need to silence people. The latest move regarding elimination of the tribal people has been an escalation of the offensive by the State, in the name of Operation Green Hunt in the heartland of Dantewada. Paramilitary troops along with the state armed police deployed in very large numbers by the Central and the state governments have been carrying out military operations against the tribals in the name of curbing Maoists and retrieve territories from them.
In order to build public opinion and to support the tribal people in
their demand to stop this displacement and genocide and to reclaim
their right to life with justice and peace, several community based and
people's organisations, trade unions and human rights groups from
Chhattisgarh and outside are planning a series of activities in
Dantewada in Chhattisgarh.
This letter is being sent to you so as to ensure your presence and
participation between 14 December 2009 and 7 January 2010 at Dantewada
and express your solidarity and raise your voice in support of the
tribals. The list of events and dates are as follows:
1. Padyatra: 14 December to 26 December 2009
The first phase of this three week campaign consists of a padyatra from
Nendra village to Dantewada town via Lingagiri. This padyatra will be
led by Himanshu Kumar of the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram and other tribal
leaders of this region and will pass through more than 17 villages.. A
group of approximately 40 students, journalists, academics and
activists from different parts of the country will also join the
padyatra. The main objective of the padyatra is to restore a sense of
confidence amongst the tribals who are living in acute fear due to the
continuous onslaught of the security forces. The padyatris will also
document the atrocities that the tribals have been subjected to
including the situation of hunger, food insecurity, lack of health and
educational facilities and other forms of deprivation faced due to the
ongoing displacement and war in the region.
2. Dantewada Satyagrah: 25 December 2009 to 5 January 2010
Tribal people from all over Dantewada and other regions of Chhattisgarh
will launch a Satyagrah on 25 December 2009 which will have the support
of tribals from Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh among other states. We are hoping that large
groups of people from these states and from all networks, unions and
organisations working on diverse people's issues will respond to this
call and join in the Satyagrah for atleast a few days. The objective of
the satyagrah is to bring together concerned people from all over the
country to demand in one voice an end to displacement of people and to
the war that is underway in this region, apart from demanding the
implementation of the SC orders on rehabilitation in the context of
displacement due to the violence of salwa judum.
A Raipur Support Group coordinated by Chhattisgarh Unit of PUCL has
been set up for the Satyagrah. This group will provide assistance to
the people coming from the Northern, Eastern and Western regions India
as well as from other parts of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is situated on the
Mumbai-Kolkata route and is well connected by train from most parts of
the country. Dantewada is situated 400 kms from Raipur and direct buses
are available between the two towns through the day and night that take
about 12 hours each way
People coming from the South can take trains or buses from
Vishakhapatnam or bus it down from Hyderabad. The distance between
Hyderabad to Dantewada via Bhadrachalam is 500 kms and takes about 16
hours.
3. Jan Sunwai: 6-7 January 2010 (the date may be advanced or postponed by a day)
The Satyagrah will culminate with a Jan Sunwai where tribal residents
of this region will share their experiences of the Salwa Judum,
Operation Green Hunt and their struggle for justice. This Jan Sunwai
will be witnessed by a panel of ex-justices, senior activists from
various people's movements, ex-bureaucrats and policemen, journalists
and intellectuals including those from among the tribals.
This letter is a request to you and your group/organisation to begin
preparing for your participation in the series of events given above. A
more detailed invitation shall be sent to you soon. For more details
please contact at the phone numbers provided below.
We are:
Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, People's Union for Civil Liberties
(Chhattisgarh), Chhattisgarh Visthapan Virodhi Manch, Chhattisgarh
Mukti Morcha – Mazdoor Karyakarta Samiti, Nadi Ghati Morcha, Human
Rights Law Network (Chhattisgarh), National Alliance of People's
Movements, Chhattisgarh Mahila Jagriti Sangathan, Chhattisgarh Bal
Shramik Sangathan, Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)-Chhattisgarh,
Gram Sabha Parishad, Tribal Welfare Society, People's Union for
Democratic Rights, Committee for the Release of Binayk Sen-Mumbai and
others (endorsments by other organisations are awaited)
Contact Persons:
* Himanshu Kumar (Vanvasi Chetna Ashram) : 09425260031;
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* Veena Bhalla (Vanvasi Chetna Ashram )9424270922, Mithlesh (VCA): 9407641487
* Rajendra Sail, (PUCL-Chhattisgarh): 09826804519;
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* Sudha Bhardwaj (Chhattisgarh Vistahpan Virodhi Samiti and CMM-MKS): 09926603877;
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* Vijendra (PUCL-Chhattisgarh) : 09406049737;
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* Gautam Bandhopadyay (Nadi Ghati Morcha): 9826171304;
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