Letter of Protest against the killing of adivasis in Kalinga Nagar, Orissa, India on January 2, 2006

Thanks to everyone who expressed solidarity by signing the protest letter addressed to Orissa chief minister. It will be faxed on the 16th of January, 2006

To:  Government of Orissa, India

6th January 2006

To: Mr. Navin Pattnaik
Chief Minister of Orissa
State Secretariat
Bhubaneshwar
Orissa, India

email: cmo@ori.nic.in
Fax : +91 674 2400100

Shri Navin Pattnaik,

As members of civilized society, we were horrified and appalled at the
gunning down of 12 adivasis in Kalinga Nagar, Orissa on January 2, 2006.
Nothing could be more grim than starting this year on such a savage
note. It shall go down in history as a dishonorable and barbaric act,
committed against ordinary citizens, whose only crime was to protest the
loss of their livelihood. Such heinous killing of a group of protesters is
unacceptable and cannot be justified on any grounds. It is condemnable that
the police and civil administration responsible for protecting them turned
into their killers.

Orissa government's agenda of permitting/inviting corporations to extract
the mineral wealth indiscriminately is rendering thousands of adivasis
homeless and pushing them into destitution. In such conditions, it is their
fundamental right to protest the violation of their human rights and ask for
just compensation. By meeting their opposition with bullets, you lost
credibility and the right to govern orissa.

In this hour of despair and crisis, we stand by the families of those killed
and the causes they laid down their lives for. We hereby demand,

(a) prompt dismissal of local district officials responsible for the
massacre and initiation of criminal proceedings against them

(b) Immediate moratorium on all land acquisitions which affect adivasis,
specially in the scheduled areas

(c) Scrapping of the Land acquisition Act, 1894, and its replacement by a
democratic and humane law which incorporates "consent" for land
acquisition.

(d) Rethink your ill-conceived mining policies that do not benefit those
at the bottom of economic and social pyramid

CC: Mr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Room No. 152, South Block,
New Delhi - 110 001
India
Fax: +91 11 23016857

CC: Mr. Paty Ripple Kyndiah
Union Minister for Tribal Affairs
Shastri Bhavan
New Delhi - 110 001
India
Fax: +91 11 23070577

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Letter of Protest against the killing of adivasis in Kalinga Nagar, Orissa, India on January 2, 2006 Petition to Government of Orissa, India was created by and written by Prasad Boddupalli (p.boddupalli@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

Send this to a friend