Demand for Justice: Protest the brutal Police attack on the Rozgar Adhikar Yatra

To:  Chief Minister of Chattisgarh Dr. Raman Singh and Central Home Minister Shri Shivraj Patil,

Dear Sir,

We are writing to you in regard to the brutal attack on the ‘Rozgar Adhikar Yatra’ in Balrampur village, Surguja District, Chattisgarh. The Yatris were attacked by CRPF Jawans in plain clothes. Villagers and yatris attending the meeting, including men and women were hit with lathis. Noted economist Jean Dreze, was also one of those who was hit. This is how an eye-witness described the attack “…they started hitting the bus, the yatris and villagers with their lathis. They also held a loaded gun to the driver's chest, forced him into the bus, and ordered him to get going.” Such unleashing of brute force on peaceful marchers is totally unacceptable and we ask that immediate action be taken on the FIR lodged with Inspector General (Ambikapur).

The Yatra which was started in Delhi on May 13th in Delhi had passed peacefully through 6 states before enetering Chattisgarh [http://www.righttofoodindia.org/rtowork/rozgar-yatra.html]. The aim of this Yatra was to consolidate the campaign for a full-fledged, universal and irreversible Employment Guarantee Act. It also aimed to affirm the right to work as an aspect of the fundamental right to live with dignity. As you may know the ‘National Common Minimum Programme of the Government of India May 2004’ states “The UPA government will immediately enact a National Employment Guarantee Act.” [http://pmindia.nic.in/cmp.pdf] And it is to build support for this demand that this Yatra was being organized.

We condemn the police brutality, and urge you to take immediate action on the FIR lodged with Inspector General (Ambikapur) on June 5, 2005 by members of the ‘Rozgar Adhikar Yatra’. We stand by the demand of the Yatris that “immediate action be taken before the Yatra leaves for Palamu (Jharkhand).” Secondly, such an action on the part of the Police force does not bode well for our civic life and we urge you to ensure that such acts of repression are not repeated in the future.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Demand for Justice: Protest the brutal Police attack on the Rozgar Adhikar Yatra Petition to Chief Minister of Chattisgarh Dr. Raman Singh and Central Home Minister Shri Shivraj Patil, was created by and written by kamayani swami (kamayani02@yahoo.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.

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