South Asia Counter Information Project 2

Articles

• Untitled

  13 October, by Unknown

• South Asia - Dangers of Military Escalation in Kashmir - Aug 2019 Statement by IPPNW

  22 August, by Unknown
  see full text here: http://www.sacw.net/article14148.html

• [Announcement] India: National Convention in Defence of Democratic Rights (31 Aug - 1 Sept 2019)

  21 August, by Unknown
  National Convention in Defence of Democratic Rights
  
  31st August, 1st September 2019
  
  Rajendra Bhawan, ITO, New Delhi
  
  Delhi,
  
  19th August, 2019
  
  A line of confirmation would be appreciated
  
  Democracy today is at crossroads with systematic assaults on institutions which constitute the fabric of Indian democracy.  The threat faced by human rights activists and peoples movements is of a very serious order with the undermining of the cherished constitutional freedoms of association, expression and speech.
  
  Of grave concern are recent amendments to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) empowering government to brand, without due process, any person 'a terrorist', the strengthening of the National Investigation Agency Act (NIA) and the dilution of Protection of Human Rights Act. The persistence with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, the threat of a nationwide NRC, the undemocratic abrogation of Article 370 and 35A of the Constitution of India and the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir are all steps to legislatively institutionalise an authoritarian state.
  
  With a virtual single-party rule in the country, this assault on democratic rights takes on a totalitarian character. The attack on the Dalit movement over the last several years and particularly after the Bhima Koregaon incident of January 2018 is another example of a government which refuses to adhere to the Constitution. Nine human rights defenders have been arrested under the UAPA since then, on various false charges and concocted evidence, while the real perpetrators of the violence at Bhima Koregaon roam free. Several others also remain under the threat of arrest. An alarming number of nearly 12,000 persons have died — either in jail or in police custody - in the last five years of BJP rule.
  
  The use of UAPA and other draconian laws to intimidate and threaten dissenters is not new, but clearly the situation is steadily worsening.  It is challenging to ensure that courts perform their constitutional role and remain vigilant in the protection of democratic and constitutional rights.  It is a travesty that Prof. GN Saibaba of Delhi University, who is almost completely disabled and now in a very critical health condition, is not even allowed access to medical care whilst in jail. Adivasis, Dalits and Muslims are repeatedly arrested on false charges and even industrial workers demanding workers’ rights have been jailed under UAPA, as in the case of Reliance workers in Mumbai. In Assam, thousands are being illegally held in ‘detention centres’ for years.  Several Dalit activists were arrested, brutalised and even killed after the 2nd April 2018 protests against the dilution of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Many are still in jail even today. The daily brutality against Adivasis in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha is on the rise. We have now reached a stage where filing false cases against academics, human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and trade unionists who are well known for exposing the truth and/or dissenting against actions of this Government, is fast becoming normal. 
  
  Violence against dissenters and vulnerable groups like Dalits and Muslims are being tacitly encouraged by the State and the ruling BJP. Almost no punitive action is taken against such violence. Recently, a court in Alwar has acquitted all accused in the case of lynching of Pehlu Khan. In recent years we have seen the murders of Gauri Lankesh, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar and M.M. Kalburggi organised by Hindutva extremists as well as innumerable instances of Hindutva violence against Dalits and Muslims.
  
  In these challenging times, it’s even more important that we come together, break the sense of isolation in which the state has imprisoned us, form solidarities and fight to preserve our constitutional freedoms and the cherished right to dissent.
  
  The National Convention is being organised for the purposes of bringing us to together to discuss how to:
  
  1)      Form broader and wider solidarities with all democratic and progressive forces
  
  2)      Build a wider and deeper resistance to increasing state repression
  
  3)      Strategise together on legal and constitutional frameworks to defend the rights that we do still have.
  
  To organise ourselves more effectively to fight this lethal combined power of constitutional and legislative changes along with state violence and state sponsored violence, this Convention will bring us together in resistance, in our fight for democratic rights; for the rights of peoples and for the right to dissent.
  
  Please Join
  
  National Convention in Defence of Democratic Rights
  
  31st August, 1st September 2019
  
  Rajendra Bhawan, ITO, New Delhi
  
  On behalf of the Coordination team,
  
  AIPWA - Kavita Krishnan
  
  Aman Biradiri - Harsh Mander
  
  Delhi Solidarity Group - Priya Pillai & Anil Tharayath
  
  HRLN - Gunjan Singh
  
  IFTU – Animesh Das
  
  JADS – Madhuri
  
  NAPM - Vimal & Madhuresh
  
  Navsharan Singh
  
  NCHRO - Ansaar Indori
  
  NFIW - Rushda & Koninika
  
  NTUI - Gautam Mody
  
  PIPFPD - Vijayan MJ
  
  PUCL - Kavita Srivastava & N D Pancholi
  
  Quill Foundation - Vipul Kumar & Madhur Bhartiya
  
  SNS - Anjali Bharadwaj
  
  Sumit Chakravorty
  
  United Against Hate - Nadeem Khan
  
  Contact Person: Anil Tharayath +91 96500 15257 | aniltharayath@gmail.com