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Dear Friends, This action alert is to urge you to sign an online petition to protest the attack on the Rozgar Adhikar Yatra by plain clothes policemen (details below). Please do send out the protest letter and remember to sing the online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/ray2005/petition.html Thanks best kamayani ACTION ALERT : PROTEST THE BRUTAL POLICE ATTACK ON THE ROZGAR ADHIKAR YATRA AND DEMAND JUSTICE Background : On June 4, 2005 when the Rozgar Adhikar Yatra was in Balrampur village, Surguja District, Chattisgarh, it was attacked by CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) jawans in plain clothes. Yatris and villagers in the peaceful village meeting were beaten with lathis and made to leave forcefully. Well known economist Jean Dreze was also hit. The Rozgar Adhikar Yatra started from Delhi on May 13th, 2005 to demand that an Employment Guarantee Act (EGA) be passed. The EGA was promised by the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA Government. To read more about the Yatra and it's demands please see http://www.righttofoodindia.org/rtowork/rozgar-yatra.html Action Requested : 1- Please Sign the online petition at (we will be faxing* it after every two signatures or 24 hours) http://www.petitiononline.com/ray2005/petition.html 2- Email the protest letter to (we have put all the email ids together, so u just have to cut and paste the addresses when mailing, for sending separate mails or seeing whose email ids are given here, please the FAX list below): cm(at)cg.nic.in, cs.cg(at)nic.in, akvijayvargia(at)nic.in, svpatil(at)sansad.nic.in, spsja(at)rediffmail.com Please cc the mail to the NHRC at covdnhrc(at)nic.in, ionhrc(at)nic.in, chairnhrc(at)nic.in 3- Also Fax the letter to : CENTRAL HOME SECRETARY Shri V. K. Duggal (as we do not have his email id) Office Fax: 011-91-11-23093750 *This petition will be faxed to 1- CHIEF MINISTER OF CHATTISGARH Dr. Raman Singh Office Fax: 011-91-771-2221306 2- CHIEF SECRETARY OF CHATTISGARH Shri A.K.Vijayvargia Fax: 011-91-771-2221206 3- CENTRAL HOME MINISTER Shri Shivraj Patil Fax: 011-91-11-23092113, 23794833 4- CENTRAL HOME SECRETARY Shri V. K. Duggal Office Fax: 011-91-11-23093750 5- Superintendent of Police, Ambikapur 220604 / 220502 6 – NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) Fax: 011-91-11-23384863 PROTEST LETTER: Dear Sir, We are writing to you in regard to the brutal attack on the 'Rozgar Adhikar Yatra' in Balrampur village, Surguja District, Chattisgarh[1]. 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 had passed peacefully through 6 states before entering Chattisgarh [2]. 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." [3] 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' [4]. 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, (add your name, phone no, address --- for authenticity) [1] News Coverage http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Noted+economist+Jean+Dreze+beaten+up&id=74083 http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/regionalnews/story/2005/06/050605_jean_employment.shtml [2] http://www.righttofoodindia.org/rtowork/rozgar-yatra.html [3] http://pmindia.nic.in/cmp.pdf [4] ROUGH TRANSLATION OF THE FIR LODGED WITH IG(AMBIKAPUR)ON 5 JUNE, 2005 The Inspector General Chhattisgarh Subject: We want an investigation of the attack on Yatris of Rozgar Adhikar Yatra by the police and CRPF Sir, This is to apprise you that Rozgar Adhikar Yatra, which started on 13 May 2005 from Delhi, was flagged off by former Prime Minister V.P. Singh, Prakash Karat and other well-known personalities. After travelling through states like Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat , Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the Yatra reached Chhattisgarh where it proceeded peacefully, performing various events hosted by the local social organisations and social workers. Following itinerary, we passed through Ambikapur and Rajpur and reached Balrampur around 8-8.30 pm on 4 June 2005 . Here too, there was a welcome programme which was organised by local people. The welcome programme was in progress when two men on a motorcyle interrogated us and went back. After about 15-20 minutes, five to six men of CRPF in civil clothes, armed with Mauzer, SLR and AK-47s snatched the mike from our colleague, threw the tubelights and battery away, and started verbally abusing the local people and Yatris. In the meantime, one jawan raised a gun in the air, loaded it and stood in firing position. The Yatris, coming from different backgrounds, such as students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, School of Social Work (Mumbai), media personalities, women and member of National Advisory Council Jean Dreze who was beaten up badly and was pushed to the ground and was dragged for a few metres (some of the Yatris who went to save him were also beaten up with lathis). When all the Yatris were in the bus the jawans started hitting the bus with lathis, broke one of the windows and tore the posters. The driver was held at gun point and was threatened to leave the compound and then we were forced to leave Balrampur. We would like you to investigate into this matter and take strict action against the concerned officials. Thanking you, _________________________________ Labour Notes South Asia (LNSA): An informal archive and mailing list for trade unionists and labour activists based in or working on South asia. 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