Release Abhay Sahu and scrap the POSCO project!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freeabhaysahu

 

We the undersigned strongly condemn the arrest of Abhay Sahu, the leader of the anti-POSCO movement in Orissa and condemn the attack of the Naveen Patnaik government on democratic people's movements.

 

Abhay Sahu, the visionary leader of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti was arrested unwarranted by the Orissa police near Pattamundai in Jagtsingpur district in the evening on 12 October 2008 on his return from the hospital after a medical check-up. The same night he was sent to the Central Jail in Choudwar in Cuttack district. Despite his fragile health condition, he was not given any medical help till the evening of 15 October 2008. 

 

The motive of the state government behind Abhay Sahu's arrest can clearly be seen as an attempt to repress people's fight over their traditional and constitutional rights to lands and livelihoods and to divert public attention from attacks on Christians in the state so that it goes on unabated. 

 

Orissa has been reeling from crisis lately. The bare statistics reveal that 180,000 people have been displaced by recent floods because of the 'presence' and mismanagement of dams; at least 50,000 Christians made refugees by Hindutva hate campaigns and killings. 

 

It is shocking how the anti-POSCO movement has been virtually censored from the media and has faced titanic odds during the past three years. Nevertheless, the movement has succeeded in delaying the construction of a gigantic steel plant along with a new port on Orissa's coast, which will render thousands of people landless and jobless. 

 

The main aim of the POSCO project is to get iron ore from a magnificent mountain in North Orissa called Kandadhara (Sword's Edge): an extraordinary peak with dense primary forests and rich biodiversity inhabited by adivasis for millennia, where one of India's highest waterfalls falling down a cliff face is visible from miles away. The mining giants , through the eyes of the state's myopic vision, can only see the reserve of iron ore underneath. The fact that so much forests and wildlife and so many tribes have already been devastated by mining in North Orissa does not seem to count!!!! 

 

It's a well-known fact now that the Naveen Patnaik government is selling Orissa for a song, caring little about the gross human rights violation and environmental crimes  associated with it. 

 

The POSCO project is a gigantic corporate crime, an attempt by a multinational corporation to seize the land and resources of the people and of the nation. The POSCO project will hugely benefit no one except POSCO itself. Moreover, the state government's moves to hand over the land are illegal and a criminal offence under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. 

 

When serious violence erupted, on 29 November 2007, and bombs were thrown by goons at a crowd consisting largely of women, senior IAS officer, Priyabrat Patnaik, made a statement on TV, "Those people [who oppose the project] have been taught a lesson." Shouldn't he have been immediately dismissed from service for inciting and glorifying violence in a democracy while holding a responsible position???  

 

By arresting Abhay Sahu, does not Naveen Patnaik send out the message that Orissa and its innocent people be damned, no one will be allowed to stand in the way while metal and mining giants plunder the state's natural resources and pauperise its people with the help of the government?!?!

 

The police had filed numerous false cases against the leaders of non-violent struggles, while taking no action against those responsible for several violent attacks on the people of the area. The malafide cases against Abhay Sahu will now be used to unjustly detain him, in order to silence him and to intimidate those opposed to the project: a practice the state administration has been scrupulously displaying wherever there is dissent against its destructive development agenda. 

 

It seems that silencing Abhay Sahu is more important than containing the ensuing communal violence by the state government. 

 

It is extremely essential, for the survival of Indian democracy, that Abhay Sahu be freed immediately and the POSCO project be cancelled. 

 
We call on the Naveen Patnaik government to
· provide medical aid to Abhay Sahu immediately;
·make a stand for civilised and democratic values and order Abhay's release;
·cancel the POSCO project and withdraw all police deployment from the area immediately;
· prosecute all those responsible for violence against the people of the area and compensate the people for the repression that they have suffered; and
·stop similar repression elsewhere in Orissa where people are fighting for their choice of livelihoods and human rights (such as in Niyamgiri, Kashipur, Kalinganagar).

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

In solidarity,

 

Subrat Kumar Sahu

New Delhi

 

Breaking the Silence - Sexual Minorities Come Out in Kerala

13th November 2008 (Thursday), Calicut

Anything connected with sex is suppressed in Kerala. Morality has

become an obsession with Kerala's societal attitude, cutting across

the divides of class, gender, caste and religion. While in a majority

of countries women can work and live as singles and contribute to

social production, in Kerala, such people are largely isolated and

kept aloof from the public sphere. The question of sexual rights

occupies limited spaces of socio-political discourse in Kerala. The

mainstream political parties here are yet to identify or acknowledge

the politics of queer activism.

We seem to have reached a point that no political movement can move

ahead unless the conspiracy of silence about sexuality is broken. The

politics of sexuality cannot wait till all the problems related with

globalization and unemployment are solved forever. We need to talk

about sexual rights as we do about any other fundamental rights.

Kerala is one of the very few states in India where the CPI(M) has

been most active over the years. It would be interesting to juxtapose

this with the fact that in September 2003, All India Democratic

Women's Association (the women's fraction of CPI(M)) had sent a note

to the Indian Govt. to scrap IPC 377. But one doesn't seem to have

reached its own cadres in Kerala even after 5 years.

Section 377 of IPC is challenged in the Delhi High Court and the final

hearings are on now. Large scale sexual minority mobilizations took

places in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata in the recent past

demanding the repeal of IPC 377. This brought about enormous media

coverage all over India but not in Kerala. While the Kerala Government

is extremely keen reaching out to homosexual/bisexual men to use them

for HIV prevention initiatives, one can clearly notice that there is

absolute disregard for their human rights.

Hijras are visible and tolerated in most parts of India. Meanwhile,

they are scared even to visit Kerala for a short-time. Most of the

Keralite hijras migrate and live in Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and

other parts of India. They are forced to present themselves in male

attire when they visit their families in Kerala.

Lesbians or gays or transgenders find it extremely difficult to have

social space in Kerala. They are viewed as objects of curiosity and

fun that attracts the media attention. There have been many an

instances of lesbian suicides in Kerala over the years. The situation

is such, that if they are to make a living, they would have to migrate

to other states in India. The media mostly chooses to ignore such

issues, preventing them from becoming a matter of public debate.

Recent suicide of a gay couple in Ernakulam attracted very little

media coverage. Most progressive groups in Kerala too ignored this.

In this context, a group of sexual minority activists and supporters

from different parts of Kerala (and some from Karnataka as well) met

twice in the last 2 months and felt a strong need to break the

continuing silence in Kerala. It was decided to organize a public

event in Calicut on 13th November 2008, where a large number of sexual

minorities will come out in the open and march publicly for the first

time to reclaim their rightful space in the society. Mr. Sunil Babu

Pant, the first sexual minority Member of Parliament in Asia has

confirmed his participation in the event.

The event will be organized by a coalition organizations (including

FIRM, Malabar Cultural Forum-Calicut, Sahayathrika, LLAS-Kollam,

Sahay-Palakkad, Sanghamithra-Thrissur, HRLN, GAIA, Vanitha

Society-Calicut, Chilla-Thiruvananthapuram,

ANANNIA-Thiruvananthapuram, Sex Workers Forum Kerala, Sangama, Aneka,

Suraksha, Samara, Karnataka Sex workers Union and Karnataka Sexuality

Minorities Forum), and the coalition would continue to advance the

human rights for sexual minorities rights in Karala.

We request you to support us through your participation in the event..

In Solidarity

Sanjesh, Seena and Abhilash

on behalf of the organizing committee

For more information contact:

9995013899
9745796017
9947234562

The Death of an Activist and a Peer

"She was not part of a large relief organization, nor did she represent the government of the United States. She was just one woman who cared about the fate of her fellow humans."

By Maya Trabin

Marla Ruzicka, a California native and passionate young activist, died Saturday on the Baghdad Airport Road in Iraq when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy that was next to her vehicle. At 28, Marla spent much of her short life working towards the causes she felt deeply committed to, including humanitarian causes around the world. In recent years, she had been working in Afghanistan and Iraq, surveying those civilians who have been injured or killed in the war, numbers which are not accounted for by the U.S. Military. 

Marla grew up in the conservative town of Lakeport, in northern California. She did not, however, take on the tone of the town. Begining her campaigns toward public awareness and exposure of the world's attrocities outside of Lakeport, Marla started speaking her mind as an eigth-grader when she led a school protest against the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and was suspended soon thereafter. 

From her high school graduation, throughout college, and in the years since, Marla developed her understanding of the world through the eyes of an activist. Working with numerous human-rights based organizations, including Global Exchange and Code Pink, she developed deep compassion for those around her and those she had never met. 

In her recent missions to Iraq, she was not part of a large relief organization, nor did she represent the government of the United States. She was one woman who cared about the fate of her fellow humans, and had the ability to convince others around her to see the urgency of such work. 

More information about Marla's relief efforts can be found on the CIVIC website, an organization founded by Marla. CIVIC - Campaign for Innocent Victims of Conflict - is "a small organization working to obtain U.S. Government assistance for communities and families in need, while helping to shine a spotlight on the human costs of war." 

Han Shan, of Students for a Free Tibet, was a friend of Marla’s. He helped gather pictures of her, and had this to say: “The photos show her doing what she did best: connect with people, gain trust, make friends, make people of all ages smile. She did this as effectively with war-rattled Iraqi children, veteran news reporters, or politicians. And she did it all in the name of raising awareness about the devastating impact of war on innocent people." 

Tribals block Vedanta's way to Niyamgiri

Oct 8,2008

News from a resident of Kadamguda village - 

People of 5 villages on the road to Niyamgiri have put a roadblock at Kadamguda. The road leads to Niyamgiri hilltop. Vedanta had planned to do Bhumi Puja there tomorrow and start survey work. Hearing this the people decided to put up a roadblock at Kadamguda. A resident of Kadamguda says they have put up the blockade on their own steam. Supporting NGOs and political parties are yet to arrive at the scene. He has appealed to everyone to lend solidarity. 

Since yesterday Vedanta's goons have been repeatedly visiting the blockade site to dissuade the people. They asked the people to send 5 delegates to the refinery to talk to SK Patnaik but the people refused. They have threatened the company people with dire consequences if the exert more pressure. Since today morning half a dozen company goons have made as many attempts to break the people's resolution. These company people are mostly from Lanjigarh and are popularly referred to as the 'goonda party'.

Vedanta has started construction of roads in the area leading to the hilltop. One protestor has been silenced with a plum contract in the construction. A few days ago he refused to meet Action Aid activists with whom he had been working so far as a team. His name is Danu Majhi and I have footage of him giving fiery speeches in Bhubaneswar. It is unfortunate that he chose to support Vedanta. 

Also, tomorrow an effigy of Vedanta will be burnt instead of Ravana at Lanjigarh where a big tribal congregation is being planned. 

  
--
www.youtube.com/niyamgiri