A DAY IN THE LIFE OF BHAGANA SURVIVORS – DELHI AND HISAR
It was a day when the 16th LOKSABHA started it’s session with a condolence meeting to adjourn the house in the memory of one of it’s members and minister.
On the other side , incidents of atrocities on homeless Dalit families from Bhagana and other protesters marked the day with eviction, batons and insulting women at the Parliament street in New Delhi.
It was only 6 am when a thousand police men barged into the tents of the Jantar Mantar, a permanent protest site for years since the protesters and whistle blowers were banned to gather at Parliament street. The huge barricading forces people to put their sit in protest or hold the rally at the Jantar Mantar, a site, officially granted by the Delhi police and administration. The police men came, they dismantled the tents, picked the belongings of the protesters including the Bhagana rape survivors and their families and warned them to vacate the whole area by noon. Almost more than 600 protesters, rallying for their demands since long time, were put on the roadside without anything at hand. No water, not even a mat to sit or shed to face the scorching sun.
By 8.30 am, another news came from Hisar where 200 Bhagana families were living ourside Hisar’s mini secretariat since last 2 years, have been evicted in the same manner by the local police, their belongings were taken by the police, they were thrown on the street with no shelter and yet the state government has to take steps to send them back to their village and grant their entitlement of the common land and other constitutional rights.
By 11 am people in solidarity started gathering at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The protesters were in great distress. It was decided to hold a demonstration in front of Parliament Street police station at 2 pm. A memorandum was sent to the home minister and a momorandum is being sent to the police Commissioner of Delhi requesting them not to vacate Jantar Mantar as this is the only physical space to raise voice against atrocity and repression in the capital.
At 2 pm, hundreds of men, women and children gathered at parliament street to protest the eviction drive. And how the protesters at the police station faced the wrath of the police force? Find below a few posting of our friends in arms who were there and faced the police’s brutality themselves with other Bhagana women.
I spoke to various political parties people about this eviction and by now only AAPA has issued a statement in Delhi and Haryana both. ( At the bottom)
You will feel horrible and angry at the ground realities of our rural India.
The questions arise :
On what ground the Delhi Police evicted the Jantar Mantar when legally they have to issue a notice well in advance and that too in an extraordinary circumstances. The police in the morning came without notice and broke all the rules. In the rally they molested women demonstrators and most of them were not even wearing their badges.
Please share this mail ( in the form of write up, postings too ) with maximum number of people and the agencies concerned with human rights.
(June 4, 2014)
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