[Reader-list] Fwd: [pudr-info] Press Statement: PUDR strongly condemns the unconstitutional and undemocratic act of the Central Government in detaining Anna Hazare and his supporters

[Nagraj Adve]

Tara Prakash, the current focus on corruption - hugely significant as it is
- misses the wood for the trees a bit. What's much worse than corruption is
conscious govt policy that screws ordinary people's lives - to mention a few
examples offhand, what's happening to Indian agriculture; opening out mining
to large private corporates; the decline in rural extension services, and
rural banking, in Delhi the handing over of large charitable hospitals to
private corporates; the privatization of water, etc.
Corruption has a part in some though not all of this, but it merely the oil
in the machinery. Far worse is the machinery itself.
Naga

On 18 August 2011 03:38, Tara Prakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:

> No comments from Shuddhabrata Sen on this? Last time there was an email
> from him on this issue on the list where he sounded deferential to the law
> makers and almost contemptuous of Anna Hazare and his supporters.
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nagraj Adve" <nagraj.adve at gmail.com>
> To: "Sarai" <reader-list at sarai.net>; <chhattisgarh-net at yahoogroups.**com<chhattisgarh-net at yahoogroups.com>>;
> "Free Binayak Sen" <free-binayaksen at googlegroups.**com<free-binayaksen at googlegroups.com>
> >
> Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 9:38 AM
> Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: [pudr-info] Press Statement: PUDR strongly
> condemns the unconstitutional and undemocratic act of the Central Government
> in detaining Anna Hazare and his supporters
>
>
>  ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: PUDR Delhi <pudrdelhi at gmail.com>
>> Date: 16 August 2011 18:04
>> Subject: [pudr-info] Press Statement: PUDR strongly condemns the
>> unconstitutional and undemocratic act of the Central Government in
>> detaining
>> Anna Hazare and his supporters
>> To: pudr-info at pudr.org
>>
>>
>> *PEOPLES UNION FOR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS*
>>
>> *Press Release*
>>
>> *16th August 2011*
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) strongly condemns the
>> unconstitutional and undemocratic act of the Central Government in
>> detaining
>> Anna Hazare and his supporters in the early hours of 16th August, who were
>> scheduled to arrive at the site of peaceful demonstration. PUDR considers
>> the conditions laid down by the government such as number of participants
>> allowed, timing of the demonstrations etc. to be authoritarian. PUDR is
>> concerned that this clampdown on democratic rights represents the
>> shrinking
>> democratic space in the country where S. 144 of CRPC is used to prevent
>> citizens from lodging their disapproval of government policies and
>> actions.
>>
>> PUDR is of the opinion that irrespective of politics they espouse,
>> individuals and organisations have the legitimate right to mobilise people
>> and stage protest against the government policies which they dislike or
>> oppose.  In the specific instance of the Lokpal bill there maybe sharp
>> disagreement over the various versions of the bill in the public domain
>> from
>> a variety of vantage points. We are mindful of the fact that two most
>> talked
>> about bills namely the government version and Anna Hazare’s team version
>> have been subjected to public criticism for a variety of reasons. However,
>> for the government to claim that once the matter is placed before the
>> parliament there is no cause for public protest  smacks of government
>> being
>> innocent of constitution they have sworn to protect. We wish to remind the
>> central government that neither they nor the parliament can take away
>> people’s inalienable rights under the spurious plea that once people elect
>> their representatives right to protest by citizens gets curtailed.
>>
>> PUDR  is also concerned that it is the Central Government, which  by
>> taking
>> recourse to undemocratic means,  is further alienating people and
>> compelling
>> them, to *either *become mute witness to government-bureaucracy-**
>> corporations
>> nexus  in loot and plunder of the public funds, or to  take recourse to
>> violent means of protest.
>>
>> PUDR, therefore, calls upon people to oppose the government stand on
>> clamping down on legitimate protests and question government's right to
>> decide what is permissible and what is not, so long as protests are
>> peaceful.
>>
>>
>>
>> Paramjeet Singh and Harish Dhawan
>>
>> (Secretaries PUDR)
>>
>> ** **
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