[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

[Tara Prakash]

True. But how can you kill the wood without cutting the trees? Isn't it a good strategy to defunct the machine by stopping the oil supply that makes it run? It good to hit this corruption? 
Let it not be the situation at the international stage on global warming, the vested interests passing the buck to each other. The guy next door says the main corruption is in the parliament and the parliamentarian says the guy next door needs to change first. 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Nagraj Adve 
  To: Tara Prakash 
  Cc: Sarai 
  Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2011 2:21 AM
  Subject: Re: [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


  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>; "Free Binayak Sen" <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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