[Reader-list] Resist the silent emergency! Call for Action on June 26th 2012

[asit das]

Resist the silent emergency! Call for Action on June 26th
2012<http://fabricated.in/node/558>


Dear friends,

On June 26,1975,
Emergency<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_%28India%29>was
declared in India, robbing citizens of their basic democratic rights
and ushering in a dark period of rampant human rights violations all over
the country. Arrests of Indian citizens without charge or notification of
families, abuse and torture of detainees, media censorship and use of
public and private media institutions for government propaganda, forced
sterilization of the minorities, destruction of slums and low income
housing areas and authoritarianism were its main characteristics. All
dissent was crushed. While the engineering student Rajan
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajan_case>was tortured and killed in the
Kakkayam torture camp, many others including Archana
Guha<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/calcutta-times/Archana-case-The-longest-legal-battle/articleshow/119084613.cms>&
Latika Guha from Calcutta who were badly tortured are still alive to
tell
their tales.

The nightmare of Emergency was over in 1977 when it was lifted due to large
scale public protest. Political parties, institutions and individuals who
defended Emergency were discredited. The sigh of relief evoked a hope for a
functioning democracy in India.

But today, we are entering into a similar phase of governance without any
formal declaration of Emergency. This Silent Emergency has regulated,
controlled and restricted all space for democratic public protests against
ruling governments. Custodial deaths and encounter killings have become a
routine phenomenon. Rape, murder, loot, torture and arrests in Manipur,
Nagaland and other north eastern states as well as Kashmir have even
crossed the excesses of the Emergency period. Many discriminatory laws have
been enacted to silence the Media without a censorship. Several
discriminatory laws were enacted to enhance and strengthen the power of the
State over civil society and crush dissent. State terrorism today is beyond
the imagination those who were responsible for the declaration of Emergency
in the seventies.

Laws to facilitate the corporate control and loot over the resources of
people are being enacted. This has also become a major reason for the human
rights violations against adivasis, dalits, minorities, farmers, fisher
people, workers, activists and human rights movements. While the mainstream
media is compelled to ignore most of the people’s movements,for reasons of
commerce those who work on human rights of the people are being victimized.
The human rights defenders who take up burning issues of the people are
being targeted. False cases are being fabricated against activists,
people’s movements, media, theatre activists, minorities, self
determination movements, dalits and adivasis in a major way. Thus thousands
of innocent people are languishing in Indian jails without any trial.

Human rights lovers of this country and abroad came out on streets to
campaign for the release Dr. Binayak Sen
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binayak_Sen>in recent times. However,
hundreds of innocent adivasis are still suffering in the jails in
Chhattisgarh. While the anti-POSCO movement leader Abhay
Sahoo<http://fabricated.in/node/218>was released on bail recently, he
is still being tied up with 51 fabricated
cases. The villagers and activists resisting the South Korean multinational
giant POSCO are facing over 1500 false cases
<http://fabricated.in/framed/anti-posco-struggle>and many of them cannot
move out of their villages even to go to hospital due to this. They are
jailed inside their own villages. While the leader of the anti-nuclear
movement in Koodamkulam <http://fabricated.in/framed/koodankulam> is facing
over 200 fabricated cases, similar charges have also been instigated
against over 6000 villagers. Muslim spiritual leader Abdul Nasser
Maudany<http://fabricated.in/framed/maudani>who supported the
struggles of adivasis and dalits in Kerala was imprisoned
in Coimbatore jail with fabricated charges for nine and a half years
without trial and declared innocent and released later. However, he is
imprisoned again with fabricated charges and he is suffering in jail in
Bangalore today without proper medical care for his health problems. Maudany
is becoming blind today <http://fabricated.in/node/433>. He has lost vision
in one eye and the second eye is also affected. Writer and human rights
activist Seema Azad <http://fabricated.in/framed/seema-azad> is also behind
bars today facing fabricated charges along with her husband. Seema Azad is
the organizational secretary of PUCL in Uttar Pradesh. Journalist Syed
Mohammed Ahmed Kazmi <http://fabricated.in/?s=Kazmi>, journalist K.K.
Shahina <http://fabricated.in/node/147>, adivasi activist Soni
Sori<http://fabricated.in/framed/soni-sori>,
farmers’ movement leader Dr. Sunilam <http://fabricated.in/node/347>,
Mumbai based activist Arun Ferreira <http://fountainink.in/?p=1759>,
Activists protested against Nonadanga slum
evictions<http://fabricated.in/topics/west-bengal>in West bengal ,
advocate
Shahnavas <http://fabricated.in/topics/email-snooping>, dalit group in
Kerala DHRM<http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne241009ambedkars_lost.asp>,
Mumbai based theatre group Kabir Kala
Manch<http://fabricated.in/topics/kabir-kala-manch>,
adivasi activist CK. Janu and her supporters and thousands of others have
become victims of fabrication by the State in the recent past. This trend
is not acceptable to any citizen who believes in democracy and human rights.

Therefore we appeal to all lovers of democracy and human rights to remember
the trauma of this country through a declared Emergency during the 70s and
express their strong protest against the emerging `Silent Emergency’ in
India today. We appeal all citizens to:

   1. *Organize protests against this Silent Emergency on June 26, 2012*.
   If it is not possible on this day, please do it on a convenient day in your
   area.
   2. Organise public meetings remembering Emergency of the Seventies and
   against today’s Silent Emergency.
   3. Express your skills of writing, songs, posters, paintings, internet
   action, theatre or any other creative means of expressing your dissent.
   4. Organise film screenings of festivals to express concerns.
   5. Inform *www.fabricated.in* about your involvement (write to editor at
   fabricated.in)

We do hope that such collective action will generate some space for saving
the remnants of democracy in this country.

Thanking you,

*Fabricated.in team*