25 April, 11.30 am


in front of Banga Bhavan 

 (3, Hailey Road, New Delhi)

(nearest metro station is Mandi House)

Nonadanga, Kolkata, witnessed the complete demolition of the over 200 slumdwellers houses on 30th March 2012. The consequent many peaceful marches brutally lathicharged(April 4, 8, 12…), hundreds of activists arrested and seven branded with ‘anti-national activities’, mass hunger strike for 12 days by the local Ucched Pratirodh Committee and daily confrontations with the KMDA and police later, people are rebuilding their houses and questioning the model of developmental terrorism.
We are aware of similar processes of eviction drives in the name of development in Delhi, and we struggle against the (designs of the) ruling class which underpin it.

Of the seven arrested activists, two continue to languish in jail, one of them under the draconian UAPA.


WE demand:

  • Immediate and unconditional release of all the activists arrested on April 8. Drop charges against all seven of them: Debolina Chakraborty, Samik Chakraborty, Abhijnan Sarkar, Debjani Ghoah, Manas Chatterjee, Siddhartha Gupta and Partha Sarathi Ray.
  • Drop the draconian UAPA and all charges on Debolina Chakraborty, and release her immediately and unconditionally.
  • The state must stop further harassment of residents and activists, and apologise to the people for having infringed upon its democratic right to organise and dissent; and take action against the police officers involved in the lathicharge on April 4.
  • The right to housing and rehabilitation of the slum-dwellers and hawkers in Nonadanga must be immediately ensured in a fair and just manner so that that their labour-power is not further devalued.
  • All construction in Nonadanga by the KMDA must come to an immediate halt. The eviction drive in the city, and the anti-people programme of neo-liberal capitalist development of which it is an integral part, must be stopped.
  • The process of slum-eviction in Delhi must be stopped immediately and inhabitants of the jhuggi-jhopri clusters in the city should be provided with adequate land, and respectable housing with clean drinking-water sources and proper sanitation amenities.

Joint pamphlet for campaign in Delhi on the same from mass organisations is attached in hindi.
its english translation, also given as press note, is available here: http://sanhati.com/articles/4956/

Sd/-
All India Federation of Trade Unions(New)
All India Students Association
All India Revolutionary Students Organisation
Bigul Mazdoor Dasta
Disha Chatra Sagathan
Inquilabi Mazdoor Kendra
Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association
Krantikari Naujawan Sabha
Krantikari Yuva Sangathan
Mazdoor Patrika
Mehnatkash Mazdoor Morcha
New Socialist Initiative
Peoples’ Democratic Front of India
Progressive Democratic Students Union
People’s Union for Democratic Rights
Posco Pratirodh Solidarity-Delhi
Radical Notes
Sanhati-Delhi
Shramik Sangram Committee
Students For Resistance
Vidyarthi Yuvajan Sabha