Press Statements - 2012

May 15 19:05

Stop crackdown on anti-dam protestors, suspend construction and initiate cumulative impact assessment in the entire north east

PUDR strongly condemns the police action on the peaceful anti-dam protestors in Lakhimpur district of Assam on 11 May 2012. These protestors, who were sitting in the camp, are peacefully demonstrating against the upcoming big dam on river Subansiri, which is considered as the life line for the people living in the downstream areas of upper Assam. The protestors had put a blockade camp to obstruct the transportation of the construction materials to the dam site. The blockade has been organised jointly by more than 9 organisations since November 2011.

May 15 10:19

PUDR is concerned at the alleged encounter killing by a joint team of Assam Police, CRPF and Indian Army

PUDR is concerned at the alleged encounter killing by a joint team of Assam Police, CRPF and Indian Army in which four alleged armed cadres of the Upper Assam Leading Committee of CPI (Maoist) were killed on 9 May at Borgora-Deopani Nepali Gaon under the Saidya police station. We are all the more concerned because PUDR members recently visited Saidya as part of a fact finding organised by Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations.

May 15 09:48

PUDR strongly condemns the ongoing repression by the state on the peaceful protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu

PUDR strongly condemns the ongoing repression by the state on the peaceful protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu particularly since 8 May 2012. It condemns the policy of using tactics of threat and intimidation to crush a democratic movement. The clampdown began shortly after the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which is leading the local struggle, held a meeting in Idinthakarai village on that day with large numbers of the local community.

Apr 30 18:21

PUDR Condemns Central Government’s “arrest or kill” policy against Naxalites

PUDR condemns the Central Governments admission of its ‘arrest or kill’ policy against Naxalites, before the Standing Committee on Home Affairs by the Home Secretary, Mr. R.K. Singh on April 4, 2012.

Apr 24 09:30

CDRO Press Statement/ interim report on upcoming mega dams in North East. Released during the press conference in Guwahati press club.

Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO), comprising of 20 civil and democratic rights organisations from across India decided to undertake a fact finding into the impact of big/mega dam projects coming up in the North Eastern states on the life and livelihood of the people. Reportedly more than 168 MoUs/MoAs have been signed by the Arunachal Pradesh government alone.

Apr 18 09:30

PUDR Releases CDRO Report: The Terror of Law: UAPA and the Myth of National Security

The Terror of Law is a CDRO (Coordination of Democratic Rights Organization) report which shows how and why the UAPA curbs the freedoms provided by Article 19 [Protection of Freedoms] for expression, assembly and association against one section of political opinion. Like its predecessors TADA & POTA did, UAPA virtually disenfranchises a section of the people. The report points out that freedom of expression is not an individual right but a collective right of groups, unions and political parties to disseminate their views and mobilize people.

Apr 13 20:36

PUDR Condemns Arrest of Professor Ambikesh Mahapatra of Jadavpur University

PUDR is astounded by the West Bengal government’s latest incident of intolerance of dissent and suppression of democratic rights. Media sources state that a professor of Chemistry at Jadavpur University, Ambikesh Mahapatra, was assaulted by TMC hoodlums at his residence and then arrested on 12th April for allegedly circulating, by email, a political cartoon lampooning the chief minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee for the rail budget fiasco. A neighbour of the professor, Mr. Subrata Sengupta, has also been picked up. The police has charged Prof.

Apr 12 20:49

The right to dissent will not be surrendered.

Condemn the attack on democratic rights activists by TMC goons and Kolkata Police. Drop the false charges and immediately release all anti-eviction and democratic rights activists. Punish the guilty policemen and TMC thugs.

CDRO strongly and unequivocally condemns the attack on APDR members protesting against the Nonadanga slum demolition and the arbitrary arrest of anti-eviction activists.

Apr 10 09:30

PUDR Condemns Attack on Nonadanga Slum Dwellers by West Bengal Police in Kolkata

PUDR strongly condemns the violent demolition of the Nonadanga slums on March 30th in Kolkata, and the subsequent police brutality on peaceful anti-eviction protests followed by the vindictive arrest of activists.

Mar 21 19:13

Unkept Promises and Politics of Abduction

PUDR expresses concern at the abduction of the two Italian nationals by the CPI (Maoist) in Kandamahal-Ganjam region of Orissa on March 14. However, a larger issue is raised by this act of abduction namely how even a wrong method can expose a legitimate concern of people desperately trying to get their just demands fulfilled by a government which has reneged on an agreement reached with the mediators last year, which saw the release of the district collector of Malkangiri.