The civil rights movement in India has emerged as an autonomous voice in defense of civil liberties and democratic rights of our people. The Peoples Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi, is one such organisation. It came into existence in 1977 as the Delhi unit of a larger national forum, PUCLDR, and became PUDR on 1 February, 1981.
Latest Publications
Police Chases Police: Custodial Death Under Welcome Police Station
On 18th March 1992, the press reported the death of a youth, Darshan Singh, in police custody. This takes the Death toll to four in the very first three months of 1992. Police picked up Darshan Singh on 10th March along with another youth. While the latter was...
Choose the Death Card: New Seema Puri Police Station
The report relates to the death of a Bangladeshi youth, Ramzan, in New Seema Puri, a resettlement colony in North-east Delhi. Ramzan and three others were accosted by the local police while they were playing cards in a public lavatory at night. While the others...
Satpura Ki Ghati: People’s Struggle in Hoshangabad
Southeastern Hoshangabad is known for the Pachmarhi hill station, "nestled" in the tourism promotion language, among the Mahadeo hills. The rail route lies from Delhi to Itarsi then branches to Pipariya town, from where starts the ascent to the hills. From Piparia...
Death via Custody: Guru Tegh Bahadur Police Post
On 3rd December 1991, some newspapers reported a death due to beating and torture in the custody of Delhi police, Guru Tegh Bahadur Police Post. The victim, Raghunath, who was a migrant worker from Bihar, was a suspect in a theft case. An enquiry by the Vigilance...
A Death in Our Times: Kamla Market Police Station
A man is beaten to death in a police station. Two policemen cart his body to be produced before a magistrate. They seat the corpse outside the crowded courtroom, in a true Amitabh Bachan filmy style, and argue with the magistrate that it should be given a 14-day...
Latest Press Statements
The police must be held answerable for the Sangam Park riot of 31st January
PUDR strongly condemns the police’s role in the outbreak of riots between members of the Valmiki and Muslim communities, in the Sangam Park area in North West Delhi, on 31st January, 2016. PUDR’s investigation into the incidents of 30th and 31st January, and...
Admission opens a can of worms
On 23rd July 2009, the Manipur police claimed to have had an encounter with a ‘PLA cadre’ Sanjit, as a result of which Sanjit died. While this version was widely contested by the local people who claimed that Sanjit was murdered in a cold-blooded manner, a set of...
CDRO Condemns the new wave of State terror being unleashed on the people of Chhattisgarh
Reports from Nendra and Pedda Jojer in Bijapur, and Kunna in Sukma reveal a new and brutal wave of systematic violence being carried out by security forces in South Chhattisgarh. On the one hand Chhattisgarh police proudly announces the launch of new operations and...
Condemn casteist actions of Hyderabad University authorities
PUDR strongly condemns the authorities of the Central University of Hyderabad for their caste based victimisation of Dalit students, which, on 17th January, 2016, resulted in Rohith Vemula , a Dalit Research Scholar in Science Technology and Society Studies in the...
Supreme Court’s ruling on Haryana Panchayati Raj case: a case of “contempt of people”
PUDR expresses deep concern over the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015. On Human Rights Day, 10th December 2015, the apex court upheld five disqualifications laid down in the Act to particularly exclude those who are...
Latest updates
Sujato Bhadra, Vice President,CRPP, Ramanadham memorial Meeting, PUDR, 13 September 2015.
Five years behind bars for five activists