People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) demands the immediate production by the Government of India, all of the ULFA activists handed over by the Royal Bhutanese Army in the course of counter-insurgency operations in Bhutan. The Guwahati High Court in its 2004 ruling has clearly called upon the responsibility of the Indian government to clarify the status of persons detained and subsequently handed over by the RBA to the Indian authorities. In this context, PUDR also criticizes the police action of March 31, 2007, against the peaceful hunger strike of six women in Guwahati. All six are wives of ULFA activists whose whereabouts are still unknown. On 31st March 2007, the police personnel forcibly entered the venue of hunger strike and dragged the protestors to hospital where they were fed intravenously against their will. A case (u/s 309 IPC) against the protestors has been registered in Panbazar Police Station.

After three years of continuous pleading with Indian authorities and running pillar to post to find out the whereabouts of their spouses, these six women had ultimately resorted to take the extreme step of hunger strike. Before starting this hunger strike they had sent an appeal to the President of India asking him to intervene in to matter of custodial disappearance of their husband.

PUDR strongly condemns the apathy and indifferent attitude of the Indian government to the concerns of these women and demands that the governments end their silence and declare the whereabouts of the victims of enforced disappearance, a task that the governments are duty-bound to do.

NAGRAJ ADVE
(Secretary)

pudr@pudr.org