Amnesty concerned over demolitions in Mumbai
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Amnesty International India is deeply concerned with the demolitions of the protest-huts at Azad Maidan, Mumbai on August 24, 2006, under High Court orders.
The circumstances under which the people started the protest at the Azad Maidan since May 17, 2006 facing hostile weather, malnutrition, ill health and neglect was the abject condition after the demolition of their homes in poor localities of Mumbai. The demolitions by the Government of Maharashtra, which are claimed as evictions of illegal settlements, made nearly 350,000 people homeless since 2004 and the government failed to rehabilitate them till date. The demolitions resulted in not only the loss of homes but also the loss of livelihoods. It is shocking that none of the concerned ministers / authorities met the protesters since they began the protest to discuss the issue with them. Azad Maidan is the only permitted space for public protest in Mumbai. The Mumbai High Court ordering removal of protest-huts, to facilitate cricket coaching in the ground is a matter of concern too. It was the High Court which has ordered earlier to confine public protest to the Azad Maidan. To overrule that judgment and thus leaving no space for public protest is denying citizens’ their democratic rights. The excessive use of force by police to remove the protestors and thus injuring some in the process was avoidable. Amnesty International India, while expressing solidarity with the people in their struggle for justice, requests the Government of Maharashtra to initiate a dialogue with the protesters and find a way for restoring their lives and livelihoods. |
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