INDIA: Murder of two social activists in Gaya, Bihar State

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned about the murder of two social activists, Sarita and Mahesh Kant in Gaya (Bihar) on 24 January 2004. The victims were shot by the armed men on the way back to the Fatehpur Block Recouse Centre from Shabdo. The perpetrators are believed to be members of a local gang who had previously threatened them for their work in securing the equal use of land for the community in Shabdo village. 

AHRC condemns such brutal killing of these activists, and urges the Government of India to investigate this case and prosecute those responsible for these deaths immediately. Please write a letter to the local authorities and request them to intervene in this matter immediately. 

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of victims: Sarita and Mahesh Kant
Alleged perpetrators: Members of a local gang
Date of the Incident: at 7:00 p.m. on 24 January 2004
Place of the Incident: Shabdo village in Gaya, Bihar State

Case details:

Two land rights activists, Sarita and Mahesh Kant, were brutally killed on 24 January 2004 in Gaya, Bihar State. While the circumstances of this murder remain unclear, the basic facts seem to be the following:  

Sarita and Mahesh had been working for several years in Shabdo village, where they were helping the local community to achieve a sustainable and equitable use of land resources.  Sarita and Mahesh mobilized the community of Fatehpur to revive an old 45-km canal system on the Bihar-Jharkhand border, which changed the face of Shabdo village, bringing Raiputs and Dalits together in the community. They have also helped cure many of their alcohol addition and helped increase collective farming in the area. However, the local land mafia felt threatened, partly because the work of Sarita and Mahesh involved reclaiming common land that had been encroached upon by powerful gangs.  The local mafia, who are patronized by the ruling party of Bihar, threatened them to give up their work which they refused to do. 

On 24 January 2004, as they did every evening, Sarita and Mahesh were travelling on a bike from Shabdo to the Fatehpur Block Resource Centre when at around 7 p.m., they were stopped by heavily armed men and shot at point blank range. The assailants were most likely members of a local gang that was threatened by the work of the two activists. Sarita died immediately, and Mahesh subsequently has died from his gun-shot wounds.

After the incident, several protests have been organized by the people. Mr. Apoorvanand, a fellow activist and protest organizer, remembered Sarita and Mahesh 
as “working among the backward castes and Dalits trying to redeem the pledge we as the people of India had made to ourselves 54 years back but which was left to rot in the backyards of power by the parties who have been our rulers all these years. Safe water, wholesome food,  irrigated land, a smoothly run primary school, a clean and healthy community life-this is the least we expect from a welfare state. Instead, we have seen the state abdicating it role, leaving it to organizations and individuals like Sarita and Mahesh. They had obviously disturbed the power equation of the countryside having  educated the villagers to the extent that they started to speak for themselves, make decisions for themselves, mange their own land and school for their children, and understand and articulate their rights.”

In fact, incidents of this kind are not unusual in Bihar.  Just a few weeks ago, Satyendra Dubey, a public-spirited engineer, was murdered after he attempted to expose corruption in highway construction projects.

We request that the Government of India ratify the Convention against Torture, as well as the ICCPR, and adhere to the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (A/RES/53/144) to ensure that these brutal incidents do not reoccur. We further request your support of the upcoming event to honor the victims and protest this grave injustice, in the form of a national protest march from Patna to Sabdo, Gaya on 12 February 2004.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the local authorities expressing your concern of this serious case. 

1. Shri. A.P.J. Abdul kalam 
President of India 
Rashtrapathi Bhavan, New Delhi – 110001 
INDIA 
Fax: + 91 11 23017290, 
E-mail: Pressecy@sansad.nic.in 

2. Justice A.S.Anand 
Chairperson 
National Human Rights Commission 
Sardar Patel Bhavan, Sansad Marg, 
New Delhi – 110001 
INDIA
Fax: +91-11-23340016 / 23366537 
E-mail: nhrc@ren.nic.in 

3. Smt. Rabri Devi 
Chief Minister of Bihar
Tel: +91-612-2223886 / 2224784 
E-mail: cmbihar@bih.nic.in 

4. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative on the situation of human rights Defenders
C/o OHCHR-UNOG, 
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006

5. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND 
Tel: + 92 42 5763 234 
Fax: + 41 22 917 9006 / +92 42 5763 236 
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch / asmalaw@brain.net.pk

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