Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) reproduces below the letter written by the AHRC to the president of India regarding the eviction of 7,000 Untouchables in West Bengal. In the open letter, AHRC urged the president to take immediate measures to ensure the victims’ rights, and to provide all the victims with adequate compensation, reparation and rehabilitation. The AHRC urges you to write to the president of the India requesting speedy and strong action in this matter.
To see our previous urgent appeals regarding this case, please visit
UP-54-2003: Three year old eviction victim died due to starvation in West Bengal;
FA-27-2003: 7,000 Untouchables in Belilious Park evicted by the governments of West Bengal and the Howrah Municipal Corporation
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
16 January 2004
Dr. P.P.J. Abdul Kalam
President
Office of the President,
Rashtrapati Bhawan,
New Delhi, 110004
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 3017290, 3014570
Dear President Kalam,
Re: Why burn millions while people die of starvation?
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that you issued an invitation to scientists to put their experiments on the country’s first “moon mission” at the Indian Science Congress in Chandigarh.
India is participating in the moon race, irrespective of the fact that many have previously run this race only to find that after the exhausting process, there was no purpose other than to pacify pride.
In this context the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to direct your attention to an incident which occurred in the West Bengal State, obviously not as distant as the moon.
Three-year old E.M. Shiva died from starvation on 18 December 2003. His family is one of 7,000 Untouchables who were forcibly and illegally evicted from a piece of land at Belilious Park, 129 Belilious Road, Howah by the State administration and the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) on 2 February 2003. E.M. Shiva’s death is only one example of the tragedy and conditions the evicted people have faced after they lost their houses and land.
After the forced eviction, the evictees have been subjected to horrendous situations at the Belgachia garbage dumping ground. They are forced to stay on open streets under the scorching heat of the sun without shelter or drinking water, lacking even a minimal sanitary system. Until now, the West Bengal State government has not provided any compensation to the victims and has failed to resettle those who are currently living in these awful conditions.
The land where these people stay is toxic and polluted. They do not have enough money to buy cement. The only option they had was to collect fine iron filings from the nearby foundries and create a floor by mixing the filings with carbide waste collected from steel workshops. The mix is used to fix the floor and they sleep on it. The carbide cause blisters on the skin.
One researcher of the AHRC met these people in last December and the condition of these poor people were brought to the notice of the government through the urgent appeals programme of the AHRC dated 18 December 2003 and through various responses to this appeal. The local NGOs in West Bengal, especially MASUM have tried their best to assist these people by various means, including appealing to the state government. In spite of these efforts the government has done nothing to attend to this and a tangible result in the near future appears unlikely.
AHRC hopes that your Government will take immediate measures to ensure that the rights of these families are protected, and in particular their right to adequate housing, in accordance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), as well as the General Comments No. 4 and No. 7 of the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights respectively on the right to adequate housing and forced evictions.
AHRC also requests your Government to provide compensation and proper housing to the evicted families in accordance with international laws. AHRC also urges your Government to provide full and immediate assistance to the families affected by these evictions, to ensure their security and health.
Lastly, AHRC attaches a copy of a photo of the deceased E.M. Shiva along with this letter. Little Shiva passed away leaving behind his sisters. The AHRC also attaches a copy of Lakshmi’s photo (4 years old), the youngest in the family. When India finally lands its ship on the moon, children who suffer from no food and shelter will rejoice with pride and Lakshimi will surely be among them if he is alive.
We thank you in advance for your careful consideration and action regarding this matter.
Sincerely yours,
Kim Soo A
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
REFERENCE: Brief information about the situation
On the morning of 18 December 2003, three-year old E. M. Shiva died due to starvation. His family is one of 7,000 Untouchables who were forcibly and illegally evicted from a piece of land at Belilious Park, 129 Belilious Road, Howrah by the administration on 2 February 2003.
On the morning of 2 February 2003, a large number of people (almost 700 families) were forcibly evicted from Bellilous Park, 129 Belilious Road, Howrah with active participation of armed police, the Rapid Action Force consisting of about 500 personnel. Several bulldozers were employed to demolish hundreds of brick houses, jhupris, structures, a school building, temples and statues. Thousands of people were rendered homeless in a day.
A brief background to this incident is as follows; The organization namely Howrah Ganatantric Nagarik Samity filed a writ petition in Calcutta High Court in the year 1987 regarding the issue of pollution in Bellilious Park. Under an order passed by the Division Bench of High Court, Calcutta, the Municipal authority was directed to remove the trespassers. Under the guise of the said order, thousands of people including the permanent residents were evicted by force on 2 February 2003. This occurred without any proper notice or opportunity for relocation for the residents of the area. The area is more than 100 Bighas of land in the holding no. 129, Bellilious Road within police station Bantra, District Howrah, West Bengal. Surprisingly the residents were evicted but neither the Judiciary, the administration, the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) nor police gave the residents any opportunity to be heard before the eviction. The administration did not make an attempt to investigate the legal status of the residents evicted.
However, according to the NGO’s observation, the land of Bellilious Park is not solely Government land and property. The disclosed facts suggest that thousands of sweepers/scavengers, coming from the Dalit community, were employed at Howrah Municipality hundreds of years ago and they were not allowed to take any rented accommodation in the localities of upper-caste people in the town area as they belonged to the Sweeper/Dalit community, the untouchables. The municipal authority itself had constructed a two-storied quarter in part of the said park. The Municipal records themselves reveal that a large number of employees of the Municipal Corporation are residents of the park their families have resided there for more than 100 years. It is equally true in respect of other government employees of railways, nationalized banks, public sectors etc. A number of residents produced not only ration cards in their names but also Election Commissioner’s identity cards, birth and death certificates, service records and so forth, all proof of their legal permanent possession and residence. Some even residents contested elections from this address. The residents claimed that altogether 7,000 people resided there.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the President of the government of India requesting speedy and appropriate action for eviction victims in West Bengal.
Dr. P.P.J. Abdul Kalam
President
Office of the President,
Rashtrapati Bhawan,
New Delhi, 110004
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 3016767 (Joint Secretary), 3014507 (Personal Secretary)
Fax: +91 11 3017290, 3014570
Email: presssecy@alpha.nic.in or Pressecy@Sansad.nic.in
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dr. P.P.J. Abdul Kalam
President
The government of India
Dear President Kalam
Re: Government ignoring 7,000 evicted people
I am writing to bring to your attention the eviction of about 7,000 Untouchables in West Bengal State, India.
On the morning of 2 February 2003, approximately 700 families were forcibly and illegally evicted from the land commonly known as Belilous Park. This occurred without any notice or allowances for relocation. As a result, the evicted people have been living in horrendous situations at the Belgachia garbage dumping ground, on open streets under the scorching heat of the sun without shelter and drinking water, in absence of even a minimum sanitary system.
Until now, the West Bengal State government has not provided any compensation to the victims and has failed to resettle those who are currently living in miserable conditions.
The West Bengal government has an obligation to ensure the right to housing of its citizens according to Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and international laws which clearly mention the right to life of the people.
Therefore, I strongly urge the West Bengal government to provide compensation and proper housing to the evicted families in accordance with international laws. I also urge the West Bengal government to provide full and immediate assistance to the families affected by these evictions, to ensure their security and health. I further urge the government of India to intervene into this matter as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
