UPDATE (INDIA): 3 year old eviction victim died due to starvation in West Bengal 

Dear Friends

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that 3 year old E. M. Shiva died due to starvation today morning (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, Howrah by the administration on 2 February 2003. E. M. Shiva’s death is only one more example of how miserably the evicted people have lived after they lost their houses and land.

After the forced eviction, 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.

AHRC calls for your urgent solidarity to support these people. Please send a letter, fax or email to the local authorities requesting full and immediate assistance and resettlement to the victims.

To see our previous urgent appeal regarding this case, please visit: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2003/485/

You can also see E. M. Shiva’s photo at: http://www.ahrchk.netimages/E.M.Shiva,%20died%20on%2018.12.03.gif

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
———————————————————–

BRIEF REMINDER OF THE SITUATION:

On 2 February 2003 at morning hours, a large number of people, almost 700 families, were forcibly evicted from Bellilous Park, 129 Belilious Road, Howrah with active participation of huge armed police force, Rapid Action Force consisting of near about 500 personnel. Two/three Bulldozers were employed to demolish hundreds of brick built houses, jhupris, structures, school building, temples, statues and thousands of people were rendered homeless in a day.

The background of the incident is (in short) that an organization namely Howrah Ganatantric Nagarik Samity filed a writ petition in Calcutta High Court in the year 1987 on the issue of pollution in the park, popularly known as 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 garb of the said order thousands of people, the permanent residents who were in legal possession, were evicted by force on 2 February 2003 by the administration without giving proper rehabilitation or even any proper notice and opportunity to the residents of the said area which 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 nor the administration nor the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) nor police administration gave the residents any opportunity of being heard before the eviction drive. The administration never cared to make any scrutiny or investigate to find out the legal status ofthepersons/families evicted.

However, according to the NGO’s observation, the land of Bellilious Park is not solely Government land and property. The fact as disclosed is 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 and had been residing there for more than 100 years. It is equally true in respect of other government employees of Railways, Nationalised Banks, Public Sectors etc. Number of residents produced not only ration cards in their names but also Election Commissioner’s identity cards, birth and death certificates, service records etc. all showing the address of the Park: 129 Bellilious Park, Howrah as proof of their legal permanent possession and residence. Even some residents contested elections from this address. The residents claimed that all together 7,000 people resided there.

Send an appeal letter to:

1. Mr. Ashok Bhattacharya
Minister-in-charge
Municipal Affairs & Urban Development Government of West Bengal
Kolkata
Fax: +91-332 2145 480
Email address: micma@wb.gov.in

2. Mr. Gopal Mukherjee
Mayor
Howrah Municipal Corporation
Howrah
Fax: +91-33-2660 3214

3. Mr. Miloon Kothari
The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing of the United Nations
Room 4-066
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Palais Wilson, Rue des Paquis 52,
Geneva Switzerland

4. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
c/o Sally-Anne Way
Assistant to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
IUED, 24, rue Rothschild
CP 136, CH 1211 Geneva 21
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 906 59 83
E-mail: sally-anne.way@iued.unige.ch

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER