The Gujarat Politics of Remission

PUDR condemns the passage of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2019 by the Rajya Sabha on 26 November 2019. The Lok Sabha had earlier passed the Bill in the Monsoon session on 5 August 2019 amid the chaos relating to the unannounced abrogation of Article 370. Presently pending Presidential assent, the Parliament has completely ignored mass opposition and protests by queer and trans groups since last year in passing the Bill.

Today on the 8^th of May, 2019, on a second day in succession, people protesting at Connaught Place, against the “clean chit” given to Justice Gogoi by an in-house inquiry that violated established procedures and principles and demanding an independent inquiry, were detained at Mandir Marg PS. The police came in large numbers armed with a water cannon.

On May 1^st, 2019, the three-judge inquiry into charges of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India decided to proceed without the complainant, with the CJI appearing before it. The complainant had withdrawn from the inquiry the previous day, describing the shocking course of action adopted by the inquiry committee, in complete violation of basic tenets of natural justice and the Supreme Court’s own jurisprudence on sexual harassment.

PUDR condemns the anti-women stand of the Naga HoHo/ Naga Tribes Action Committee (NTAC) in the context of reservation of seats for women in elections to local urban bodies. The accompanying mob-violence and the threats to women who wanted to contest from reserved seats, reveals the irony that a movement fighting for freedom for Naga people is willing to suppress rights of half of the population who comprise women in the name of customary laws.

The report narrates the findings of the fact-finding team comprising Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) and Peoples Union for Civil Rights (PUCR), Haryana into the suicide of 22-year old dalit boy, Rishipal. Rishipal was implicated as an accomplice in the alleged kidnapping of an adult OBC girl, who had actually wilfully eloped and married another dalit boy. The Report sheds light on the role of the police and administration, custodial violence and caste relations in Haryana.

यह रिपोर्ट पीयूडीआर, दिल्ली और पीयूसीआर, हरियाणा द्वारा एक 22 वर्षीय दलित लड़के ऋषिपाल की आत्महत्या पर की गई फैक्ट-फाइंडिंग के बारे में है | ऋषिपाल को एक वयस्क लड़की के अपहरण में सह-आरोपी बताया गया था | अन्य पिछड़ी जाति की इस लड़की एकता ने वास्तव में अपने परिवार के खिलाफ जाकर, अपनी मर्ज़ी से किसी दलित लड़के के साथ शादी कर ली थी | यह रिपोर्ट पुलिस और प्रशासन की भूमिका और साथ ही हिरासत में हिंसा और हरियाणा में जाति संबंधों पर भी प्रकाश डालती है |

To,
Ms Swati Maliwal,
Chairperson,
Delhi Commission for Women
Govt. of National Capital Territory of Delhi
C-Block, 2nd Floor,
Vikas Bhawan I. P. Estate,
New Delhi 110002

14th December 2015

Subject: Request for inquiry into allegation of molestation and sexual assault by Delhi Police on women students of Occupy UGC protest on 9th December 2015

Madam,

PUDR expresses outrage at the gang-rape of a 71 year old nun by a gang of “dacoits” inside a convent in Gangnapur village, Nadia district, West Bengal on 14th March 2015. The men reportedly raided and desecrated the convent before taking away 12 lakhs.Clearly, the motive was not merely to rob and decamp but to punish the school and the community through this horrendous gang-rape. In this connection, PUDR wishes to draw attention to the disturbing trend of attacks on Christians, including their institutions and places of worship, in recent times.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, which arose to mark struggles of women workers for better working conditions and wages over a century ago, People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) expresses its solidarity with the ongoing strike of women sales attendants of Kalyan Sarees in Thrissur, Kerala. This under-reported and remarkable strike which started on 31 December 2014 has entered its ninth week now. The women on strike are demanding humane and fair working conditions.