The civil rights movement in India has emerged as an autonomous voice in defense of civil liberties and democratic rights of our people. The Peoples Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi, is one such organisation. It came into existence in 1977 as the Delhi unit of a larger national forum, PUCLDR, and became PUDR on 1 February, 1981.
“Close to the one-year anniversary of violence in Nuh district, Haryana, PUDR released its report on ongoing state repression in the aftermath of July 31, 2023. Justice Madan Lokur (retd., Supreme Court) and Professor Manoranjan Mohanty (retd., Delhi University) launched “In the wake of Nuh: A report on state repression” on July 29, 2024 at Press Club of India.
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Yes to Justice, No to Death: Position Paper on Death Penalty
PUDR’s opposition to the penalty of death is three decades old. Like everything else our opposition to capital punishment is evolving and is a ‘work in progress’. Starting with serious objections to the arbitrariness inbuilt in awarding the Death Penalty, the fact...
Sexual Assault on Four Girls in Haryana in the Context of Dalit Rights to Common Lands
A joint team comprising the Association for Democratic Rights (AFDR) from Punjab, the People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) and Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) from Delhi visited Bhagana village of Hisar district on May 13, 2014. The...
Crimes of Habit: A Report on Custodial Torture in Vijay Vihar Police Station
On 10 July 2013, a leading news channel Aaj Tak telecast a video clip that showed several young boys describing their experience of custodial torture by policemen at the Vijay Vihar Police Station in outer Delhi. The incident occurred between 26 and 28 March 2013. The...
In the Name of Science and Public Health: Concerns About the Safety of Pentavalent Vaccine
The introduction of the pentavalent vaccine in India in December 2011 as part of the immunization programme of the Government has had a chequered history. The pentavalent vaccine (a combination vaccine for protection against five childhood diseases- diphtheria,...
Fake Encounters in Odisha: How the State Picks, Arrests and Kills Its ‘Maoists’
On November 14, 2012, media reported that five Maoists had been killed and one red rebel captured during an encounter between the security forces and the Sabyasachi Panda faction in the Bhaliaguda forest area of Gobindapur panchayat of Gajapati district (bordering...
Latest Press Statements
Release Jnyanadeep Gogoi and Repeal UAPA!
PUDR unequivocally condemns the arrest of Jnyanadeep Gogoi, a 31-year-old employee of ONGC, on false allegations of waging war and participating in unlawful and terrorist activities for his Facebook posts on ULFA (I) i.e. United Liberation Front of Assam...
Bauxite Mining at any cost: Targeted persecution by the Odisha Government
PUDR expresses shock and concern at the manner in which the Office of the Superintendent of Police, Kalahandi in Odisha is issuing threats and intimidation of encounter deaths to public spirited individuals and professionals in the Niyamgiri region in the course of...
Supreme Injustices
Today on the 8th 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...
गढ़चिरौली की विस्फोट की घटना पर राष्ट्रीय मानवाधिकार आयोग (एन.एच.आर.सी.) का अनुचित बयान
1 मई, 2019 को गढ़चिरौली के कुरखेड़ा तहसील में माओवादियों द्वारा किये गए एक विस्फोट में सी-60 पुलिस बल के 15 जवान और एक गाड़ी चालक की घटना स्थल पर मृत्यु हो गई थी। इसी हिंसक घटना का खंडन करते हुए राष्ट्रीय मानवाधिकार आयोग द्वारा एक बयान जारी किया गया। हिंसा की वारदात एक...
PUDR condemns sham inquiry into charges against CJI’
On May 1st, 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...