People’s Union for Democratic Rights

A civil liberties and democratic rights organisation based in Delhi, India

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.

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“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.

Justice Lokur emphasised the importance of civil society reports like PUDR’s to archive incidents like Nuh, particularly when there is no judicial inquiry. Professor Mohanty highlighted the new face of communalised state repression that incidents like Nuh represent.”

Latest Publications

Sexual Assaults: A fact finding report

In 2004, PUDR investigated six cases of sexual assault that were reported in the press. In five cases, the sexual assault clearly occurred in custody of an employee either of medical institutions or by policeman. These were the sexual assault of a 19 year old girl by...

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Latest Press Statements

Collective (Conscience) Killer

President of India, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee rejected five more mercy petitions between 25th and 26th May, 2017. With his current rejections, he has achieved 42 rejections and seven acceptances of mercy petitions during his tenure. There has been marked increase in...

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On Justice P.N. Bhagwati’s death

PUDR remembers the significant contribution of Justice P.N. Bhagwati to the cause of furthering and protecting fundamental and democratic rights of citizens, in his death on 15 June 2017. In his years as a judge, especially through the 1980s, Justice Bhagwati along...

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हरियाणा में यूनियन बनाने की सज़ा मुकदमा और जेल!

पीयूडीआर आइसीन ऑटोमोटिव हरियाणा प्राइवेट लिमिटेड कंपनी के संघर्षरत मज़दूरों के खिलाफ दर्ज मुक़दमे एवं गिरफ्तारी की निंदा करता है| पिछले कुछ महीनों से मजदूर अपनी यूनियन पंजीकृत करवाने के लिए और मैनेजमेंट से अपने काम की परिस्थितियों से सम्बंधित मांगों को लेकर संघर्षरत हैं...

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CDRO Statement: ‘Rude acts of mere instinct’

Civil liberties and Democratic Rights organizations have for long argued that using Indian Army to prosecute war against our own people is to fight an ignoble war, because such wars are Dirty Wars under the very definition of Counter Insurgency warfare where our own...

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