CHENNAI: About 50,000 postcards will be shot off to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram by people from all over Tamil Nadu during the next one month to protest against the ‘Statesponsored’ killing of tribals in Chhattisgarh and demand that the atrocities be stopped immediately.
As part of the initiative by the Campaign for Justice and Peace — Tamil Nadu, a collective of social activists based in Chennai, a cycle rally by two men will be flagged off from Salem on Republic Day. The two cyclists, one of them a farmer who lost his land to the government’s scheme to acquire land for industrial purposes, will visit Sivaganga to create awareness among the people there about Chidambaram’s performance as a Home Minister.
Launching the initiative here on Monday, human rights activist Prof Marx and feminist poet Kutti Revathi said that the happenings in Chhattisgarh were a matter of concern for all those who believe in democracy.
Marx said the time had come to demand Constitutional governance in the country and added that the situation in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh was akin to that of a warzone.
Revathi flayed the use of sexual violence as a tool for subjugation and said that in many places in the country tribal identity was sought to be destroyed through such government projects and called for creating awareness among the common people on the issue.
Archanaa Seker of the Campaign for Justice and Peace narrated her experience at Dantewada. She said that police cars there have no number plates and the young men from the security forces, armed with big guns, never wear any uniform. She pointed out that access was denied for visitors to the trouble torn area and said that most tribals are now internally displaced and are housed in camps.
Madumitha Dutta of the Campaign for Justice and Peace, who had visited Dantewada, explained the plight of the tribals, who are being sought to be driven out of their habitats with a view to helping big corporate houses grab their land and exploit the rich mineral wealth there.
She said the Union government had increased the fund allocation for internal security to Rs 742 crore and that Rs 140 crore had been given to arm Chhattisgarh police alone. It is in that aspect that the activists feel that pressure need to be applied on Chidambaram to bring succour to the tribals who are being raped, maimed and killed by the central security agencies.
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