Join PJI for a Peace Rally on May 22nd!

PJI volunteers are leading a peace rally on Sunday, May 22nd at 6 pm. The march will protest the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and military abuses in Manipur. Come to support the movement and Irom Sharmila's struggle against violence! The notice is below:

REPEAL THE DRACONIAN

Armed Forces Special Powers Act

STOP THE CRUSHING OF DEMOCRACTIC RIGHTS IN

NORTH EAST AND KASHMIR

LET US ASLO LIGHT A TORCH FOR IROM SHARMILA'S STRUGGLE

AND DEMAND THE REPEAL OF AFSPA

Join us at 6 pm in front of Albert Hall Museum,

22nd May, 2011

The Torch Rally will go upto Badi Chaupar.

For the last 54 years, Independent India has had a law in the North East states and Kashmir called the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. It gives extraordinary powers to members of the armed forces-to arrest without warrant and shoot to kill on the basis of suspicion-and no legal action can be taken up against the armed forces without prior sanction from the Centre. On this day in 1958, the Indian Government promulgated an ordinance much worse than its predecessor, used by the British to crush the Quit India Movement and the Naga rebellion in the North East. On the 18th of August, this draconian law got the stamp of the Indian Parliament.

In the pretext of controlling insurgency, this Act in free India has only intensified the insurgency in these regions and legitimized thousands of gross human rights violations like rape, torture, murder and “disappearances” of innocent people in the North East and J&K.

Various movements in the North East and Jammu and Kashmir and human rights groups across the country have consistently for the last several years have been demanding the repeal of AFSPA as it is anti constitutional. One protest demanding the act's repeal that has stood out for the last ten years has been the fast of Irom Sharmila of Manipur, who has refused to eat anything. She is in an Imphal hospital under arrest by the Manipur Government and been forced fed by tubes.

This act has been opposed by the Government’s own commissions and committees appointed to look into the matter. The Committee to Review the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, headed by Justice B. P.  Jeevan Reddy in 2005, the Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Dr. Veerappa Moily in 2007 and several others have recommended its repeal. Internationally, UN bodies including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and recently the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders have urged for its repeal.

If we have to save Indian Democracy, then from all over India we must support the voices of the Irom Sharmila, the millions of people of the North East and Kashmir and put pressure on the Government of India that a law like AFSPA has no place in the Indian democratic system.

On the 22nd May 2011, let us in Jaipur join hands with fellow citizens all over the country and stand up against AFSPA. Join us at 6 pm outside the Albert Hall Museum, Ram Niwas Marg and light a torch for Irom Sharmila and the people of the North East and Kashmir to express our solidarity with their struggle. We will take out a march to Badi Chaupar.    

For more information, you may contact : 

Pappu (2594131, 93151562965) and Shyam (7737757778 & 9352908580)