[1147] in peace2
an urgent situation in West Bengal, India
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Susama agarwala)
Mon Oct 22 08:16:05 2001
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 05:14:51 -0700
From: "Susama agarwala" <susama@onebox.com>
To: peace-list@mit.edu
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To all the lives that have been and will be destroyed by the plane crashes,
rains of fire and biological warfare these past weeks, let me first offer
my sympathies. But in a time when all our eyes are turned to the bombs
being dropped on Kabul, let us not forget that on this planet, there
are still millions of lives being destroyed that the news networks will
not cover. Without diminishing our attentions from the U.S./Afghan war,
I ask that we do not forget the invisible sectors of our population:
the poor, the homeless, the hungry. And while the images of starving
and cripples children in Afghanistan are powerful, do not forget those
in your own hometown, who you can more directly help.
It is in the man eof a group of these invisible people that I write you
today. On September 22, 2001, the government of West Bengal, India started
a large-scale eviction project of the slums along the banks of a canal
(the Tully Nullah) off the River Ganges. To date, thousands of people
have been displaced, and the project is not yet half over. These people
lived in shanties and lean -to’s with tin or tarp roofs. The ”canal”
at their front door is no better than an open sewer. They lived as hawkers,
servants, rickshaw drivers, etc. By most standards, they had nothing.
Now, even that has been taken away. The official reason is to build a
branch of the Metro on top of the sewage -laden canal. This in and of
itself is not a smart idea, even for the middle class market it is being
built for. So in an attempt to remodel Calcutta, we have a poorly designed
Metro branch, and thousands of people displaced without rehabilitation.
All we are asking for is rehabilitation. If the government is going to
take away the homes of people with voter and ration cards, and legitimate
addresses in a country that can boast of being the world’s largest democracy,
they can at least give the voters new places to live. It doesn’t take
much – a few multi story flats on a much smaller plot of land will suffice
to provide homes of similar size to the ones these people live in.
For those of you wondering why this case is more important than the many
that happen all over the world like this on a regular basis, I can answer
in two ways. In terms of human loss, it is the same, but one must pick
a place to start the protest. In terms of future implications, if this
“eviction” succeeds, the government of West Bengal plans on using this
as a model for future evictions all over Calcutta, basically sweeping
the poor from one settlement to another until they leave the city, or
die. Is that any way to raise a family?
As Indian Citizens or NRI’S, I ask that you take 2 minutes of your time
to forward the following letter on to Buddhadeb Bhattacharia (prsecycm@wb.nic.in),
the Chief Minister of West Bengal. Please send this entire e-mail to
other people who may be interested, and sign and forward this by the
end of November 2001. The Indian community abroad should know what their
government is doing at home. Your word holds a lot of weight with the
government here. As, other, concerned citizens of this world, your letter
on this regard will also add pressure. This type of tragedy cannot go
on if the world is watching. If you have more time, please, compose a
letter or your own to send. Thank you for your time, and your help in
spreading the word.
Yours in peace,
Susama Agarwala
Hon. Buddhadeb Bhattacharia
Chief Minster
Calcutta, West Bengal
Dear Sir,
I am writing you concerning the evictions along the Tully Nuallah in
Kolkata. Thousands of people have been and will be forcibly removed from
their homes in the name of urban development and city beautification.
This is a tragedy. The fact that they are not being given another place
to resettle is an outrage. You claim that these people are leaving “voluntarily.”
Why then was there a need of military and police presence at the time
of evictions? And if these people could leave “voluntarily,” why would
they stay for years in those wretched conditions?
These evictees were part of your voter base. Your government has given
them ration cards, has taken their taxes, has received their vote. And
now you remove them and tell them to find a different place on their
own? If they had the ability to find a different place, would they have
chosen to stay in the filth and disease found along the Tully Nullah’s
banks? And is this how you treat citizens in the world’s largest democracy,
as the head of a “left wing” government?
Give the evictees a place to resettle so they may send their children
to school, so they may raise their families, so they may retain their
dignity. What you are doing there is wrong. What you are doing there
cannot be tolerated. What you are doing there must be stopped.
Sincerely,
Sign here
--
Susama agarwala
susama@onebox.com - email
(630) 536-2702 x1729 - voicemail/fax
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