Police harassment of SANGAMA - PUBLIC MEETING in Bangalore

[Guest guest]

Dear friend(s)

SANGAMA is an NGO and is a resource centre on sexuality issues

with a focus on sexuality minorities' (hijras, kothis, gays, lesbians,

bisexuals, transgender people) rights and is a registered society.

Sangama's work involves building awareness on issues of legal rights

and sexual health (including HIV/AIDS). One of Sangama's efforts have

been to provide a space to build awareness, counseling and to work

with sexuality minorities from lower class and Kannada speaking

backgrounds to ensure their rights.

As a part of this sexuality minorities (particularly kothis, hijras,

homosexual/bisexual men from the poor and non-English speaking

backgrounds) have been having meetings every Sunday, which are also

attended by various representatives from human rights/social

action/womens' rights organizations. On the 17th of March 2002

(Sunday) police men from the Commercial St. Police Station walked

into Sangama's office, inspected the premises and stated that though

Sangama is doing 'good work', they cannot let 'hijras' meet in the

Sangama office. Police also insisted that hijras can have meetings

only ‘outside Bangalore City’.

Representatives of PUCL-K, Vimochana, Manasa and Sangama met

the Dy. Commissioner of Police (Administration), Bangalore City, who

grasping the situation immediately called the local Police Station and

ordered them to stop harassing Sangama.

Despite this on the 21st March 2002 (Sunday) the police barred entry

of various individuals, including human rights/social activists and

hijras/kothis into the Sangama premises. They initially even barred entry to

employees of Sangama.

In the light of these and the harassment that is being directed against the

whole hijra/ kothi community in the city (at least 6 kothis have been

arrested on false charges and subjected to Police brutality in the last week),

we are calling a PUBLIC MEETING to discuss the issue and to plan strategies to

combat this Police harassment.

Date: 3rd April, 2002 (Wednesday)

Time: 5:30 PM

Venue: SCM House, No. 29, 2nd Cross, CSI Compound, Mission Road, Bangalore -

560037, Phone: 2223761. (Behind Priyadarshini Handloom House)

In Solidarity

Chandru, Famila, Kumar, Lakshmi, Manohar, Nithin, Revathi, Roshan, Sharada,

Sumathi

E-mail: sangama@...

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