Protest letter on Recent police raids on Sonagachi

January 17, 2004

Dear Chief Minister Buddhadev Babu,

I am really pained to see the way the police of your state [which happens to be

my state as well], a police force that you have nurtured for years as home

minister, and that we felt was a humane and civilised force, is acting against

the collectivisation and empowerment of sex workers in the sonagachi area.

I understand that with the collectivisation and empowerment of sex workers, the

rates of HIV has gone down and that sonagachi has a HIV programme run by their

collective DMSC, that is the pride of the world. But the flip side of this

empowerment and collectivisation is that the police force has lost out on the

'over the top' extra that they used to earn out of the erstwhile 'police, pimp,

goonda' nexus of the red lights area. I for one see these raids as creating a

situation of fear and dread, where the police force can go back to having their

cake and eating it too. As CM I hope you would not let such a situation develop

and would stop these illegal actions of the police immideately.

I also hope that you would institute an enquiry into the whole incidence by

independent agencies/individuals, to find out why the police did act in total

disregard of the fundamental rights of the sex workers, rights also guaranteed

by the international human rights regimen to which India subscribes.

I would also urge you to release immideate compensation for the sex workers who

have been at the receiving end of the brutality of YOUR police.

I hope that you would find enough ability to contain the desires of your police

force to obtain illegal gratification, and would suspend and/or take action

against the errant police officials.

And finally, in the incestuous world of Indian politics of toady, you have

earned the dubious distinction of being just like Mr. Narendra Modi of Gujarat,

as far as treatment of sex workers are concerned. As you may know his government

was recently responsible for similar PURGES against the red light area of Surat,

a set of actions for which the Gujarat government was overwhelmingly condemned

by many quarters including the National Commission for Women. I hope you would

not want history of civil society movements to remember you in the same breath

as that gentleman, and therefore urge you to kindly rectify the wrong already

done by YOUR venal police.

Regards and best

In Hope

Aditya Bondyopadhyay

E-mail: <adit_bond_2@...>

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