Bangalore: Police Raid on An AIDS NGO

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, 2nd June, 2007, Police from the Chennapatna police station

(Bangalore Rural dist) raided the house of one person and arrested two women who

had gathered there. These two women who are staff of Suraksha, a NGO working to

prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, had been booked under section 3,4,5 and 7 of

Immoral Traffricking Prevention Act.

The polic allowed a local TV channel, TV9, to do a live coverage of the arrest

within the premised of the police station and this was telecast in the 6.00 p.m.

news without either the permission of the 4 women accused or without masking

their faces causing harm to these women from small villages of rurual Karnataka.

Immediately after the arrest the police led by the deputy superintendent of

police, Mr. Devaraj D. unlawfully entered SURAKSHA chennapatna office and went

through clinical records and data of sex workers within the office premises

maintained at the clinic.

This search was conducted without a search warrant; it is a violation of the

rights of all the people whose clinical records were sealed as the polce had no

valid ground to enter the premise of the organisation working there since

January 2004.

Today, on 3rd June, 2007 the Karnataka Sex Workers' Union along with

representatives from Suraksha, Sangama, Sadhane, Samara, Sanchaya Nele and other

social justice organisation had assembled in front of the Chennapatna police

station to stage a peaceful protest in the afternoon.

They were attacked by the police and local goondas (who were instigated and

provoked by the police themselves), were manhandled, beaten up and chased away

from the protest venue. The goondas who were about 50-60 in number have beaten

up the peaceful activists ruthlessly. They slapped them, kicked them, women were

manhandled, sexually harrassed and filthily abused. Geetha, Uma, Kala, Manohar,

Rangeela, Gayatri were some who were brutally attacked.

Tomorrow (4th June, 2007) at 5.00 p.m. a meeting of all organisations and

individuals who believe that state sponsored facist violence should be stopped

is being organised at Centre for Youth and Cultural Development (CYCD) no. 14,

CRS Nilaya, Okalipuram, Bangalore 21. We request all of you to be a part of this

meeting and give us strength and support to fight injustice.

A press conference is also being organised at the Bangalore Press Club, Cubbon

Park at 1.00 p.m.

In solidarity,

Manohar, Sathyasree, Rex.

Manohar: +919880223460

Sathyasree: +919945090302

--

Sangama

No.9, 'ABABIL'

Patel Cheluvappa Street

J.C.Nagar (M.R.Palya)

Bangalore 560006

Phone.No.080- 23438843 / 23438840

e-mail: <advocacy@...>

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum,

Re: /message/7343

We express our solidarity in your protest against the barbaric act that

Bangalore police has done. We wonder how the police can be a party of such an

act since we consider the police as a protector of the rights of the citizen of

a state. We also wonder how an officer like Mr. Devraj D. Who happens to be the

superintendent of police of the Karnataka Government can do such a thing which

is a direct violation of the law of the land and violation of gross human

rights.

We condemn this act with the all hates of us; we are capable off and express our

solidarity in your move to protest this heinous act.

We all are aware that NACP-III is to be launched very soon and one of the major

components of the NACP-III is creating enabling environment; a pre-requisite in

curbing the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in India but seeing the role of the state

sponsored goons, resorting to such an atrocious act we cast our extreme doubt

whether NGOs and CBOs engaged in HIV prevention program would be able to deliver

according to the needs of the time. Human rights violations have almost become a

natural and regular occurrence in our country and this could aggravate further

if we not ACT Now. It feels nice to see people reacting to this barbaric act but

let us ACT together to prevent these atrocities happening elsewhere.

Friends of suraksha we are with you and your struggle.

In solidarity,

Bharati Dey

Program Director

Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee

44 Balaram Dey Street

Kolkata-700006

URL: www.durbar.org

e-mail: <sonagachi@...>