People’s Movements condemn fascist violence;

People’s Movements condemn fascist violence;

Demand stern action against the political organisations that attacked CPI-M office in Delhi and other cities

People’s movements that have come together under the banner of Sangharsh (since 2007) along with its major constituents, the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) and National Forum of Forest Peoples and Forest Dwellers (NFFPFW) along with supporters, condemn the dastardly attack on the headquarters and national office of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday, 9th March 2008.

We are shocked by the fact that the attack was carried out in a planned manner by parliamentary parties and their senior leadership, who claim to be working within the democratic fabric of India.

It is all the more shocking that the attack on a parliamentary party like the CPI-M was allowed to happen in broad daylight, when the party’s National Executive was meeting inside the office. While upholding the democratic right to dissent and protest, we denounce and condemn this effort by BJP and RSS to intimidate political rivals by use of violence and muscle power. We denounce use of violence by all political parties that believe in democracy and demand that election commission take action against those found breaching the moral code of conduct for political parties by indulging in violence and murders. We also reiterate that no government in power should use political and money power to suppress political dissent and opposition.

We demand that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) immediately stop the attacks on CPI-M in Delhi and other states wherever it has happened. We demand the Central Government and the respective state governments in Delhi, Uttarakand, Andhra Pradesh, etc to take stern criminal action against the political hooligans of BJP and RSS who have dared to attack India’s democratic decorum.

We demand the Kerala Government to take strong action against all the political activists and parties that have indulged in violence in Thalasserry, Kannoore (District), where violence and political murders have unfortunately become synonymous with politics. We hope that the state government and all political parties involved will take necessary measures to step-up the peace process and bring back normalcy in the region.

We appeal to all political forces to show restraint and mutual respect. We also appeal to all political parties to respect ideological dialogue, dissent and right to democratic protest.

Medha Patkar Ashok Chowdhury Aruna Roy
Thomas Kocherry Sandeep Pandey
Gautam Bandopadhyay Sandhya Devi
Gabriela Dietrich Anil Chaudhary Bhupendra Rawat
Simpreet Singh Anuradha Talwar Arun Khote
Ashish Mondoloi Vimalbhai Johnson PJ
CR Neelakandan Bijay Panda Manju Gardia
Ulka Mahajan Roma Rajendra Ravi Prafulla Samantra
Swapan Ganguly Mukta Srivastava Prashant Bhushan
Joe Athyali Bijulal MV Vijayan MJ Sridevi Panikkar