The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Emergency-like situation prevailing in country'

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Monday, Jun 28, 2010
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New Delhi

‘Emergency-like situation prevailing in country'

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: At a meeting convened to remember 35 years of declaration of the Emergency, civil rights activists in the Capital came down heavily on the Union Government and said an “Emergency-like” situation prevailed in many parts of the country today.

The meeting convened at the Gandhi Peace Foundation by People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and Janhastakshep alleged that human rights activists defending civil liberties and ordinary people protesting displacement from their homelands were being targeted for violence and booked under an array of “black laws”.

Veteran socialist leader Surendra Mohan said though many people fighting for their rights do not launch violent movements, many were being branded as “Maoists” and “Naxalites” and being thrown into jails. PUCL vice-president Ravi Kiran Jain alleged that the government was trying to intimidate human rights defenders.

A resolution adopted at the meeting alleged that governments were “unleashing paramilitary and police forces for the benefit of multinational corporations”.

It demanded that governments not use armed forces against its own people under any pretext and to repeal all black laws including the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

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