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Long March
for Justice for STF Victims
20 – 30 April, 2008 From
Sathyamangalam to Chennai
Day 02
21.04.2008
Anthiyur
Update on the Long March for Justice for the STF Victims
On the evening
of the 20th at 5.45 p.m., the police released the
mass protesters. Immediately after release, the people moved to
Anthiyur to participate in a Public meeting. The Public meeting
was a very successful forum with an audience of over 1000
people. Mr. Pa Pa Mohan, a senior advocate and civil rights
activist explained in detail the entire struggle that has been
taken forward for the past twelve years now.
Ms.
Chinnaponnu emotionally shared how her husband was taken
forcibly by the Special Task Force and was killed mercilessly
and how she was kept in illegal custody for over a year and was
later raped in police custody. After experiencing untold misery
and humiliation she married again just to prevent social
ridicule. Her testimony was a powerful voice reflecting the
experience of several other victims.
Mr. Henri
Tiphagne in his speech expounded on the following, “This protest
march is not against the Government of Tamilnadu but only to
ensure justice for the victims. Paying compensation for a minor
section of the victims as per the directions of the National
Human Rights Commission does not amount to justice. This Long
March is only to ensure that all those affected are ensured the
justice they deserve. We demand that goodwill prevails and that
permission for this Long March for Justice be granted
permission”.
It was decided
by the Joint Committee (comprising of political parties such as
Communist Party of India (CPI), Dalit Panthers of India (DPI),
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Periyar Dravida Kalazhagam,
Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) and social movements
and human rights organizations People’s Watch, Pazhangudin
Makkal Sangam, SOCO Trust, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL),
SICHREM) that we will continue the Long March everyday and
will court arrest in a peaceful manner.
Day
: 2
The day
started with media reports of a clarification given by the
Government of Tamilnadu regarding the issue. The Government of
Tamilnadu has explained saying that compensation has already
been given to the victims and the Government of Tamilnadu has
done its duty.
In the early
morning itself, the local police informed the team that they had
been given instructions to arrest the team if they started the
march. It was planned that the team will court arrest en masse
but at the same time, lobbying efforts will take place to ensure
that this issue is raised in the Assembly by several political
parties to ensure that the wheels of justice are set in motion.
At 9.30 a.m.
the protestors were stopped by the police who announced that
they were going to arrest them When asked for the grounds of
arrest, the policemen floundered for some time and later came up
with a document that was vague and went on to arrest the
marchers. Among the 115 arrested, 38 are women and 1 is a child.
The arrestees have been lodged in Soudeeswari Amman Wedding Hall
in Anthiyur.
The demands put forth by the protestors to the Tamil Nadu
Government:
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