Janhastakshep: Meeting against LAO

Janhastakshep: A campaign against Fascist Designs, Delhi

Invites you for

Public Meeting against:

Land Acquisition Ordinance 2014: The development of dispossession

Date: 4March 2015

Time: 5.00 PM

Venue: GANDHI PEACE FOUNDATION, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, Near ITO

New Delhi 110002

Dear Friends,

We are passing through a critical phase of history in terms of erosion of democratic values, spaces and institutions. Taking advantage of the religious, cultural and caste divisions in society, the ruling classes – the global corporate capitalism – have upped the onslaught against the people, particularly, the poor, the workers, the peasants, the Adivasis with vocal aggression.  Land Ceiling Acts, Labor laws; Land Acquisition Acts are being amended to facilitate unhindered exploitation of workers by the global capital and easy appropriation of peoples’ resources through ordinances. The most devastating of these ordinances is the Land Acquisition Ordinance 2014 posing the threat of dispossession of millions.  The present crisis of capitalism is caused by the surplus of capital seeking profitable investment in places where raw material and labor are cheap and a convenient government that may use coercive apparatuses of state to facilitate them in grabbing peoples’ land, water, jungle, mineral and other resources. Resistance is being met by severe repression including fake encounters and the fake cases against the activists of the movements and their arbitrary arrest

In the absolutist monarchies “all the land belonged to king anointed by God”. In democracy, the source of validity shifted to people from God and to governance by law instead of by royal fiat or ordinances. Monarchs needed no laws. They ruled and plundered through decrees and ordinances. The history never repeats itself, but echoes.  The echoes emanating from the present government of “development” are serious danger to the people and country. The most dangerous echoes expressed through ordinances, the number of which is unprecedented, not only in the history of Indian parliamentary democracy but probably in any representative democracy, pose serious threats of dispossession and consequently threat to right to life of millions, particularly the farmers, the Adivasis, traders, laborers and other downtrodden sections of the society. Most alarming of these ordinances is the draconian Land Acquisition Ordinance aimed at dispossessing farmers and other marginalized sections of the society, whose livelihood is linked with agriculture for the filthy corporate greed. The cause of the present economic crisis of capital is Surplus global capital that seeks favorable sectors of risk-free investment. The Real Estate is considered to be one the safest and most beneficial sectors of the investment. Subsidizing the crony corporate capitalism from the exchequer and the policy of the development by dispossession of the vast population would further aggravate the crisis, posing serious threat to the planet and its inhabitants. Even the colonial rulers did not resort to such arbitrary dispossession through Land Acquisition Act of 1894,  the basis for subsequent Acts, the latest being the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, unanimously enacted by parliament with the support of all the parties including BJP. Even the Act that is being replaced by this ordinance was also not pro-farmers but included certain concession for them in the form of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and the provisions of the consent. These provisions provided some protection to rural people from the arbitrary land grab. Modi government is under the pressure of, and obligation to the corporate world which funded his multi crore campaign and which cannot wait for the return from the investment till enactment of law by the parliament. Modi government has been blatantly flouting it electoral promises with the people and constitutional ethics but to fulfill his commitments to his funders is in hurry to grab agricultural lands for them. This reminds the brutal dispossession of peasants with the help of inhuman, draconian laws during the bloody Enclosure movements in the 175^th-18^th England. But, as we have maintained above, history does not repeat itself only echoes and present horrifying echo shall be drowned by the slogans of peoples’ movement. Present protest of farmers at Jantar-Mantar marks the beginning. There shall be protests against dispassion and of course there shall repression that too shall be protested.  \

Janhatakshep, a human rights organization, committed to oppose the violations of human rights of people; help peoples’ movement and to the campaign against the fascist designs of the ruling classes, fully supports and shall continue the support all the movements and protests against this draconian ordinance. We seek a wider debate on this pressing issue to be able to objectively comprehend the gravity of the situation and to chalk out strategies to fight out. Your participation is important.

Speakers :

1.      Justice Rajinder Sachchar

2.      Ashok Panda , Senior Advocate, Supreme Court

3.      Prof. Aditya Nigam, Center for Studies in Developing Societies, New Delhi

4.      Neelabh Mishra, senior journalist (OUTLOOK)

The meeting shall be presided over by KB Saxena, the social thinker and the former IAS..

Please join us in the deliberations.

Regards

Ish Mishra

Convener