We urge the formation of an all-Party Peace Committee in West Bengal to ensure the cessationof hostilities against the villagers, and an immediate end to the forcible acquisition ofland. While industrial development is necessary in many parts of the country, detailed,democratically accountable and transparent discussions about the categories of land to beallocated for acquisition are equally necessary prior to making a decision. The InternationalEconomic Covenant, which India has ratified,
makes prior consultation and resettlement mandatory in all cases of displacement. Theviolation of human rights in the process of land acquisition that we have recently seen in WestBengal (and a number of other states) is completely unacceptable.
Romila Thapar,
Justice Rajinder Sachar
Jean Dreze
Arundhati Roy
Sumit Sarkar
Praful Bidwai
Kavita Srivastava (PUCL),
Yogendra Yadav
Tanika Sarkar,
Anil Chaudhary (PEACE)
Achin Vanaik,
Pradip Kumar Datta
Dilip Simeon
Colin Gonzalves.