BeyondHeadlines Staff Reporter
Mumbai: Mahrashtra Home Minister R R Patil has extended invitation for dialogue to end the hunger strike by Medha Patkar here in Mumbai.
Patkar is on fast, along with other civil rights activists and slum dwellers against the demolitions of slums in Golibar area for four days now. They are agitating against the ‘violation of their rights to livelihood’ and the government’s ‘inaction on Shivalik Ventures land scam.’
Slum dwellers from other parts of Mumbai too are joining them in solidarity and are demanding justice against police atrocities and abolition of 3K clause from the of Slum Rehabilitation Act (SRA).
Mukta Shrivatsav, spokesperson of the movement, has alleged that “in order to get the NOC, builders have forged the signatures of the people who are no more and of the people who do not know how to sign; still the percentage of the signatories doesn’t cross the fifty.”
Simantini Dhuru form Right to Education Campaign, Mayank Gandhi from India against Corruption, Arundhati Dhuru from NAPM Uttar Pradesh, Kavita Srivastava of PUCL Rajasthan and Anuradha Talwar, Pashchim Bang Khet Majdoor Union today visited Golibar and condemned the atrocities and extended support.
Besides, Justice Rajendra Sachar, , Aruna Roy, Kuldeep Nair, Prashant Bhusan, Anand Patwardhan, Xavier Dais and many others too have expressed their solidarity.
The main demands of the protesters are:
To implement Rajiv Awas Yojana is slums across Mumbai.
To scrap 3K clause of Maharashtra slum Area Act that gives the state government sweeping power to issue order for carrying out works or “suspend the execution of such resolution or order.” Using this clause the, protesters allege, government has given 500 acre of slum land to 6 Developers in last 2 years.
Clause 3K of the SRA has been under debate for quite some time.
