Signature Campaign to demand CBI enquiry into Lalit Mehta’s murder

‘I endorse’ that is what we seek in your solidarity reply.

Dear Friends and Handholders,

Yet another member of young activists – public spirited, well educated and highly committed – has been brutally murdered. Lalit Mehta, a full time activist of Right to Food Movement and secretary of a local food rights organization ‘Vikas Sahyog Kendra’ in Palamau, Jharkhand, India, had his life snuffed out on 14 may, 2008. He was barely 36. Lalit leaves behind his activist and teacher wife Ashrita and their two sons aged four and two.

Lalit paid the ultimate price for raising his voice against corruption in the implementation of the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Palamau. At the time of this incidence, Lalit was helping a team of volunteers from Delhi led by noted economist and Right to food activist Prof. Jean Derez to conduct a social audit of NREGA works in Chainpur and Chatarpur blocks of Palamau district.

Lalit was a committed activist, who fought relentlessly for the implementation of government programs – especially those related to food, employment and child rights. He along with local people has been demanding the implementation of the PDS, the NREGA and the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) entitlements.

All these rights which the Supreme Court of India has declared to be entitlements for the impoverished through various judgments. Since the social audit has been going on in the area and it brought out the cases of corruption and irregularities, there has been opposition to the idea of Social Audit from the local mafia. Contractors and the government officials were not comfortable with the ways Lalit was determined to expose the corruption through social audit. He was very active in ‘Gram Swaraj Abhiyan’ which is a local platform created to carry out struggle to implement NREGA and other food security related schemes.

Jharkhand is a typical, most backward state with incredible natural resources matched only by the utter poverty of its people. To a people left with no hope and facing Drought, Poverty and hunger on a daily basis, NREGA came as a ray of hope, holding out the promise of livelihood for the poorest of the poor.
It is indeed ironical that Rights- which are guaranteed by the constitution and by various statutes, programs and budgetary allocations and reinforced by the Supreme Court of India as legal entitlements-do not get implemented by the authorities responsible for it.

In this situation, the task of implementation often falls on the shoulders of people, of rightholders and of civil society organizations. And when such democratic forces seek the implementation of these Rights under the ‘RULE OF LAW’ framework, then the vested interests gang up with the bureaucracy and commit such brutal murders and get away.

Lalit’s murder is not the first stance, many activists have lost their lives for raising their voices against corruption and stand by poor people. The list is long – Satyendra Dubey, Sarita and Mahesh, S. Manjunath, Mahendra Singh, Chandra Shekhar – Lalit’s death is a link to that chain only.

Now the time seems to be ripe to strike a decisive blow. Civil Society in Jharkhand is very upset by this dastardly murder and is ready to participate in a larger action programme; a state level platform has already been formed. NGO activists who have been constantly facing threats from vested -interest elements have openly started voicing their concerns.

Communities and activists at the grassroot level are also determined to carry forward their mission to expose corruption through social audits. They have decided to hold social audits continuously in the villages of Chatarpur and Chainpur blocks of Palamau in the coming days/weeks and months.

What we can do

We appeal to all human rights activists and masses to protest against this atrocity, to demand effective intervention into the murder and to come together in solidarity in the struggle for Justice.

Friends, if this murder was an act of intimidation, it did not succeed. Friends and supporters from all over Jharkhand and other places came together and have formed a state level platform namely ‘Daman Evam Bhrashtachar Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti’ ( Anti repression and corruption struggle committee ). The samiti has launched its campaign against Lalit Mehta’s murder with a Dharna (Sit-In protest) in Ranchi, the state capital on 25th May, Sunday. On 26th a massive public hearing is being organized in Chatarpur, where national level leaders, Anne Raja, Jean Drez, are joining in. A massive public rally has been planned in June. And of course the social audit process will go on………….

The immediate demands are:

1. CBI ENQUIRY INTO LALIT MEHTA’S MURDER;

2. STRICT ACTION ON ALL THE COMPLAINTS & IRREGULARITIES EMERGING FROM THE SOCIAL AUDITS ON NREGA.

This letter is to seek your solidarity by supporting the demands. Please sign in or endorse by replying a one liner ‘I endorse’ and take the responsibility to collect more and more signatures. We plan to collect one lac solidarity signatures by June 5th. These signatures will be submitted to the Chief Minister of Jharkhand and the Prime Minister as part of our next action plan.

Yours in Solidarity,
Activists of
Daman – Bhrashtachar Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti, Jharkhand
25.5.08