Stop Kolkata evictions in the name of World Cup football
For
FIFA under-17 world cup, the poor around the Vivekananda Yuva-Bharati
Krirangan at Kolkata, West Bengal - where a total of 10 matches will
be played, including the Final between 8 and 28 of October 2017 –
are being violently thrown out to accommodate this spectacle.
A
huge number of street vendors and hawkers, temporary hutment dwellers
and other marginal wage-earners are evicted to "beautify" a
vast area around the said stadium. A ruthless demolition of
informal settlements and street vendors in the city is being carried
out without rehabilitation leading to the extensive displacement of
individuals and communities from their homes and habitats. These
operations are being conducted by the government through two local
municipal bodies namely, Kolkata municipal corporations and
Bidhannagar municipal corporations.
The
poor and the marginalised of the area are left homeless and
destitute, without means of earning livelihood. Since there is no
resettlement, people are forced to spend nights under open skies.
Consequently it's associated with physical and psychological injuries
to those affected with specific impacts on women, children, persons
already living in extreme poverty, indigenous peoples, religious
minorities and other disadvantaged groups. The number of people
getting evicted has already risen up to 100,000, amongst majorities
are slum dwellers and street vendors. These expulsions clearly
constitute gross human rights violations with dramatically increased
rate of magnitudes.
This
eviction is also a violation of Street Vendors (Protection of
Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 passed in the
Indian parliament to protect the livelihood of millions of street
vendors and hawkers across the country and various international
conventions like CEDAW, ECOSEC, etc. which clearly rules out any
eviction.
Indian
Social Action Forum (INSAF) stands in solidarity with fraternal
organisations like National Hawkers Federation resisting evictions.
INSAF calls upon all progressive forces to join in condemning this
inhuman act and support the National Hawkers Federation and other
organisations struggling to resist evictions.
INSAF
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