In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, nearly 200 faculty, staff, students and alumni of the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B), even as condemning the “vicious gang-rape of the 19-year old Dalit girl from Hathras”, have demanded “justice for the girl who died under the brutal attack without recourse to good medical care” and “was not given the dignity of a last farewell.”
Also demanding justice for the family which was “denied access to participate in her last rites”, the letter says, “We seek assurance that the family will not be intimidated, but rather supported to get justice”, adding, “We demand that in addition to the perpetrators of the rape, those who seek to bury this matter with such impunity are also punished.”
The letter warns, “We will no longer sit by idly while our Dalit sisters are subjected to harassment and indignity. As the heirs of Ambedkar, Gandhi, Kabir, Savitribai Phule, Basavanna and countless others who have fought for equality and our rights, we will no longer consent to this injustice. We stand together and say ‘Enough!’ This stops in our generation. This stops with us.”
Demanding that “the government and the police do their jobs and ensure safety and security for every Indian citizen” the letter says, justice should be delivered to “innumerable girls and women, from all walks of Indian society, but especially from the poorest and the most marginalized communities, who are targeted and abused daily on the basis of their caste or religion.”
“We demand the right to safety. To dignity. For all Indians. We demand that our law and order system follows due process and justice in this case and always. Not encounters. Not cover-ups. Not extra-judicial killings. Not use tools of governance against us every time we peacefully protest actions of our government”, it says.
Also demanding justice for the family which was “denied access to participate in her last rites”, the letter says, “We seek assurance that the family will not be intimidated, but rather supported to get justice”, adding, “We demand that in addition to the perpetrators of the rape, those who seek to bury this matter with such impunity are also punished.”
The letter warns, “We will no longer sit by idly while our Dalit sisters are subjected to harassment and indignity. As the heirs of Ambedkar, Gandhi, Kabir, Savitribai Phule, Basavanna and countless others who have fought for equality and our rights, we will no longer consent to this injustice. We stand together and say ‘Enough!’ This stops in our generation. This stops with us.”
Demanding that “the government and the police do their jobs and ensure safety and security for every Indian citizen” the letter says, justice should be delivered to “innumerable girls and women, from all walks of Indian society, but especially from the poorest and the most marginalized communities, who are targeted and abused daily on the basis of their caste or religion.”
“We demand the right to safety. To dignity. For all Indians. We demand that our law and order system follows due process and justice in this case and always. Not encounters. Not cover-ups. Not extra-judicial killings. Not use tools of governance against us every time we peacefully protest actions of our government”, it says.
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