Front Line is deeply concerned following reports of death threats made against human rights defender Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi and allegations made against him and Shruti Nagavanshi, Anupam Nagavanshi, and Ms Kalawati, members of the People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR). Dr. Raghuvanshi is the convener of the PVCHR and also a member of the District Vigilance Committee on Bonded Labour in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi's human rights work focusses on hunger and death due to starvation.
Further Information
Posted 17/12/2007 On 4 December 2007, from approximately 4.30 p.m., Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi reportedly received several threatening phone calls while attending a conference in Delhi. One caller told Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi to stop his human rights work and told him that “if you raise the issue of starvation and hunger death then you must be killed”, and that the staff of PVCHR would be charged with false accusations in order to discredit the organisation and force it to close down. The calls came from numbers in the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. On his return to Varanasi on 6 December, Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi submitted a request to the authorities for protection.
On 9 December 2007, a First Information Report (FIR), or official complaint, was filed against Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi and PVCHR activists by the village head of Belwa in the Badagaon administrative district, Rajendar Thiwari. The report alleged the delivery of anti-state lectures by Dr. Raghuvanshi and the taking of nude photographs of villagers by he and his staff. In 2002, a First Information Report had been filed against Rajendar Thiwari by Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi in his capacity as member of the Committee on Bonded Labour, and consequently a warrant was issued for Thiwari's arrest, which is still pending. It is not known why Rajendar Thiwari was not arrested when he presented himself at the police station to file the FIR against Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi, however it could be seen to indicate a degree of collusion between the police and the local authorities. If Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi and his staff are arrested on the basis of these allegations, their safety could be at risk.
In August 2005, Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi also received death threats from a friend of Rajendar Thiwari, Rmasray Singh, while Rajendar Thiwari was contesting the Panchayath election. Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi reported these threats to the authorities on 6 August 2005 and a FIR was issued. This case is also still pending despite expressions of concern from three United Nations Rapporteurs to the central government.
It is believed that these threats are directly related to work that PVCHR has done regarding cases of death due to starvation in Uttar Pradesh. Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi and the PVCHR have recently drawn attention to three incidences of babies and young children dying from starvation in the state which have engendered widespread media attention and criticism of the state government's failure to acknowledge and tackle the problem, which is closely linked to the issue of caste discrimination.
Front Line fears for the safety of Dr Lenin Raghuvanshi; Shruti Nagavanshi, Anupam Nagavanshi, and Ms Kalawati believes that the threats and allegations made against them are directly related to their work in defence of human rights, in particular in aiding those who face discrimination and starvation due to their caste.
Action Finished:
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