Given below is a copy of the manifesto of the protest being organised at Gateway of India, Bombay by concerned citizens of our country. A simultaneous protest is also being organised at Tank Bund – Hyderabad, Connaught Place – New Delhi and Cubbon Park – Bangalore.
This protest will be held every Wednesday starting today and will snowball into all the cities of India. Every Wednesday henceforth will be known as “Day of National Shame”. If you agree with the manifesto and if you can make it to the protest meet, BE THERE. Or do your bit by spreading the word through emails, blogs etc.
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WE THE PEOPLE OF INDIA have had enough.
- Enough of terrorist attacks that threaten our lives and that of our loved ones and rip apart the fabric of our cities and our society
- Enough of politicians of all parties who fiddle while terrorists burn, then seek to appease our anger with platitudes and pointless ‘resignations’
- Enough of excuses from prime ministers and accusations from wannabe prime ministers
- Enough of the empty rhetoric of governments that promise action but give us only inquiry commissions
- Enough of the callous unconcern of the political class that has resulted in this country we love being subjected to constant attacks from external forces.
- We have left this country in your hands for all these years, hoping that you will do what we elected you to do. You have failed us – miserably, and on every front.
We have had enough. And we are, from this moment on, taking the country back into our own hands.
WE DEMAND:
That all political parties in India at the state and central level abandon their narrow concerns and come together immediately to formulate, and announce, a consensual national policy on the subject of internal security; we demand further that all parties pledge to uphold this national policy irrespective of who is in power.
We demand that the government of India, with the backing of all political parties, immediately announce the launching of a zero-tolerance war against terrorism, internal and external. In this connection we demand that you immediately and publicly lay on the table all evidence relating to Pakistan’s involvement in these continued attacks on Indian soil. We further demand that you employ the full force of diplomacy to bring the nations of the world into a unified front to support any and all appropriate action that needs to be taken on the basis of evidence available. We pledge that we will boycott the goods of any country that refuses to side with India in the lawful defense of the integrity of its territory and the lives of its citizens.
We demand the creation of one central agency to handle all intelligence gathering and processing activities, in order to fix both responsibility and accountability.
We demand the immediate creation of NSG units in all metropolitan and A category cities’
We demand that the NSG and the police force be provided with state of the art protective gear, equipment, dedicated aircrafts, artillery, arms, ammunition and all else that is required, in the judgment of security experts, to defend our lives and to combat terrorism.
We demand the immediate adoption and implementation of police reforms as and ordered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. We demand that control of the police force be taken away from the political class, and that the police be made accountable to law, and to no other power. We further demand that the pay scales of our police and paramilitary forces be immediately raised in order that they may serve the cause of law and order without financial worry
We demand that the political process, the bureaucracy, the police and judiciary be made transparent, responsible, and accountable to the citizens of India through a complete overhaul of the existing process.
We demand the immediate strengthening of our borders by land and by sea. WE ASK that the government and leaders of all political parties give us an immediate assurance that these demands will be fulfilled in the soonest possible time frame.
We pledge that if our demands are not met, we will from this moment on not cast our votes in a single election, at the state or national level. Instead, we will use the provisions of Section 49-O of the People’s Representation Act [I am not sure of this, pl check] to its utmost. We will go to the polling booth, and register ourselves as not voting, thus forcing the countermanding of the election and the dismissal of the candidates. We pledge to do this until our concerns are addressed.
Secondly, we pledge that until our demands are met, we will not pay our taxes.
We are law abiding citizens, however, and hence we will deposit our taxes in a fund to be called the “COUNTER TERRORISM ACTION FUND”, maintained with one of the Nationalised Banks.
These funds will be made available to you when our above demands have been met – but not before.
If you believe in the settlements expressed, please sign the declaration herein below and mail it to P.O. Box. No. _____. Alternatively, log on to www.___________ where a version of this declaration exists and add your name to it. And join the “NO CONFIDENCE” movement.
If millions of citizens join this movement by signing this pledge, our message will be unmistakable and will surely be a wake up call for the entire political class forcing them to be responsible and accountable to every citizen and to Act now rather than indulge in rhetoric or play petty politics.
PLEASE SIGN HERE
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