By TCN News,
New Delhi: Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign (SSSC) in collaboration with other like-minded organizations and groups has decided to bring the pressing demand to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), into the political theatre before the elections and urged all political parties to include it in their manifestoes.
In a statement SSSC said, “We believe that if we can take AFSPA and its implications in the everyday life of people to the farthest corner of this country via media and awareness campaigns, it would be possible to create a bottom-up pressure on the political parties to bring the issue of repealing AFSPA into the current pre-election political discourse.”
It reminded about the struggle of brave Irom Sharmila and other voices from Kashmir and the North East against AFSPA that still remain out of the political akhara.
It has now urged the civil society members to take following actions:
1. Please endorse this if you agree with this, so that we can include your name in endorsements in the open letter to all political parties that we will issue and release on 18th March to all media houses.
2. If you are an activist/academician/writer, we request you to raise your voice by contributing a think piece/article (in English, Hindi or any regional languages) in any Newspaper/ Magazines. We are planning to organise a joint march and public meeting on 30th. If possible, kindly also include information about this event in the article so that people can come and show their support.
3. We are organizing a joint march against AFSPA on 30th March from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar. We invite individuals and organisations to be a part of it. Organisations in other states can join in by organising similar campaigns in their states. Please let us know by 18th March. We are also inviting political parties in the public meeting at Jantar Mantar with this protest march. Let us know to include your name.