Vigil at the Indian Embassy

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Friday December 28, 2007 12:42

by Margaretta D'Arcy - Women in Media & Entertainment

Satisfactory conclusion to midwinter protest

An Awareness Vigil took place on the 17th Dec. 2007, to demand an end to the violent coercion of villagers in Nandigram West Bengal. It began at 10.00 am outside the Indian Embassy, 6 Leeson Park,
Dublin 6.

The Indian Ambassador with WIME

It is amazing what a bit of persuasion, and a threat that you're going to sit there for 24 hours will do. I was brought in to see the Ambassador, as a representative of Women in Media & Entertainment (affiliated to the National Women's Council of Ireland and with Consultative Status at the UN, ECOSOC). I told the Ambassador of our concern in West Bengal. He had just returned from Delhi and assured me that the Central Government would be taking action against the violation of the human rights of the villagers; land would be given to the peasants, with compensation and justice for the women who had been raped. These of course are only words but the fact that I was able to see him without an appointment shows how sensitive the Indian Government is to its democratic image here.

As it was so bitterly cold and as I had a brief statement from the Ambassador on my video, we called off the vigil at 3.30 pm, leaving some posters about Nandigram outside the Embassy. We'd had a good response from people going in to for visas, and from local residents; one woman told us she always protested outside the Nigerian Embassy just across the road on the anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Another woman, who was getting a visa to India, told us about a friend who was involved in a similar campaign in Goa; due to public pressure those villagers won the right to stay on their land.

On behalf of Women in Media & Entertainment, may I ask you to spare the time to send an e-mail to the Indian Embassy expressing your concern that the villagers’ constitutional and human rights be upheld in the face of the violence in West Bengal. The Embassy doesn’t publicize its e-mail address: you should google “Indian Embassy, Ireland,” click onto “Contact Us,” and fill in their form.

Thank you for your support, Margaretta.