CPIML has strongly condemned the deployment of Police and Intelligence personnel in front of Uttarakhand State Committee member Comrade Atul Sati's house during the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's visit to Joshimath. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited Joshimath on 10 August 2022 in connection with a puja event. Meanwhile, there are two movements going on in Joshimath--the Ghasiyari movement in Helang and the 65-day long movement against the closing down of the Rajiv Gandhi Abhinav Residential School. Instead of taking action in the above two matters and resolving them, movement leader Atul Sati has been placed under house arrest by the police in Joshimath.
Democracy means a system that runs on dialogue with everyone, even dissenting voices. Placing police guards in front of a person's house just because of political differences is an undemocratic and autocratic action that cannot be accepted under any circumstances. Comrade Atul Sati is a prominent voice raising people's issues and problems in the Joshimath area. The correct and democratic thing to do would have been for the Chief Minister himself to call Atul Sati to understand the troubles and issues of the people of Joshimath. Far from it; instead of giving him the opportunity to speak to the Chief Minister about the smooth and efficient running of the Rajiv Gandhi Abhinav Vidyalaya (which the government has announced to shut down), police and administration chose to place him under house arrest. In response to a demand that a delegation be allowed to meet and speak with the Chief Minister, the Chamoli District administration made it a precondition that Atul Sati should not be part of the delegation!
CPIML leader Indresh Maikhuri has asked the Chamoli District administration to make it clear whether it was their assessment or their prejudice that was the reason for this precondition. He said that what is haunting the Chamoli District Magistrate's mind is the role played by Comrade Atul Sati in the Helang incident due to which agitators are demanding the DM's removal from this post. The Chief Minister must clarify whether he too, like the Chamoli DM, is afraid of the Helang issue being raised in front of him. Despite coming to Joshimath, the CM's failure to meet the victim women of Helang and his silence on the matter proves that he is not concerned with the pain of the women of Uttarakhand. CPIML has also asked the Chamoli District administration to clarify under which law they deployed police and Intelligence guards in front of Comrade Atul Sati's house.
Any attempts to crush voices of opposition and freedom of expression are bound to fail in face of determined people’s struggles. The party has demanded stringent action against persons who hatched a plot to crush democratic voices, and such repressive tendencies be put down for ever.
The people of Uttarakhand, who want to give their children better education and who stand for the rights of the people on forest, land and water, must stand up against this illegal house arrest. If the Chief Minister and the administration are so afraid of the people, they have no right to occupy the seat of power. We do not need such cowardly Chief Ministers. This house arrest shows at least that the powers that be are afraid of the power of the people!
