People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by
Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights (PUCLDR).
Background
Indian emergency
Jayaprakash Narayan was a
Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians.
Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...
leader in
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
after independence.
When
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 and was al ...
was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the
Allahabad High Court, Narayan called for her to resign, and advocated a program of social transformation. He asked the military and police to disregard unconstitutional and immoral orders. However,
Janata Party
The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
opposition leaders and dissenting members of Indira Gandhi's party,
Congress (I) were arrested, beginning
The Emergency in 1975. Narayan was detained at
Chandigarh, and when released in 1976, formed the PUCLDR to oppose the suppression of civil and political rights during the emergency.
The organization was thrown into disarray by his death and the election of the
Janata party
The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
to power, which promised to enact the PUCL platform.
Narayan originally intended PUCL to be an organisation free from political ideologies, bringing those concerned about defending civil liberties and human rights from different backgrounds onto a common platform. According to the PUCL, the PUCLDR was a loosely organised group of people who were working with Narayan, a prominent figure in the Indian Opposition in the 1970s.
Post-1980
After the return of Indira Gandhi to power in the 1980 elections in India, the organisation regained momentum
and was renamed as the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). Its founding conference was held in November 1980.
As of 2019, the President of the PUCL is Ravi Kiran Jain, Senior counsel from Allahabad, and the General Secretary is V. Suresh. Other notable office bearers include Dr.
Binayak Sen,
Sudha Bharadwaj
Sudha Bharadwaj (born November 1, 1961) is a trade-unionist, activist and lawyer who has lived and worked in Chhattisgarh for over three decades. She is an active member of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakrta Committee).
She was a ...
and Kavita Shrivastava among others.
Operations
The founding conference of the PUCL in November 1980, drafted and adopted the organization's constitution, making it a membership based organization.
The PUCL's constitution does not allow members of a political party to hold any office and hold membership in the PUCL; the number of members, belonging to political parties, in the national or state executive committees shall not be more than 50% of the members of the National Council and the National Executive Committee respectively (and also the corresponding bodies at the state and local level). The PUCL does not allow more than 10% of its members to be from the same political party.
V. M. Tarkunde served as president and editor-politician.
Arun Shourie served as general secretary. Y. P. Chhibbar was appointed as executive secretary. Those elected as president and general secretary have included V. M. Tarkunde,
Rajni Kothari
Rajni Kothari (16 August 1928 – 19 January 2015) was an Indian political scientist, political theorist, academic and writer. He was the founder of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in 1963, a social sciences and humanities r ...
,
Rajinder Sachar
Rajindar Sachar (22 December 1923 – 20 April 2018) was an Indian lawyer and a former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. He was a member of United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and also served as a ...
,
K. G. Kannabiran,
Arun Shourie, Y. P. Chhibbar,
Arun Jaitley
Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jait ...
,
Satish Jha, Dalip Swami, and others.
It publishes a monthly journal in English, the ''PUCL Bulletin'', that was founded by Satish Jha, Arun Jaitley, Smitu Kothari and Neeraja Chowdhary and helped bring a large number of people to the fold of PUCL. PUCL also organises a ''JP Memorial Lecture'' on March 23 every year, the date on which the
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
n
State of Emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
was lifted in 1977.
It presents its Journalism for Human Rights' Award which carries a citation and an award of Rs 20,000. PUCL, as its policy, does not accept money from any funding agency,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
n or foreign. All the expenses are met by the members, the office bearers, and the activists.
The PUCL supports
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
movements that focus on organizing and empowering the poor rather than using state initiatives for change.
They have brought to light the cases of the
bonded labourers, children in prison and violence committed against women undertrials.
The PUCL has worked on the issue of the hundreds of people detained by India and
Pakistan's governments and accused of
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
after trivial crimes like minor trespassing, a problem linked to the tension caused by the
Kashmir conflict
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claim ...
.
Charges against Dr Binayak Sen
Binayak Sen, who is the National Vice-President of the Union and General Secretary of its
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Pra ...
unit, was arrested in May 2007 by security agencies for his alleged links with
Maoists. In 2010, Sen was convicted of
sedition
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...
and several other offences under
Indian Penal Code
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established ...
by
Raipur
Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Ch ...
Sessions Court in Chhattisgarh after finding him and two others, guilty of sedition for helping the Maoists in their fight against the state. They were sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
.
After his conviction, he was later released by the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
though the apex court said it was giving no reason for granting bail and left it to the satisfaction of the trial court concerned to impose the conditions for his release on bail.
His appeal against conviction is pending with the
Chhattisgarh High Court.
See also
*
Citizen's Justice Committee
*
Confederation of Human Rights Organizations
*
Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations
*
People's Union for Democratic Rights
References
External links
*
PUCL completes 25 years, on Indymedia.org
{{Authority control
Human rights organisations based in India
Human rights in India
Organizations established in 1976
Civil liberties advocacy groups
1976 establishments in India