Press Statement - PEREIRA WADI Issue

Next Campaign at Mount Carmel Church, Bandra West on Sunday, June 22 at 6.30 p.m. Please depute your Reporter to cover this event.

We need to shame the Maharastra Government and wake them up from their slumber. The Government cannot take its own time to give directions to the concerned authorities who were responsible for this human rights violations and leave the residents suffering and without a roof over them. Hence it is imperative that we urge each one of you to be generous to contribute in the restoration of the demolished homes . You could send your donations by cheques favouring " THE BOMBAY CATHOLIC SABHA" to the Sabha office, St Michael's Church, Mahim, Mumbai 400 016.

We are indeed grateful for the proactive campaign launched by Fr. Larry Pereira , Parish Priest of Mt Carmel Church and his Clergy Team on this issue. The team preached on the Pereira wadi issue during the last sunday masses. Fund collection drive is also on.

Fr. Warner D'souza has galvanised the youth and they will have a day long signature drive and an awareness campaign on Sunday, June 22.

In the evening of June 22 we will have a public meeting at Mt Carmel Church at 6.30 p.m. You are cordially invited.

Please also read the write up by our Vice President, Rita D'sa about the June 14 meeting at St Theresa's Basement Bandra.

Dolphy D'souza
President
THE BOMBAY CATHOLIC SABHA
St Michael's Church, Mahim,
Mumbai 400 016.
Tel: 24463853 / 9820226227/ 9821028277
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PEREIRA WADI ... ... AND THE STRUGGLE GOES ON

Saturday 14th June, 2008, saw the various groups along with supporters and the families of Pereira Wadi converge at the basement hall of St. Theresa School, Bandra at the behest of the Bombay Catholic Sabha and the supporting NGOs. What astonished one as you entered the gates, was the huge posse of policemen, numbering maybe over 100, welcoming as if to say, the 500 or so persons who were present. Or is it that the authorities suddenly decided to give the gathering a high level police protection with 1 policeman for every 5 persons!!!? It was deplorable that permission to hold a Solidarity March was with-held citing reasons of high security alerts in the city.

There was a wide mix of persons in the gathering. Besides representatives of the supporting NGOs, we had Fr. Larry Pereira the Parish Priest from Mount Carmel's along with his entire clergy team[ Fr Warner and Fr Byron], Fr. Vernon Aguiar, Parish Priest from St. Andrew's, Fr Gerard Rodricks, Parish Priest of St Peters and Fr. Roque from St. Anne's, and of course Fr. Mathew, Acting Parish Priest from St. Theresa, besides other priests and religious sisters.

Fr. Larry led the gathering into a meaningful opening prayer followed by a full throated singing of "Hum Honge Kamyaab". Mr. Dolphy D'Souza, President of the Bombay Catholic Sabha, while appreciating the time and efforts put in by those present on a busy Saturday, briefly updated the gathering on the happenings since the last "candle in the wind" march. The only ray of hope in the horizon, that he saw, was the very positive response from the MP Ms Priya Dutt, who spent a whole morning visiting the site and spending time with the affected. She has assured the persons that justice will be delivered and their homes restored. She would also ensure that the guilty are suitably punished. She emphasized that no development will take place without the consent of all the residents. On the intervention of Ms Dutt, the office of the developer in the form of a Container, which was lying on the road since the last several months was removed by the authorities.

Mr. Ashwin Parmar, an affected resident, briefly narrated the hazards and harrowing experiences encountered by the families since the demolition. He said that while a few families did find shelter, many are still out on the streets, totally dependent for food and toilet facilities on the mercy of kind neighbours. Through an RTI application, the residents had earlier found out that the list of people who are supposed to have consented to the builder's plans was partly fabricated and bogus. There were names included of persons who did not exist in the Wadi at all. As he narrated stories of men and women, both young and old being dragged out by male police, many in the gathering had tears in their eyes. But he chinned up to state that since most of the belongings had been taken away, residents were busy trying and arranging for school books and uniforms for the affected children. He reaffirmed, on behalf of the residents, the new confidence and courage they have acquired, now that they are not alone in their struggle.

Ms Shyama Kulkarni from the H West Citizens Trust, challenged the crowd to get into action and hold the elected MLA and Corporator accountable for inaction, as they have not been seen since the demolition. She was emphatic that action should be taken against both the builder and the police for acting in such haste and in such an inhuman manner specially with the women folk.

Among the other speakers were Ms Shaina N.C. from I Love Mumbai, who assured the affected that they were not alone in their struggle and Adv. Godfrey Pimenta from the Sahar Citizens' Forum, who reiterated that his entire team would stand solidly behind the Pereira Wadi and ensure that their cries do not go unheard.

Mr. Nicholas Almeida from the St. John the Baptist Save Church Committee demanded that the nexus between the politicians and builders be exposed and stopped before many more innocent persons in the city get similarly treated. He exhorted the people to rise from their deep slumber and stand up strongly against the powerful forces that try to bully the ordinary citizen. He assured the residents of the wholehearted support from himself and his group. However, he demanded that the developer be given 48 hours to clear the debris failing which the citizens would take their own course of action. Bandra, fondly referred to as the Queen of the suburbs, must continue to remain so and not be taken over by the so called mafia.

The next speaker was Mr. Simpreet Singh of the Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan. He shared similar incidents in other parts of the city and concluded by saying that we must all struggle to ensure that Bandra, which is the Queen of the suburbs, does not become the prostitute of the builders.

Mr. Dolphy D'Souza then shared briefly how the Police officials treated them.While at the Khar Police Station, the Senior Inspector of Police and his team treated them cordially, the Bandra Police official even threatened that if they did not report to the station within an hour of the call, both he and the Secretary General Vinod Noronha would be picked up. This unbecoming attitude of those who have to protect the citizens was not acceptable and the entire gathering endorsed the condemnation of such behaviour by the Bandra police in authority.

Mr. Dolphy, then launched the programme for immediate Restoration of the demolished houses which was an urgent need in view of the monsoons. He proposed a fund collection to meet the immediate expenses and to help the residents restore their homes to a habitable condition. Of course, while the law would take its course and ensure that both the developer and the police are duly punished and penalized, the plight of the residents could be allayed to some extent through this collection and activity of restoration. The response from the gathering was overwhelming and generous donors quickly fished out their cheque books and others made firm commitments of contributions. Donations are welcome and would be preferred in cheques favouring, The Bombay Catholic Sabha, for which the IT exemption could be availed.

While the programme concluded with the National Anthem, the crowd dispersed knowing fully well that this was just the beginning of a long struggle against powerful forces. But the battle lines are drawn, the fight has begun and there will be no backing out until the homes are fully restored and all belongings re-instated. March on Pereira Wadi for we are with you. Let the Pereira Wadi episode be a warning to other builders and politicians that they shall not make soft targets of ordinary people for the sake of commercial exploitation. People's Power will reign supreme over all other powers. Look out for our future action plans on the Sabha website www.bcsabha.org.

Rita D'Sa, Vice President, BCS