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*[ 11 Dec, 2006 0217hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]*
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PATNA: Slum dwellers of 57 localities of the city took out a rally on the
occasion of World Human Rights Day here on Sunday in protest against the
proposed move to remove slums from the state capital under the Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
Organised under the banner of Ashray Bachao Abhiyan, the slum dwellers
shouted slogans like 'Jo jamin sarkari hai, woh jamin hamari hai' and 'Jis
jamin par ham base hain, woh jamin hamari hai'.
The rally, which had a significant representation of women and children,
started from Gandhi Maidan and converted into a meeting at Bandar Bagicha
where the slum dwellers' hutments were set ablaze recently.
Mahatam Maurya, representing Medha Patkar-led National Alliance of Peoples'
Movements (NAPM), addressing the rally said all governments in the country
were engaged in displacing the poor on pretext or the other.
Ashray Bachao Andolan leader Ranjan Kumar charged the state government with
removing 10,000 slum dwellers in Patna during last one year. CPI national
council leader U N Mishra said the urban poor would not allow such a
largescale displacement of slum dwellers in the name of development of the
town.
Another slum dwellers' body Jhuggi-Jhopdi Shahari Garib Sangharsh Morcha
said another massive rally of the slum dwellers would be staged before state
assembly on December 13.