Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Remember the history of the suppression of free speech – 90th anniversary of the Kameido Incident




On September 8, 2013, a ceremony to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Kameido Incident was held at Akamon Joshinji Temple in Kameido, Tokyo. The Great Kanto Earthquake hit the region including Tokyo on September 1, 1923, leaving more than 100,000 people dead and injured. Under the Japanese Imperial Government of that time, which took advantage of the chaotic situation after the natural disaster, the police arrested ten progressive union and social activists in this region and massacred them at the local police station. This is called the Kameido Incident. This is a crime committed by the Japanese Government that crushed the stronghold of Japan’s labor movement and its revolutionary spirit, trying to suppress free speech. It is always suppressed under a repressive government. It is very significant to know the truth of the Kameido Incident and swear not to allow the authority to suppress free speech again in this time when the current Abe Administration strives to make it possible for Japan to “commit itself to war” and change the constitution that renounces war. (SATO Kazuyuki)
Photo: Photos of the victims


言論弾圧の歴史を忘れるな~「亀戸事件90周年追悼会」開かれる

98日、東京の亀戸にある赤門浄心寺において、「亀戸事件90周年追悼会」が開かれた。・・192391日、関東地方を襲った大震災が発生し、死傷者 十数万人となる未曾有の災害となりました。戦前の天皇制政府はこの混乱に乗じて、南葛地域(現在の江東区、墨田区)の先進的な労働運動や社会運動の活動家(川合義虎、平澤計七、吉村光治ら)10人を亀戸警察に連行し、虐殺しました。これが亀戸事件です。日本の労働運動の拠点だった亀戸で、その革命的精神を潰し、言論の封殺を狙った権力犯罪です。権力による悪政がすすめられるもとでは、必ず言論弾圧が引き起こされます。安倍内閣のもとで、急速に「戦争する国」づくりや憲法改悪の策動が強まるもとで、亀戸事件の真実を知り、ふたたび権力による言論封殺を許さないとの思いを固めあうことは、非常に意義あることです。(佐藤和之) 




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