To:
Her Excellency Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil
President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi, India

Your Excellency,

Seventeen-year-old Lila Salter was brutally murdered in Vrindavan, Utar Pradesh, in February 2008. Her death could easily have been avoided.

For Lila, Vrindavan was the most wonderful place in the world because of its spiritual nature as the birthplace of Lord Sri Krishna. Most Indian nationals value it as the place of many spiritual pastimes, and it attracts increasing numbers of peaceful pilgrims and tourists year after year. Such activities are vital and should be highly valued in our war-torn age.

But this Lila, an intelligent young woman, was not safe. After several incidents known to the police, when her safety and the safety of other tourists was threatened, she was ultimately murdered. All these incidents could have been lawfully dealt with and her death avoided.

Vrindavan is becoming famous worldwide because a large number of people are converting to or rediscovering their original spiritual heritage, or Vaishnavism. There are many foreigners residing here long-term, and many Indians purchasing holiday residences and retirement homes, plus there are weekend tourists coming to visit the five thousand temples.

Given that India is set to deploy tourist police at its important tourist destinations to ensure the security of foreign visitors and also in view of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010, we urgently request that you seriously consider our petition. Your own Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, Kanti Singh, said at a press conference recently:

"To ensure safety and security, the state governments have been requested to deploy tourist police at all important tourist destinations,"

India is progressive and understands the need for security and safety for tourists. Vrindavan is a key tourist resort.

We urgently request that you make this LILA SALTER CAMPAIGN FOR A SAFE VRINDAVAN a priority so that other such deaths are avoided.

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PETITION

We, the undersigned, petition the Government of India to:

1. URGENTLY recognise Vrindavan as a major national and international tourist destination and pilgrimage site before 2010.

2. Clean up illegal weapons and have a crackdown on all weapons in this area of Uttar Pradesh.

3. Provide strict law enforcement so that Vrindavan can be a peaceful and safe place for visitors.

4. Ensure the presence of a tourist friendly police force for the safety of all national and international tourists and pilgrims as per your directives.

Thank you.