Dear all, Please see the petition and the news articles below on the arrest of Lachit Bodoloi, a human rights activist in Assam. An online petition for "Free Lachit Bordoloi" is also available at http://www.petitiononline.com/nepi2008/petition.html
Regards aryan An Urgent Appeal for Action Free Lachit Bordoloi On February 11, 2008, Lachit Bodoloi, adviser, Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS), a human right organization of Assam and the convener of the Peoples Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam (PCPIA) was arrested by Dibrugargh district Assam police personnel at Moranhat of upper Asssam. Mr. Bordolioi was coming from Tinsukia district of upper Assam after attending a public meeting. Later he was shifted to Guwahati. Prior to his arrest, on midnight of February 9, 2008, Guwahati police personnel raided Bordoloi's rented flat in Guwahati, where his wife and daughter were staying alone. He had left earlier that day for the meeting at Tinsukia district in upper Assam. The police personnel seized his laptop and other material and did not offer a seizure form to his spouse. Media report says that he is in police custody under charges of planning to hijack a plane and for having link with ULFA. It is pertinent to mention here that Lachit Bordoloi is a member of the Peoples Consultative Group (PCG) that was set up in September 2005 to initiate discussions between the Government of India and United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). He is senior human right activist of Northeast India and journalist. He was the editor of vernacular weekly "Natun Samoy" for a while. We are convinced that his detention is meant to silence the voice of the civil society of Assam and is part of a larger campaign waged by the state to malign and obstruct on going peace process between Government of India and ULFA. We are also convinced that as long as he is in police custody he is danger of losing his life. We urge all democratic sections of society, and those who believe in rights and justice to extend their solidarity to demand: a) Immediate release of Mr. Lachit Bordoloi b) To drop all the charges against Mr. Lachit Bordoloi c) Government of India to initiate meaningful dialogue to end the present political conflict of Assam Send faxes and mail to: 1. Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of Assam, through: a). Smti T.Y. Das Commissioner & Secretary to CM, Assam +91 361 - 2237039 +91 361 - 2361895 94354-03766 b). atindra Lahkar Joint Secretary, CM's Secretariat +91 361 - 2237046 N/A [EMAIL PROTECTED] c). Anjan Bordoloi Joint Secretary, CM's Secretariat +91 361 - 2262474 94353-04036 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2.The Chairman, National Human Rights Commission New Delhi – 110 001 Fax- 23384863 3. Prime Minister's Office Telephone: 91-11-23012312 / 23018939 / 23018668 / 23015470 Fax: 91-11-23019545 / 91-11-23016857 (Appeal Issued by North East People's Initiatives: Arup Jyoti Das, Dr. Sukhendu Debbarma (convener), Anjali Daimari, Sengrak Marak, Dino Dympep, Dr. Sanjay Borbora, Dr. Dhanabir Laishram, Dr. Ashan Riddi, Angela Ralte, Ravi Hemadri) 4, Dwaraka Path, Oil Pipe Line Hatigaon Road , Dispur Guwahati-781006 Ph/Fax: 0361-2222019(o) ****************************************************** Assam's top human rights activist charged with "war against India" by Subir Bhaumik, BBC, Calcutta The police in India's northeastern state of Assam has charged the state's leading human rights activisit Lachit Bordoloi with "waging war" against the country's legally established government . Mr Bordoloi was produced in a court in Assam's capital Guwahati on Tuesday after his arrest a day before in connection with an alleged conspiracy by the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) to hijack an Indian plane. "The charges levelled against him by the police are normally those levelled against terrorists. He has been charged with waging war against the government and unlawful activities including illegal use of weapons ," said Bijan Mahanjan, counsel for Mr Bordoloi. Lachit Bordoloi is convenor of Assam's leading human rights group , Manab Adhikar Sangram Samity (MASS) , and he was part of a team of mediators nominated by the ULFA two years ago to negotiate with the Indian government . But the negotiations fell through last year, ULFA returned to its violent ways and military operations against the rebel group were resumed. The Assam police says Lachit Bordoloi has been arrested in connection with an alleged conspiracy by the ULFA to hijack an Indian plane and take it to Pakistan. Assam police chief R N Mathur said the hijacking was in the "planning stage" when the police got the wind of it from the federal Intelligence Bureau (IB) and several ULFA activists were arrested in the crackdown. Mr Mathur said details of Lachit Bordoloi's links with the separatist group were provided to the police by ULFA's leader Manoj Tamuly when he was questioned after arrest. "Mr Bordoloi has been arrested in view of prima facie evidence of his involvement with many of the unlawful activities of the ULFA, like collection of funds for the rebel group ," Mr Mathur said. But Lachit Bordoloi alleged that he was part of fresh efforts to start negotiations between the ULFA and the Indian government. "The hijack plot is a concoted story spread by agencies who want to sabotage resumption of negotiations between the ULFA and the Indian government. These people are responsible for bringing false charges against me ," Mr Bordoloi told journalists in the court. ************************** Cloud of questions on Assam duo's arrest A STAFF REPORTER, The Telegraph http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080213/jsp/frontpage/story_8896328.jsp Guwahati, Feb. 12: The arrest of a Deccan staffer in Guwahati on the basis of an Ulfa militant's claim that the youth helped the banned group plan a hijack has left a trail of unanswered questions. Police produced Deccan customer care executive Sumanta Dutta and rights activist Lachit Bordoloi, arrested on the basis of the same Ulfa militant's "revelations", in a city court today but came up with little to corroborate the information they claimed to have gathered about the duo's activities. Dutta was taken into custody yesterday around the same time that Bordoloi, a member of Ulfa's handpicked group of mediators for peace talks, was detained in Moran town and brought here. Both were remanded in police custody for five days. The police had asked for a 10-day remand, charging the duo under Sections 120 (B), 121 (A), 122 and 124 of the IPC, read with Section 4 of the Explosives Substances Act, Sections 10 and 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 25 (1A) of the Arms Act. But when Bordoloi's counsel Bijon Mahajan argued that his client was arrested on the sole basis of a militant's statements, sub-divisional judicial magistrate (Sadar) Md. Darak Ullah halved the remand period requested by the police. Bordoloi told the media while coming out of the court that his arrest was part of a conspiracy to derail Delhi's peace process with Ulfa. "Certain forces inimical to the peace talks have hatched the conspiracy," he said. On who were the conspirators, he said the state government and the police, especially IGP (Special Branch) Khagen Sarma. Bordoloi's supporters shouted anti-government slogans in front of the court. Sumanta's father Basanta Kumar Dutta said his son was innocent and did not have anything to do with Ulfa or any such outfit. Ulfa member Manoj Tamuli, arrested in the city on Saturday, told the police that Sumanta accompanied him and another man, Akash Thapa, to New Delhi in November for a meeting with militant leader Sashadhar Choudhury. He claimed that the Deccan staffer gave Choudhury security-sensitive information about Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport and flights taking off from there. The questions that are being raised now are: Why have the police not come up with any proof that Sumanta travelled to Delhi along with Ulfa cadre? (Sumanta's father said his son was in Guwahati all along.) Why are the police, which seem to believe the arrested militant's claim about the hijack plot, not verifying Ulfa's denial about the hijack? Why would Ulfa involve a member who has been in and out of the outfit in a big operation like a hijack? Generally, people not named in police records are engaged. How is it that none of the Ulfa militants who have surrendered or been arrested in recent times mentioned anything about the outfit's members being trained for a hijack by "foreigners" in Baksa? The training in Baksa was supposed to have been conducted in April last year. How was that possible when an intensive search operation was under way in that area to rescue the abducted FCI regional director P.C. Ram? Why would Ulfa impart training for a hijack in Baksa when it can easily do it in Bangladesh with the ISI's help? How did Sasadhar Choudhury enter New Delhi when he is one of the most-wanted Ulfa leaders and is said to be out of the country? As question after question about the arrests was raised in Assam, Union home secretary Madhukar Gupta said in New Delhi that Ulfa needed to directly approach the Centre for talks. "And abjure violence." he added. A source in the home ministry said later that the government did not approve of the outfit engaging a "third party" for negotiations. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
