West Bengal: Increasing Political Prisoners By Ranjit Sur 15 May, 2012 Countercurrents.org http://www.countercurrents.org/sur150512.htm The Mamata Banerjee Government assumed power in West Bengal on 20th day of May 2011. In her first Cabinet meeting as Chief Minister on the same evening she has decided to form a Review Committee for release of political prisoners. It was her pre-election pledge. On 4th June Government notification for formation of the State Level Review Committee was published. The 13 member Review Committee headed by Retd Justice Moloy Sengupta started work amid huge debates amongst the activists regarding the necessicity and efficacy of the review committee in releasing political prisoners. The Review committee published a newspaper advertisement inviting applications from the prisoners or from their relatives seeking review of their cases through this committee. Many, almost all, political prisoners including Kobad Ghandhy ( who has a case in Westbengal) appealed to the committee for release and/or withdrawal of their cases filed by the erstwhile Left Front Government. The tenure of the Committee was initially for three months. Latter it was extended for 6 more months. On 3rd March the Review Committee’s total tenure of 9 months has elasped and Government has not announced any extension further. Rights workers all over India want to know, what is the state of Political Prisoners in West Bengal now. How many of them are still behind bars ? Is there any one still left ? As all of them knew that it was Mamata Banerjee’s Election Pledge that political prisoners would be released if she is voted to power all is eager to know. It is expected that after twelve months atleast substantial part of the Prisoners, if not all, would be released. So their query to know number of prisoners still left is very natural in view of the fact that the Mamata Banerjee Government has announced celebration of its one year in Government ‘Dhamaka’ to be observed throughout the months of May-June. So, lets see what is the Position at the moment. The fact is that not a single , I repeat, not a single Maoist Prisoner or Prisoner arrested for ‘Mao-link’ or Prisoners arrested for participating in Lalgarh movement or SUCI prisoner is released so far. Actually not a single political prisoners from south Bengal is released, not even in bail . No, a bit wrong statement ! Two ‘Maoist’ prisoners Ranjit Murmu and Tarun Saha are FREED, FREED FOR EVER, from this material world. Both of them died in jail custody during Mamata regime due to mal-treatment or no treatment of their illness in jails. Except this two, 30 other Political Prisoners from North Bengal is out of jail in Bail. Out of this 30, 7 are Kamtapur Liberation Organisation ( KLO) activists and 23 are Greater Kuchbehear Movement activists. These 30 prisoners figured in the 1st list submitted by the review committee in the month of July. It may not be out of place to mention here that review committee in its first list submitted 78 names for release ( i,e bail). Some Maoist Prisoners name were there. But the State Government refused to accept the recommendation and agreed to release (ie bail) only 50 KLO and Greater activists. 30 of these 50 are out in bail, Mamata Banerjee herself announced this recently in a press brief. Remaining 20 are still languishing in jail- despite Chief Minister’s public announcement of releasing them before 15th August last. The review committee members announced to Press that they have submitted a second list of about one hundred prisoners and a third list of almost three hundred prisoners for release. Release meaning Bail, ofcourse. But Government of West Bengal is sitting on the list and taking no steps - not accepting or rejecting the list. Not only that, the State Government is opposing the bail petetions of the prisoners in the courts even for those who were given the status of Political Prisoners by the designated courts. Seven activists related with now famous Nandigram Movement are still in jails. The erstwhile Budhadeb Bhattacharjee Government gave them Maoist tag .They got political prisoner status from lower courts. Yet the Mamata Government opposed their bail tooth and nail in High Court. Hundreds and thousands of cases of previous regime slapped over activists related with mass movements including Singur and Nandigram has not been withdrawn. Of late Government has instructed public prosecutors to withdraw cases across the state pending against all the Trinomul Congress activists only ! It may not be out of place to mention here that in 1977, the first Left Front Government released thousands of Political Prisoners unconditionally and irrespective of their political affiliation. But this is only one side of the coin. Dark and full of hopelessness. Yet,you can call it a tip of the ice-berg. The other side is darker and horrifying too. The new government after assuming power in May 2011 has arrested ‘atleast 300 people’ branding them as ‘Maoist’ or ‘Mao Linkman’ or for maintaining ’ Mao connection’. This figure is upto 10th December. This number is substantially increased if added till today. Not a single day is passed without an arrest for ’ Mao-link’. Either in Junglemahal or Nadia-Murshidabad or in Birbhum Districts of West Bengal. Recently in the first week of March Chatradhar Mahato, the legendary mass leader of Lalgarh Movement, issued a statement from Jail in which he alleged that more than 5oo persons have been arrested from Junglemahal alone since Mamata’s coming to power. Even the infamous UAPA has been slapped on five ‘Maoist’ activists arrested in Kolkata recently forgetting her promise of not using UAPA in West Bengal after ‘Paribartan’. So in fine, the picture that arised in political scenario of West Bengal now is that hundreds of political activists who were in jail for their political activities in Left Front regime remains in jail without any hope of release in near future. An additional five hundred plus political activists joined them in jails for their political belief and activites in Trinomul Congress-Congress regime- that too in their 12 months of rule. Instead of releasing the Political Prisoners as promised before the Assembly Election Mamata Banerjee is filling the Bengal Jails with huge number of new political prisoners after winning the Election and becoming the Chief Minister of West Bengal. A voltaface of huge magnitude which the People of Bengal definitely keep in mind in future. [The Writer is a Secretariat Member , Association for protection of Democratic Rights(APDR), West Bengal. ]
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