He was arrested by the CID on Saturday evening in North 24 Parganas on charges of conspiring against the national integrity. Mahasweta Devi, the president of the committee said: “Somen is a product of this unscrupulous system. The CPM-backed state government is responsible for the situation. I strongly oppose the role of the CPM government in arresting him.”
The 83-year-old noted litterateur also came down heavily against the state government for not providing basic necessities to political prisoners in the state’s prison and called for launching a movement for their liberation.
The committee today announced that all political prisoners lodged in jails across the country will hold a “symbolic” hungerstrike on Thursday to press for their demand of unconditional release.
“When the Left Front Government came to power in 1977, it had promised that there will be no political prisoners in the state. But it has failed to keep its promise,” said Choton Das, general secretary of the committee.
According to the committee, the total number of political prisoners in various jails in the state is 434, which includes people arrested in connection with the violent protests in Nandigram and Singur. While 94 of them were arrested from Singur, another 64 were detained in Nandigram.
It also includes about 40 Forward Bloc supporters lanhuishing in jail since the February 5 Dinhata police-firing incident.
Apart from these prisoners, there are several others who have been arrested over the years for being associated with terrorist activities in Cooch Behar.
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