Mahasweta Devi to join mass sit-in for Binayak Sen’s release

KOLKATA - Jnanpith award winning writer Mahasweta Devi and several other intellectuals will stage a mass sit-in demonstration here Thursday to demand the release of rights activist Binayak Sen and Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal.

Eminent theatre personality Bivas Chakraborty, writer Tarun Sanyal, pro-Maoist activists and various civil rights groups will take part in the six-hour demonstration at Metro Channel in the city hub from 1 p.m.

Addressing the media, civil rights group Bandi Mukti Committee official Choton Das urged people to join the protest that will also demand release of other political prisoners.

“Dr. Sen who served humanity for long is languishing in jail. We cannot let that happen. We have been and will be demanding his release,” Das said.

Binayak Sen, Tarun Sanyal and Kolkata-based businessman Piyush Guha were sentenced to life imprisonment Dec 24 after being held guilty of sedition and criminal conspiracy by a Chhattisgarh court.

Human rights activist and secretary of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights Sujato Bhadra accused the Indian authorities of being fascist. “They have been acting in a tyrannical fashion. Whoever speaks against the powers-that-be is falsely implicated and put behind bars.”

“The condition of the tribals in the country is miserable. Whoever tries to help them and speaks for their cause is branded as a Maoist and arrested. This is not just confined to Bengal but also to other parts of the country. People should come up in large numbers to stop the tyrannical ways of the government,” Bhadra added.