DEMANDING RELEASE OF LENIN KUMAR AND ABHAYA SAHOO IN ORISSA
Orissa government supported by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) not only allowed the massacre of Christians but suppresses dissenting voices including by imprisonment. Here is a story of two men arbitrarily arrested and the struggle to get them released.
In a press statement dated Dec 13, 2008, the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) strongly condemned the authoritarian attitude of the Orissa state government to stifle all democratic voices and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of human rights activists Lenin Kumar and Abhaya Sahoo. Lenin Kumar, a well known intellectual who has been consistently raising his voice against the anti-people policies of the Orissa government, which is supported by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Lenin wrote a booklet after visiting the people who have been targets of Hindu communal violence strongly criticizing the government’s connivance and total inaction against the perpetrators of the violence on the people. As is customary, he was dubbed a Maoist and arrested. Authorities claimed that the booklet “Dharma Naamre Kandhamalare Raktara Nadi” will incite communal hatred and hence violence! The police also claimed that they have seized from Lenin’s computer images of the Maoists based in Bastar although these images were from the award winning documentary of Ms. Vanaja who had shot the film in Bastar. Abhaya Sahoo is the leader of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), which is fighting for the rights of Adivasis who are being displaced by a South Korean based mining outfit. Statement is signed by Amit Bhattacharyya, SAR Geelani, Rona Wilson, Prashant Jena and Bansidhar Das.