Various rights organisations in West Bengal that had supported the Trinamool Congress before the elections have sharply criticised the new governments stand on releasing of political prisoners and the formation of a review committee for the purpose. The organisations are also split over the procedures to be followed for the release of political prisoners and want the new review committee scrapped. Even though Sujato Bhadra of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) has been selected as a member of the committee,a section of the 21 mass organisations,including the Lalgarh Samhati Mancha and a section of the Bandi Mukti Committee,have decided to boycott the panel and start a movement if it is not scrapped. Rangta Munshi,assistant general secretary of APDR,said,We condemn the terms of reference of the committee. In the terms of reference,it has been mentioned that the background of the political prisoners will be examined and it has to be seen if the accused has the ability to organise people against the state. After looking into these possibilities,the prisoners will be released. We find the kind of terms and conditions extremely humiliating. Munshi said,Suijato Bhadra has joined the committee on his own accord. He is never in the committee as a representative of APDR. Ranjit Sur,secretary of APDR,said,Let us see who are the committee members. As per orders,the Home Secretary,IG (Law and Order),IG (Prisons) and three more IPS officers will be in the committee. All three officers had played roles in the previous 'Jangal Raj of the Left front government. So the persons who are responsible for the arrests and torture of the accused will be the judges. Next comes the three lawyer members. All are very close to the Trinamool Congress. Debabrata Bandhopadhya,a former bureaucrat,is also in the committee. He figures in all government committees. However,a major group,the Bandi Mukti Committee (BMC),is yet to join hands with the mass organisations that have boycotted the review committee. We are a responsible organization. We will never boycott the decision of the government. We have appealed to the government to look into the issues we have raised. We have sent a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Amit Bhattacharya,profession of Jadavpur University and a rights activist,said,The committee is dominated by bureaucrats and legal experts. Moreover,we have always demanded the unconditional release of all political prisoners that include UAPA prisoners and undertrials who have sedition charges against them. There are several Maoists,KLO activists,SIMI activists and Greater Coochbehar insurgents among them. If the government is really committed to the cause,then it should release all such prisoners, said Bhattacharya. Krishna Bandyopadhyay of the Lalgarh Samhati Mancha said,We do not accept the committee. We will boycott the committee outright and the recommendations they give in future. We will spearhead a movement for the scrapping of the committee.
