Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF)
All India Committee
Press Release
6 October 2009
Raja Sarkhel, all Indian Executive Committee member of Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF) and Secretary of the West Bengal State unit and Prasun Chatterjjee, Executive member of state unit (Gana Pratirodh Manch) have been arrested by West Bengal police on the evening of 5th October in Kolkata and implicated them in fabricated cases under the Unlawful Activities (Amendment) Act 2008 by showing false links with CPI (Maoist). The West Bengal police have claimed sources of information regarding the supposed links of these senior people’s activists with CPI (Maoist) based on false and fabricated confessions supposedly obtained from Chatradhar Mahoto, the spokesperson of People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities, who was illegally and immorally arrested and continuously tortured under illegal police custody.
Raja Sarkhel is a committed people’s activist for the last three decades in West Bengal and is well-known to the people of the state working for various mass movements including Singur, Nandigram and Lalgarh in the recent years. Prasun Chatterjjee has been actively working for the people’s cause for more than a decade. While Raja Sarkhel was picked up from a street while he was returning home, Prasun Chatterjjee was whisked away by the police from his residence when he was taking rest after his eyes were treated in a hospital.
The arrest of these two well-known activists of our organisation has come in the background of a vicious campaign orchestrated against the progressive and democratic intellectuals in Kolkata by the ruling CPI (M) leaders, the Chief Secretary, Asok Mohan Chakrabarti, the Home Secretary, and Mr Ardhendu Sen along with a number of police officials. Like Dr Binayak Sen who was incarcerated in Chhattisgarh by the right-wing communal BJP government for more than 2 years for bringing out the facts to the world outside the worst kind of atrocities committed on the tribals by Salwa Judum, a state-run armed mercenaries, these two selfless people’s leaders tirelessly brought out all the details of the people’s movement of Singur, Nandigram and Lalgarh including the worst atrocities committed against the struggling people by the CPI(M) armed goons and the police and paramilitary forces. This is the crime they committed.
The RDF calls upon the people of this country to defeat CPI (M)’s fascistic witch-hunt of progressive and democratic writers, artists, intellectuals and activists of Kolkata by raising voice of protest collectively. It’s time for all the democratic voices to come together firmly against the fascistic onslaught of the Indian ruling classes represented in the Union government or the state governments like that of CPI (M) led left front government or BJP Government in Chhattisgarh on the revolutionary and democratic struggles in South Asia.
Revolutionary Democratic Front demands immediate and unconditional release of Raja Sarkhel and Prasun Chatterjee by withdrawing the fabricated charges under UAPA act.
Rajkoshore
General Secretay
