Protests incite for arrest of Kandhamal book author

Bhubaneswar, Dec 10: Violence haunts Kandhamal district of Orissa again. A journalist has been arrested on Monday, Dec 9 for writing a book on Kandhamal violence, which the police say is provocative and intended to disturb communal harmony. Rights activists, authors and others have come together to oppose the arrest.

The book, 'Dharma Nare Kandhamalare Raktara Banya' (Flood of blood in Kandhamal in the name of religion) is written by Lenin, the editor of the quarterly magazine Nishan. Two others who helped him print and circulate the book are also under arrest and jailed in Bhubaneswar after their bail pleas were rejected.

'Police have tortured my husband, violating all basic human rights,' his wife Rumita Kundu said as protests were organised in Bhabanipatna town in Kalahandi district Tuesday, Dec 10.

On Thursday, eminent citizens in the state capital are planning a protest outside the governor's residence Raj Bhavan.

'Everybody has the right to express his thoughts. It is an attempt by the government to suppress writers who have independent voices,' eminent writer and columnist Bibhuti Patnaik said.

"It is a move to curb free, frank and fearless speech of writers and journalists," added civil rights activist Sudhir Patnaik.

The Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), journalist associations and writers associations across the state have also issued a statement condemning the arrest of Lenin.

Police has claimed it has seized at least 700 copies of the book from the printing press.

OneIndia News