Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Somen: Naxal or innocent?


source
Joydeep Sen Gupta
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 (Khardah, West Bengal)
The Maoist leader, Somen, arrested by the West Bengal police on Saturday, is now in jail. He has been charged with sedition. But back at his home in Khardah in Kolkata's suburbs, his wife and his mother refuse to believe he was waging a war against the state. As far as they know, Somen, whose real name is Himadri Sen Roy, was doing a sales job and traveling all the time.The last time he visited home was 1993, after the birth of his son. Two women, bound by a common fate, seeking comfort in each other's company -- mother Bina Pani who brought up her son Somen in great adversity and wife Shikha, who is now rearing their only son in equally impoverished circumstances. ''The allegations that have been leveled against him are completely baseless. I want to let the common people know that he is not an anti-national but a patriot,'' said Shikha Sen Roy, Somen's wife.''I seek an immediate release of my son. I had lost my other son long ago. He was only 10 years old,'' said Binapani Sen Roy, Somen's mother.The police believe Somen, who was arrested near Barasat on Saturday, is the secretary of Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) Bengal wing, the brain behind the recent killings of CPI-M leaders in Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore districts and an expert in handling Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). But Somen's childhood friends fondly remember him as an intelligent boy, baptized in Naxalite politics in the late sixties. ''He always wanted to work for the poor and ordinary people. He was always engaged in this kind of political activities.,'' said Swapan Saha, Councillor, Khardah municipality.Somen is languishing in jail for his innate belief in socio-economic equality for the downtrodden. His family members are now worried that he doesn't meet Dr Binayak Sen's fate for his political conviction

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