Amarjit Singh Sohi, a cultural activists of Amritsar Natak Kal Kendra and a civil rights campaigner, is languishing in Gaya jail. He was arrested on November 15, from Azadbigha hamlet in nabad district by the Bihar police on the suspicion of being a terrorist. The police alleged that he was a Canada trained terrorist” and had come to Bihar to impart military training to the extremists.
However, the Bihar Government has not been able to produce any concrete evidence of his being a terrorist or of his association with the terrorists. Even the government intelligence agency has given. A report of his innocence. According to the Statesman dated 1 December, 1988, “From all accounts he had been cleared by the Home Ministry and cannot be held as a terrorist although he has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms. Act and the Disruptive Activities Act, 1987, in the FIR lodged in the Karpi police station of Jehanabad district. The Hindu dated 20th December writes: The State Government is in a quandary about the course of action to be adopted with regard to Sohi as the police could not substantiate the charges against him. Hence there is nothing on record to suggest that. Amarjit has links with “Khalistan” supporters,
His continuous detention exposes the arbitrary character of the State Government. It shows that freedom is chained in this country and that democracy is in jeopardy.
SANJAY DELHI
Article extracted from this publication >> March 17, 1989
