The CPI (Maoist) have called for a Bharat Bandh on November 20 and announced to observe ‘Pratirodh Divas’ from November 15 to November 19 in protest against the arrest of the outlawed organisation’s politburo member Prashant Bose alias Kishan Da and his wife Sheela Marandi.
In a press statement released by the spokesperson of the Eastern Regional Bureau of CPI (Maoist) Sanket on Monday, the organisation claimed that Bose and his wife, Sheela Marandi, were arrested while they were on their way to get medical attention. Bose as well as Sheela suffer from age related health problems, and they should be released on medical grounds, the communique further stated.
The word ‘Pratirodh’, used in Bangla as well as Hindi, translates to resistance in English. The CPI (Maoist) have sought support of human rights organisations and other non-political organisations to join a mass movement demanding the release of Bose and his wife.
Bose, in his mid-seventies, was the secretary of the Eastern Regional Bureau of the CPI (Maoist) and had a bounty of Rs.1 crore on his head. He was also a politburo member of the central committee of the CPI (Maoist), and one of the think tanks of the organisation. His wife, Sheela, is the only woman member of the central committee of CPI (Maoist) and is about 65-year-old.
Bose was one of the founding-members of the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI), which had merged with the Communist Party of India (Marxist – Leninist) People’s War (People’s War Group) on September 21, 2004 to form the CPI (Maoist).
Bose and his wife were arrested on November 12 at Kandra locality of Saraikela district in a joint operation of the state police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Four more members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist) organisation were also arrested in the operation.
While the CPI (Maoist) have claimed that Bose was arrested while he was on his way to get medical attention, police have said that the arrests were made when he was on his way to attend an important meeting of the organisation.
However, police did not produce Bose before the media, claiming that the septuagenarian rebel leader has one of the sharpest brains in the CPI (Maoist) and allowing him to communicate with the common public may not be a good idea.