Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, Inc (World Hindu Council Of America) Tax Exemption Id: 51-0156325 Media Relations Office Tel. 954-559-7969 E-Mail: [email protected]

To Date: March 18, 2013

H. E. Mr Mayankote Kelath Narayanan, Governor of Rajbhaban, 700 062 fax 011 91 3322002444

Re: Act on the politically motivated arrest of Hindu Samhati leader Tapan Ghosh

Honorable Sir,

The World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) is deeply concerned at the internment of Hindu Samhati leader and social activist Tapan Ghosh, along with many other volunteers. On March 14, 2013, Mr Ghosh was arrested from his residence in Kolkata, West Bengal, India under P.S. Case No. 52/dt 05.02.2012 u/s 295 A, 298 and 120 B (IPC). More than thirty- seven other activists including Bikarna Naskar have also been arrested, over the next few days. Given the proclivity of political parties in Bengal, to play “vote bank” politics, the timing of the arrests, just before the upcoming Panchayat elections, cast serious doubt on the legitimacy of these arrests. The recent inability of the State Government in containing unabated Jihadi violence that engulfed Nalaikhali and surrounding villages in Canning also raises serious questions on the State Government’s intentions.

Over the past five years, Hindu Samhati has worked to reach out to the downtrodden population in the rural areas of Bengal, especially in the North and South 24 Parganas, Burdwan, Birbhum and Midnapore. They have organized youth at the village level, agitated against land grabbing, forced conversion and other atrocities by extremist groups. Tapan Ghosh and Hindu Samhati have become an international symbol of the struggle of the poor and marginalized people for their legitimate rights. Phyllis Chesler, emerita of psychology and women's studies at the College of Staten Island, has written a detailed account on the work done by Hindu Samhati in the border areas of Bengal with Bangladesh. (Link below) (http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/09/09/phyllis-chesler-hindu-human-rights-muslim-islamic-terrorism/)

The World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) requests you, to take all possible measures to safeguard the rights of Tapan Ghosh and the other interned volunteers. We also hope that immediate steps would be taken to ensure the safe release of all those arrested. A timely intervention in this matter from your side will restore people’s faith in institutions of the state.

Sincerely,

Vijay Narang

Director, Media Relations

Email: [email protected] Tel: 954-915-6913

cc: Sri Basudeb Banerjee, IAS Principal Secretary (Home) ,Writers' Buildings, Kolkata 700 001 India fax 011 91 33 22143001 cc: Sri Samar Ghosh, IAS Chief Secretary to the Govt. of West Bengal, Writers' Buildings, Kolkata 700 001 India fax 011 91 33 22144328