Volume 5, No. 4, April 2004

{Com. Gaurav is the Polit Bureau member of the Communist party of Nepal (Maoist)}

On March 24 the international delegation landed at Chennai. They were met at the airport by Rahul (Comrade Gaurav’s principle lawyer), Laxman Pant (President of the Nepali People’s Rights Protection Committee in India), Ravouni (WPRM [South Asia]) and some others. Within hours of arrival they began their efforts to be allowed to meet with Comrade Gaurav. Later in the day they went to meet with the Home Secretary of the Government of Tamilnadu Mr. Sted Munir Hoda with a petition seeking permission to meet with Comrade Gaurav in prison. Mr. Hoda claimed that India is a democratic country and anyone can meet prisoners in prison. However the delegation pointed out that the superintendent of the prison had already refused a request for permission to visit Comrade Gaurav that had been submitted in advance of the delegates’ arrival on the grounds that German lawyers are foreigners. Home Secretary Hoda feigned astonishment at hearing this and he immediately telephoned the Additional Director General of Prisons and then informed the delegation that they could meet with Comrade Gaurav at whatever time they choose.

However this assurance from the Home Minister was not the end of the fight to gain access to Comrade Gaurav. As the delegation was returning to their car, Rahul – Comrade Gaurav’s principle lawyer — received a phone call on his mobile phone from the Personal Assistant to the Home Secretary informing him that the Home Secretary had something he wanted to tell the delegation. Home Secretary Hoda then got on the line and proceeded to place conditions on any visit. In particular he insisted that the delegates produce a letter from the German Consulate stating that the consulate had no objections to such a meeting as a prerequisite for any visit in prison.

In the morning on 25 March the delegation returned to the German Consulate and managed to get a letter from the Consul-General addressed to the Home Secretary wherein it was stated that the consulate had no objections to the prison visit. The delegation proceeded again to the Home Secretary’s office and arrived there at around 12 noon. They were made to wait for more than an hour before being informed that the Home Secretary was "busy". They were then instructed to go to the office of Mr. Kirubakaran, Deputy. Secretary of Prisons, Home Department. The Deputy Secretary told them that it was not possible to arrange an immediate prison visit as this would first be possible after the rules and procedures had been clarified.

This run-around made perfectly clear that the authorities in India were trying to place any obstacle they could find to prevent the delegation from actually being able to meet Comrade Gaurav in prison. At the same time as they were doing this the Indian authorities were caught in the bind of attempting to maintain that India is a "democracy". If they refused permission for a visit, it would be even clearer to national and international public opinion that they have something to hide in this case and that the grave injustice represented by the continued imprisonment of Comrade Gaurav was hardly "democratic".

In the morning on 26 March, prior to attempting to visit the prison, the delegation went to meet the judicial magistrate Mr. Rajan, Allandur who heads the court where Comrade Gaurav’s passport case is pending. The judge refused to meet the delegation saying that he is not supposed to have any discussion with lawyers in his chamber, but only in the open court. The Assistant Public Prosecutor who is dealing with G’s case claimed he was not available and that the delegation could therefore not meet with him. 

At around 12 noon the delegation returned to the offices of the Home Secretary and were able to finally collect an order authorising their prison visit. They proceeded immediately to the prison where Comrade Gaurav is currently being held and accompanied by Rahul they met with Comrade Gaurav for over an hour. 

During this time and contrary to the rules of privacy the Deputy Superintendent of the prison sat in on the meeting the entire time carefully monitoring the conversation. In the middle of the conversation, he sent a message to the higher authorities stating that the delegates were making an interview with Comrade Gaurav for publication. Rahul strongly objected to this action stating that the discussion between Gaurav and the delegates was confidential and was not subject to censorship by the prison authorities.

 During the meeting the Deputy Superintendent went to great lengths to prevent Comrade Gaurav from reporting on the conditions under which he is being held. When the delegates asked about this the Deputy Superintendent interrupted the conversation and insisted that Comrade Gaurav is being given a foreigners’ diet and everything is well. Actually, since the authorities refuse to recognise Comrade Gaurav as a political prisoner he is not allowed to receive and newspaper and magazines or even have a fan (it is currently over 40 degrees centigrade during the day in Chennai) or other basic amenities.

Although his conditions in prison are in fact very bad, it was reported to us that during his conversation with the delegates Comrade Gaurav stressed that he was determined not to allow these bad conditions to dampen his revolutionary enthusiasm and optimism. Comrade Gaurav told the delegates that the Indian authorities are trying to force him to choose between two "worse" options; either deportation to Nepal or confinement in a special prison camp for foreigners under even worse conditions for a potentially unlimited length of time. He also brought to the notice of the delegation the case of Tamils from Sri Lanka who were confined in a special camp for fourteen years without any cases or charges pending against them in Indian courts.

On March 27, a press conference was held at the Chennai Press Club at 11.30 A.M. This was well attended by more than 15 journalists from almost all the major electronic and print media in Chennai. We have been informed that a report on the press conference was broadcast on television in India in the afternoon and that a report can be seen on SUN NEWS (a 24 hours news channel from South Asia available via satellite) in Europe.

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