A child sits at the protest rally at Esplanade on Monday. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Fifty members of the Solidarity Committee for Burma’s Freedom Fighters demonstrated at Esplanade on Monday, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of 34 Myanmarese lodged in Indian jails for about 10 years.

“They were held on charges of terrorism, dealing in arms and ammunition and conspiring against the Indian government. They are actually Myanmarese nationalists, who were fighting to overthrow the autocratic regime of General Than Shwe,” said Kim, a citizen of Myanmar and a member of the committee. Some city-based organisations joined the rally.

According to the committee members, the Indian Army arrested the 34 on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in February 1998. “They were students in their late teens and part of an organisation called Arakan Army,” said B.B. Nandy, a former officer of Research and Analysis Wing and a member of the committee.

The CBI investigated the case and filed a chargesheet against them in 2004. In October 2006, the prisoners were transferred to Calcutta from Port Blair after they filed a petition. The trial was initially held on the jail premises. It began in open court in January 2007, after protests by intellectuals like Mrinal Sen and Mahasveta Devi.

On March 31, the trial began in the sessions court. “The trial has come to a halt,” alleged a demonstrator.

The committee was formed in March 2007 with Lakshmi Sehgal, the founder-member of Rani Jhansi regiment of Indian National Army, as the chairperson. The members include former state finance minister Ashok Mitra and rights activists Sujato Bhadra and Nandita Haskar.