Country's oldest TADA detenue finally released on bail

GUWAHATI, January 26: What could be the best gift for a 73-year old man on the occasion of Republic Day, then being finally released, though on bail, after languishing for over seven years in prison following his arrest in connection with as many as 85 TADA cases ? And exactly that has happened to Arjun Sharma, a person of Nepal origin, who has been in Assam since he was fourteen years old. Sharma was arrested in the wake of the counter-insurgency operations launched in the state way back in November, 1990. Arrested first on November 28, 1990, a day after Operation Bajrang was launched against the ULFA, the allegation against Sharma is that the Army had recovered over 100 arms, mostly double-barrel rifles, from his 'khuti' (a typical dairy farm) located at Chapanala. Sharma's 'khuti' was located close to an ULFA camp that was busted a day earlier. The arms were recovered from under a dump of cow-dung outside his 'khuti.' Since then it has been a harrowing time for Sharma, who has lost not only his milch cows and other properties, but even his wife, who eloped with another person, a story ideal for making an art film featuring somebody like Anupam Kher (remember 'Saransh' ?) on this court-kutchuri system that we have to bear with.On the first occasion he spent nearly two years in prison, and was charge-sheeted in as many as 80 of the 85 cases slammed against him, all under the provisions of TADA. Though he was summoned by the designated, hardly did those reach him, until he was served a non-bailable warrant and arrested on September 12, 1993. Following his release on bail again, Sharma went back to Chapanala and collected some resources to set up his 'khuti' once again. Summons were issued again, but like before, those did not reach him, until the court located him when a newspaper published a front page story about he being admitted to the Nagaon Civil Hospital. That was on February two, 1997. Since then he was languishing in the Guwahati District Jail, with nobody bothering for him, until Shantanu Bharali, a young lawyer learnt about him and came to his rescue. Bharali tried for long to locate his kins, and finally got some other Nepali milk traders who knew Sharma as well as his native village address. "We got some people to track down his family at Palpa, a village in Western Nepal, some 300 kms away from Kathmandu, where his 90-plus old mother was still alive," said Bharali. In fact, people back home at Palpa had been told a few years ago that Arjun Sharma had died, and the family members even performed his last rites. "It was only his first wife who refused to buy this story. We were told that she died a few years ago with the vermilion mark on her forehead," the lawyer added. Following that, Bharali, who is also the coordinator of the newly-formed Rights Foundation, also pleaded with the Principal Judge of the Designated Court to club all the cases (that had by then come down to 65) together, so that Sharma was spared from being brought for appearance almost everyday. "The honourable court was kind enough to listen to this prayer," said Bharali, and when finally, Krishna Sharma, a cousin of the accused arrived from Nepal, the court granted him bail for as many as 53 of the 65 cases yesterday. "Arjun Sharma's is definitely a case much different from that of others. Nowhere in the country has any person been held for so many TADA cases. And he probably is the oldest person to be ever arrested under TADA," said another activist of the Rights Foundation. Arjun Sharma, free at last, though temporarily -- because the cases have not come to a close -- yesterday left for Shillong, where his cousin has some relatives. And from there he is going back to Palpa, his home, where his ailing mother is still waiting for him.