Detention Conditions in West Bengal-Text of Report by Amnesty International

WHEN Jawaharlal Nehru published his autobiography in 1936, he could write that "political imprisonment had become a frequent enough occurrence in India".* Nehru himself, like many other prominent Indian leaders, suffered from political detention on several occasions under the Defence of India Rules (DIR) and the Indian Penal Code, both introduced by the then British Government. Both these laws are still in force in India and being used to detain people with different opinions from the Government in power. Observations once made by Nehru while in prison are now relevant to many of the prisoners held in India today.