Political Prisoners-A Matter of Definition

September 28, 1974 Political Prisoners NOT surprisingly, the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought to dismiss, cavalier fashion, the allegations contained in Amnesty International's report on political prisoners in West Bengal, the full text of which was published in this journal last week. The Ministry's spokesman has disputed Amnesty Inter- nationals estimate that the number of political prisoners in West Bengal is currently between 15,000 and 20,000. The government actually expects it to be believed that the number of those kept behind bars for political reasons in West Bengal is only 1,609