The anguish of a milkman held under TADA

A 72-year-old man who has been languishing in jail under the draconian Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act with 70 cases slapped on him, says he is innocent and is "being held with only circumstantial evidence."

The septugenarian milkman, Arjun Sharma, who has been in and out of jail several times, said he has ''lost'' his wife, children, and even his herd of buffaloes while he was under detention.

Arjun was produced before a city court on Friday but the case was adjourned till February 21.

His travails began in 1991 when he was picked up under TADA by the authorities for allegedly having links with the United Liberation Front of Asom after some guns were recovered from his premises in Chapanala in Nagaon district of the state.

His house happened to be situated close to the ULFA camp which was earlier raided by the police.

The milkman, of Nepali origin, claimed the guns that were seized belonged to the ULFA cadres who had hidden them beneath the cowdung piles in his yard.

Despite his protests, he was arrested and taken to Nagaon, thereby laying the foundation of his ruin.

Arjun said for two years after he was arrested, he languished in jail without a clue as to what was happening to him. Uneducated and with no legal assistance, he said he would have probably suffered more had not a group of senior lawyers come to his help.

The advocates got him out on bail but a bigger shock awaited him when he reached his house. He found that his wife and children were ''missing''. Also missing was his herd of buffaloes, his only source of livelihood.

But before he could try rebuilding his broken life, he was arrested once again and taken to jail. As luck would have it, he was released on bail after some lawyers pooled their resources.

For the old man, freedom did not bring much satisfaction since he had to attend the court almost every day. The daily trudges, he claimed, had finished him physically and financially.

Soon, his health deteriorated to such an extent that one day he found himself in a government hospital in Nagaon.

In the process he missed the summons to attend the hearings.

The police soon got wind of his admittance to the hospital and once again he was apprehended in February and whisked away quietly to Guwahati.

He was produced before a city court on Friday. It will hear five of the several cases filed against him on the designated day.

In the twilight of his life, the bitter man has only one last wish -- to walk out a free man once and for all.

''I am only a milkman, not a militant,'' he said fiercely, before breaking down into tears on the court premises.

UNI