KOCHI: A slew of globally renowned intellectuals and social scientists led by Prof Noam Chomsky have called for proper medical care to K. Muraleedharan, a Maoist prisoner from Kerala, currently admitted to Sassoon Government Hospital in Pune. Prof Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Partha Chatterjee of Columbia University have also endorsed the call for saving the ailing under-trial prisoner. In an email message to the committee campaigning for proper medical care to him, the MIT scholar said he was “happy to sign the statement”. The three have also endorsed the call for a “fair, transparent and speedy trial of Mr Muraleedharan or releasing him on bail”.
Dr Prabhat Patnaik, former vice-chairman of Kerala State Planning Board, Prof Anand Teltumbde of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Bernard D’Mello, deputy editor of Economic and Political Weekly and poet K. Satchidanandan are other signatories. Admitted to Sassoon Government Hospital in Pune with chest pain three days ago, the ailing prisoner was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday evening abruptly. Human rights activist here said sending back Muraleedharan from hospital to jail poses a serious threat to his life.
