Prof. Dibyendu Nandi's Appeal to Scientists

Update [9:30 p.m.]: Dr. Partho Sarothi Ray has been granted bail -- he should be out sometime in the morning tomorrow. Some good news, coming as it does on the 10th day of Partho's detention.

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Rahul has already posted the text of a letter from Prof. Dibyendu Nandi, an astrophysicist and Prof. Partho Sarothi Ray's colleague at IISER-Kolkata.

Prof. Nandi sent his letter by e-mail to quite a few people, and at his suggestion, I'm also posting it here -- the idea being that the call for justice for Prof. Ray should reach as many people as possible:

Fellow Scientists,

I am writing to you as an individual and in my personal capacity of having known you. You are perhaps, by now, aware of the plight of Partho Sarothi Ray -- a faculty at IISER Kolkata, whom I consider to be one of our most talented scientists. Partho was picked up by the police for a peaceful demonstration against the eviction of slum dwellers in Kolkata and is still in judicial custody. I would like to bring to your attention that a website detailing the case of Partho has been set up by some of us and is available at:

https://sites.google.com/site/appealforjusticeforpartho/

Personally for me, it has been difficult to come to terms with this case; however, I have come to realize that whether we completely support Partho's activities beyond academics, or not, is not the point. What is important is that there has been a miscarriage of justice to one of our fellow scientists; somebody who has never compromised on his science and his teaching at our Institute.

I encourage you to peruse the material in the website, including the many news stories and testimonials about Partho that are in the public domain and make an independent assessment. Based on this, I also request you to consider giving Partho's case and this website wide publicity within your Institutes, Scientific Organizations, Academies and beyond and join the appeal for justice. If you would like to give a testimonial on behalf of Partho and are willing to have it hosted in a public domain, write to us at: forpartho@gmail.com .