About Saumen Guha

Seeing his light of the day, Saumen Guha was natural child of drawing, painting and sculpture. Without any formal training, he learned the art and techniques from everything everywhere, from potters to painters, from life to library. But he counld not take painting and sculpture as his profession and prime passion. He engaged and expressed himself most romantically and artistically in revolutionary and human ideas and activities. The Life full of extreme ups and downs is his task‐master. Whenever it allowed, he painted his life’s dedications, devotions and dreams. Saumen was born in 1947, in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and brought up in a poor refugee family. He was involved in the Communist ideology and activities at an early age, and from 1967, was active in revolutionary movement led by the CPI(ML), called the ‘Naxalite’ Movement. He refused his job of Overseer of the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority in 1970 and spent some years with the poor peasants in Bengali villages.

He was arrested and brutally tortured by the police in 1974, and imprisoned for 3 years in jails. His wife Latika and elder sister Archana were also arrested and brutally tortured by the police and imprisoned. In 1977, Saumen planned, initiated and continued the legendary ‘Archana Guha Case’ against the torture in police custody, internationally famous in the struggle for human rights, and devoted his entire time, energy and life to the battle against the torturers and torture‐system. Finally to save the case, Saumen appeared as the Counsel for the Prosecution in the case, which after 19 years of battle, saw its historic victory. The case was being further continued for a retrial. Saumen loves singing, painting and reading. He himself wrote some books and many articles in Bengali and English, on various subjects, including human and civil rights. His audio‐cassette of folksongs of the world ‘Musical Millennium’ was released in 2000. Presently, Saumen is busy with his 33 years’ research on ‘Socio‐Legal History of Repression and Torture in India’. Saumen’s country‐house ‘Ashroy’, far from the madding crowd, is his shelter for the passion and practice of fine arts.