Sikhs, Kashmiris rot in jails  

New Delhi: At least 25,000 political prisoners, including some prisoners of conscience, were held without charge or trail under special or preventive detention laws in India, according to Amnesty International’s annual report of 1992 for the period Jan. to Dec. 1991. It said that although the Indian Govt. seldom issued relevant statistics on the number of people detained or imprisoned for political reasons, official sources suggested in May that 11,000 Sikhs were being held for political reasons in Punjab alone. It said: “Thousands of detainees were held in Jammu and Kashmir; the state governor said in October that 5,000 “militants” and 2,500 “accomplices” were being held but civil liberties groups suggested that the actual total could be 15,000. (Times of India July 11)