Indian doctor arrested under antiterrorism law

Demonstrators in six Indian cities last week called for the release of a paediatrician arrested under controversial antiterrorism laws in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

Binayak Sen, a noted civil rights activist, was arrested on 14 May accused of using prison visits to pass a message between two prisoners accused of involvement in local Maoist rebel groups.

Chhattisgarh is one of several Indian states troubled by a longstanding insurgency led by disparate Maoist guerrilla groups, known as Naxalites, after the town of Naxal where the movement originated. The Naxalites have support among local indigenous communities in remote areas of the state.

Chhattisgarh's state government …