Impressive Protest Against Dr. Binayak Sen’s sentence
Dec. 30. More than 600 people gathered at Town Hall in Bangalore to protest under the banner of “Free Binayak Sen” against the outlandish judgment meted out to Binayak Sen amounting to life imprisonment by the Raipur Additional District and Sessions Court in Chatiisgarh. The protest was led by People Union of Civil Liberties – PUCL, which was cooperated by several political, Peoples’ Movement & human rights organizations.
Protest was addressed by many eminent personalities from the city that included Justice M F Saldana, U R Ananthmurthy (Kannada writer), Advocate Balan (AITUC), Agni Sridhar, C S Dwarkanath (ex Chairman of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes) & several others terming the entire judgment as “judicial terrorism”, “….an atrocity of the worst order.” assault on democracy & so on.
The law on sedition came into particular focus with this draconian & colonial law that had been used against stalwarts of Indian independence struggle including Mahatma Gandhi, today being freely used by the ruling classes of this country against individuals expressing open dissent, such as the well known writer Arundathi Roy recently, now Binayak Sen & countless others before them.
It goes without saying that Dr. Binayak Sen (Vice – Precident of PUCL) is an acknowledged community health practitioner & human rights activist worldwide, who chose to work among the most marginalized communities (which could have otherwise given him a comfortable life) in one of the most backward states like Chattisgarh. While the most corrupt politicians like A Raja (ex Telecommunication minisiter) or Suresh Kalmadi (CWG chairman) or Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurppa & other corrupt bureaucrats including many in the judiciary are allowed to walk away freely, but a conscientious man like Dr. Binayak Sen with an impeccable record of fighting for the human rights has been unjustly targeted by the ruling classes. In the name of fighting Naxalism and terrorism the Indian state cooperated to by both the big bourgeois parties; Congress and the BJP are using all the political weapons in hand including the largely subservient judiciary to silence the radical dissent in the country. (which earlier refused to grant Binayak bail for 2 yrs!). Dr. Binayak Sen, combining pediatric profession with the pursuit of human rights, has been in the forefront through his tireless exposure of the state atrocities against tribals in name of combating Maoism.
All this comes in the wake of the ruling classes making all out attempts to quell dissent in any form through Operation Green Hunts (& thus militarization of the law & order situation), Unique Identification Number – UID (which is nothing more than state surveillance), Armed Forces Special Powers Act – AFSPA, sedition laws & many such paranoid attempts, which are indicators that all is not so well in the so called ’emerging economy’ that is boasting its growth potential. The denial to hold public protest in Chennai on Dec. 31st against Binayak Sen conviction by the city police there is a pointer in that direction.
If anything, this judgment has shattered the myth built around the World’s largest democracy & proves beyond doubt when the status quo of the ruling classes lie threatened, it would – by any evil means necessary – restore the extraordinary powers it enjoys vis a vis capitalism & landlordism.