[Reader-list] [Announcements] Raipur Satyagraha for the Release of Dr. Binayak Sen

[Monica Narula]

It is now 21 months since Dr Binayak Sen, the well-known public health  
and human rights activist was imprisoned by the Chhattisgarh  
government on false charges of abetting activities of an outlawed  
organisation.

All of us, individuals and organisations, who have been concerned,  
protested and struggled for Dr Binayak Sen ‘s release all these months  
have decided to launch a satyagraha/civil disobedience movement in  
Raipur to prevail upon the Government to reverse its illegitimate  
action.

Satyagraha will be launched in the coming weeks and continued every  
Monday thereon at the jail in Raipur where Dr Binayak Sen is  
incarcerated. The one-point demand of the satyagraha is the release of  
Dr Binayak Sen. Let us all, who stand for freedom , unite to protest  
in the spirit of satayagraha and respecting the norms of civil  
disobedience.

We call upon civil society groups, human and civil rights  
organisations, trade unions, lawyers, medical professionals and  
womens' groups, organisations and individuals from across the  
political spectrum to send contingents of civil resisters to Raipur to  
take part in the Raipur Satyagraha for the Release of Dr. Binayak Sen.

Resist the use of bail as punitive measure to intimidate human rights  
defenders

During the entire period which he has been kept in Raipur Jail, Dr  
Binayak Sen’s pleas for bail have been refused by judicial  
institutions at all levels in the country. While the Raipur Sessions  
court rejected his bail application in July 2007, the Chhattisgarh  
High Court denied bail twice, first in July 2007 and again in December  
2008. On an earlier occasion, the Supreme Court of India also refused  
to consider the bail petition, without citing any specific reason,  
ironically on Human Rights Day, 2007.

The best traditions of justice and precedents set by Indian courts  
themselves demand that ‘bail should be the rule and jail the  
exception’. Bail is normally denied only to those accused who are  
likely to run away, repeat the crime or tamper with evidence. None of  
these conditions apply in the case of Dr Binayak Sen. He was arrested  
when he voluntarily went to the police on 14 May 2007 after learning  
they were looking for him. Bail cannot be used as a punitive measure;  
rather, it is an inherent civil right in democracy and an essential  
part of the Indian criminal justice system.

No evidence to back the charges against Dr Binayak Sen

Though Dr Binayak Sen has been arrested on grave charges under the  
draconian Chhattisgarh State Public Security Act, none of the 38  
witnesses produced in his trial so far at a sessions court in Raipur  
have corroborated any of these charges. In December 2008, 18 months  
after his arrest, the State called in 47 extra witnesses to testify.  
The Chhattisgarh government and its police have also not been able to  
provide any proof of his involvement in illegal activities.

Dr Binayak Sen was arrested by the Chhattisgarh police for allegedly  
passing on letters from Narayan Sanyal , a senior member of the  
Communist Party of India (Maoist) in Raipur jail to Piyush Guha, a  
Raipur businessman accused of assisting the Maoists. The fact of the  
matter is that Dr. Binayak Sen met Mr. Sanyal in prison with  
permission from jail authorities as he was providing medical care to  
Mr. Sanyal. There are records to prove this.

In the days and months following his incarceration, Dr Binayak Sen has  
received tremendous support from the people of India, and outside. 22  
Nobel Laureates signed a letter in support of Dr Binayak Sen. Both  
international and national media, television and print, through news  
stories and editorials, has consistently pointed to the unjustified  
nature of Dr Binayak Sen’s imprisonment. Moreover, among the wider  
public too, there is a palpable sense of indignation, dissatisfaction  
and frustration with the way the Indian legal system and executive has  
responded to Dr Binayak Sen’s case.

All these factors bring into focus the moral dimension of illegitimacy  
of Dr Binayak Sen’s continued detention. We believe that in such a  
situation, where, Dr Binayak Sen has repeatedly been denied the most  
fundamental of legal rights, it is our moral responsibility as  
citizens to protest his arrest and call for his release.

Please circulate this appeal widely.

Please contact the satyagraha volunteers in New Delhi at releasebinayak at gmail.com 
  to indicate your or your organisation’s intent to participate in the  
satyagraha.

In solidarity,

Kamayani

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