Indian Academy Of Social Sciences Gold Medal Citation
New Internationalist article
07_12_23_HT_Mumbai_BinayakStory
Media Watch Update 17/11/2007
Media Watch Update 30/09/2007
A Youtube video Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJDr83GwAJY
More Videos here:
http://www.ibnlive. com/videos/ 49612/09_ 2007/30min_ dr_courage1a/ dr-binayak- sen-man-with- a-mission. html
An excellent video here:http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/40804/activist-held-pucl-members-outraged.html
Australian National Radio Coverage: Download as MP3 here http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2007/1949174.htm The British Medical Journal Coverage: BMJ 2007;334:1184-1185 (9 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39237.523206.4E NewsIndian doctor arrested under antiterrorism lawOwen Dyer London 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 has encouraged the growth of an armed civilian militia to counter these groups, known as the salwa judum in the Gondi language—or "peace mission." About 45 000 people have been swept out of their forest villages into guarded camps since the militia was created in June 2005. Reports of serious human rights abuses by both sides are commonplace. Dr Sen worked on behalf of indigenous communities for 30 years. He helped to found a cooperative hospital for mine workers, the Shaheed hospital, and played a big part in evolving a statewide programme of training community health workers. He also became active in monitoring human rights violations, and in the past two years has reported numerous abuses by civilian militia and state police. Dr Sen is the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh unit of the People's Union for Civil Liberties, one of India's leading human rights organisations. The police allege that Dr Sen passed a letter from one inmate of Raipur jail to another while visiting prisoners in his capacity as a human rights observer. He was detained under the provisions of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005, which allows detention without charge for up to seven years, without judicial remedy, bail, or appeal, of anyone suspected by police of aiding the Maoist insurgency. Amnesty International has taken up his case, demanding that he be freed or charged with a recognised criminal offence. On 25 May, he was charged under the Indian penal code with criminal conspiracy, conspiracy to wage war against the state, and sedition. Ramesh Gopalakrishnan, of Amnesty International, told the BMJ that the organisation is still calling for his release. "These offences allow sweeping interpretations of criminal intent. Activists in India are arrested all the time on such charges, which give wide, arbitrary powers to police," he said. Joel Almeida, a friend of Dr Sen who recently organised a small protest outside the Indian High Commission in London, said, "Dr Sen is a champion of peace and fair play and an internationally respected medical doctor who has devoted his whole life to peaceful service of the poorest people. He should be released immediately." Dr Sen is currently being held at Raipur jail, where supporters report he is reasonably comfortable. He remains on judicial remand after a court bid by police failed to transfer him to their custody. The salwa judum militia is facing a challenge to its legitimacy in the Indian Supreme Court. On 20 May the court ordered Chhattisgarh state to produce a report explaining the group's existence. NEWIND PRESS.COM
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SOS from alma mater for an illustrious student Click here to get the latest Tamil Nadu news on your BSNL mobile. VELLORE: The medical community in the Christian Medical College (CMC) here is a worried lot. They are anxious for the safety and well-being of their alumnus, Dr Binayak Sen, who had been jailed in Chhattigarh on May 14, for ‘activities in defence of the rights and liberties of tribal poor in the state.’ |
From THE HINDU
National
Activist groups condemn PUCL leader's arrest
Special Correspondent
An act of State repression and gross human rights violation, say social activists
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Cases against Dr. Sen "unjustified" He espouses cause of Adivasis
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JAIPUR : Activist groups have strongly criticised the arrest of Binayak Sen, national vice-president of the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), by the Chhattisgarh police.
The arrest of the well-known medical practitioner and social activist under the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 (CSPSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 was an act of ``vengeful'' State repression and a gross violation of human rights, they said.
The cases against Dr. Sen for espousing the cause of innocent Adivasis caught in the cross fire of the administration and the Maoists were unjustified, they said.
Magsaysay award winner Aruna Roy, who led the protests, and Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan activist Bhanwar Meghvanshi pointed out in a letter to Chief Minister Raman Singh that Dr. Sen was a noted human rights activist and an esteemed member of the medical community. ``We have known Dr. Sen for the past 20 years and are shocked to learn that the Government of Chhattisgarh has arrested him,'' they said.
It was deplorable that the Government was harassing sincere social activists who had dedicated their lives to working for the people, instead of addressing the real issues of poverty and economic marginalisation. Dr. Sen and the PUCL had consistently and courageously highlighted the gross human rights violations and injustices being committed in Chhattisgarh, they noted.
``As citizens of India, we are all very concerned about the deteriorating condition of human rights and the threat of civil war in your State, which is also the cause for a great deal of concern at the national and international level,'' they said. Even K.P.S. Gill, who was adviser to the State Government on naxalism, had recently stated in an interview that the problem of Chhattisgarh was not naxalism but the administration, the letter said.
Rajasthan PUCL functionaries, Than Singh and Kavita Srivastava, in a statement, said the Chhattisgarh PUCL and Dr .Sen were instrumental in exposing the extra legal ``murders'' committed by the State police in the name of encounters. The police were accusing him of meeting Maoist leaders in jail, but he did that openly and after following the due process of law, they said.
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NDTV Coverage here: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070012223
Amnesty International Statement:
India: Human rights defender detained amid harassment of adivasi indigenous
rights activists
16 May 2007
Amnesty International is concerned over the apparently arbitrary arrest and detention of
Dr. Binayak Sen, a human rights defender at Raipur in the central Indian state of
Chhattisgarh, and the police harassment of two other human rights defenders in the state.
Dr. Sen is the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh unit of the People’s Union
for Civil Liberties, one of India’s foremost human rights organizations, and has been
instrumental in working on access to health for adivasi communities in the state. On 14
May 2007, he was detained at the Tarbahar Police Station, Bilaspur district, when he was
returning from Kolkotta to Raipur. On May 15, he was lodged in Raipur prison. Police
officials later sealed his residence and searched his clinic. His organic farm in a nearby
village was also searched.
Reports say Dr. Sen has been detained under provisions of the Chhattisgarh
Special Public Security Act, 2006 (CSPSA), and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,
1967), which was amended in 2004 to include key aspects of the Prevention of Terrorist
Activities Act (POTA), 2002. The POTA was repealed in 2004 following widespread
criticism of abuse and human rights violations. The CSPSA and UAPA allow for
arbitrary detention of persons suspected of belonging to an unlawful organization or
participating in its activities or giving protection to any member of such an organization.
The PUCL has stated that, apart from Dr. Sen, two other PUCL members,
Rashmi Dwivedi and Gautam Bandopadhyay, have been facing harassment and threats
of arrest from the police. The three have been actively protecting the rights of adivasis
(indigenous communities) in the face of escalating violence in Chattisgarh between
armed Maoists and Salwa Judum, an armed anti-Maoist campaign widely regarded as
sponsored by the state government. They have been instrumental in bringing to light
unlawful killings of advisis , sexual assault of adivasi women and disappearances of adivasi
youth. The latest instance was the unlawful killing of seven adivisis in Santoshpur village
in Bastar-Dantewada area on 31 March. While the state police had earlier claimed that
those killed were Maoists, the state government recently ordered an inquiry into the
killings after which the bodies have been exhumed last week.
The PUCL has stated that police allege that Dr. Sen had passed letters from
Narayan Sanyal, a detained leader of the banned CPI (Maoist) who he had met in the
Raipur jail last month, to Piyush Guha an alleged member of CPI (Maoist) under
detention since 1 May. Dr. Sen, at the time of his arrest, told the media that this charge
had no basis since the prison authorities were present during for all the meeting with
Narayan Sanyal.
Amnesty International urges the Government of Chhattisgarh to immediately
release Dr. Sen unless he is charged with a recognizable criminal offence and take urgent
steps to end the harassment of the other human rights defenders in the state.
BACKGROUND
Since 2005, Chhattisgarh, especially the Bastar-Dantewada area, has witnessed escalation
of violence between the Maoists and the Salwa Judum. Civilians were routinely targeted on
both sides, resulting in at least 300 deaths. The latest unlawful killings took place on 31
Also, 45,000 adivasis displaced from their homes have been forced to live in special
camps putting them at increased risk of violence.
The Chhattisgarh state government claimed that it enacted the CSPSA to take action
against the Maoists. Human rights organizations in India have criticised the CSPSA
saying that it has several provisions similar to those in POTA. These include:
violation of the principle of certainty in criminal law (including vague definition
of membership and support to terrorist organisations);
absence of pre-trial safeguards (including insufficient safeguards on arrest, the
risk of torture, obstacles to confidential communications with counsel);
virtual impossibility of obtaining bail as there is no provision for remedy of
appeal or review of detention;
threats to freedom of expression and
threats to freedom of association.
Message From the Director of CMC Vellore:
Date: 5/16/2007 7:43:14 AM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:,
Subject: Petition for release of Binayak Sen from imprisonment
Dear Friends,
You may have heard that Dr. Binayak Sen (Batch of 1966 from Christian Medical College, Vellore) was imprisoned this afternoon, May 14 in Raipur for his civil liberties work among the tribals of Chattisgarh. We are requesting for his immediate release by petitioning the President of India, Prime Minister of India, President of the National Human Rights Commission and Governor of Chhattisgarh.
We request your support by adding your name to this on-line petition.
1. Press control + click on the following link to take you to the petition: http://petitiononline.com/Binayak/petition.html
2. Please read the petition titled: “Release of Dr. Binayak Sen, Vice President National PUCL, from imprisonment”
3. If you would like to sign the petition, please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on. "click here to sign petition" and follow instructions that appear. Please include your e-mail although it will not appear on the petition.
The petition needs to be sent to the President at the latest by May 15, 2007 evening. We would request you to urgently attend to the concern and circulate it to all friends and colleagues of Binayak.
With warm regards,
Yours sincerely,
George M. Chandy
Director
Christian Medical College
Ida Scudder Road, Vellore - 632004
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone 0091 416 2282010 / 2232024
Fax 0091 416 2232054
www.cmch-vellore.edu
http://home.cmcvellore.ac.in
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