Detente Medal

Detente Medal

The Journey of Dr. Binayak Sen

As soon as an order was passed by the Supreme Court on April 15th 2011 that Dr.Binayak Sen has to be released proved the point that justice still exists in this country. Dr Sen was arrested in May 2007 on the suspicion that he had served as a courier for Narayan Sanyal. Prison records indicate that Dr.Sanyal had visited Mr.Sanyal several times in the Raipur jail, where Mr.Sanyal was lodged, to which Dr. Sen maintained that he had made the visits in his capacity as a doctor and the Chhattisgarh secretary of the People's Union for Civil Liberties. Last year in the month of December 24th the Raipur district and session's court sentenced Dr.Sen, Kolkatta businessman Pijush Guha and alleged Maoist activist Narayan Sanyal to life imprisonment on the charges of conspiring to commit sedition and aiding the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).

Profile of Binayak Sen

 Binayak Sen is an Indian pediatrician, public health specialist and activist and also the national Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties. He started first working as a pediatrician extending health care to poor people in the rural-tribal areas of the Chattisgarh state, and also a human rights activist. While Sen has worked with the state government on health sector reforms he has also strongly criticized the government on human rights violations during the anti-Naxalite operations, while advocating non-violent political engagement. In May 2007, he was detained for allegedly supporting the outlawed Naxalites, thereby violating the provisions of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 (CSPSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. He and his wife played key roles in the foundation of the set up of Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha's Shaheed Hospital which is owned and operated by a workers' organization and a community-based Non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Rupantar. He is also an advisor to Jan Swasthya Sahyog, a health care organization. Apart from this he has also written in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet (in its edition of 12 February 2011) where he talked about the lack of basic amenities in the healthcare to the poor in India.

As a People's Union for Civil Liberties activist

 As an activist he helped to organize numerous investigations into alleged human rights violations carried out during anti-Naxalite operations. These alleged violations included the murder of unarmed and innocent civilians by the anti-Naxalite movement Salwa Judum.

 In his interview in the year 2008, Dr. Sen stated that he does not blame the naxalites but at the same time he does not approve of their violent methods and has several times spoken strongly about it.  He has also expressed his opposition to the violent activities carried out by Salwa Judum, which he believes, would have created a split in the tribal community.  According to him peaceful methods should be advocated such as negotiations to solve the problem.

Awards bestowed on him.

 He was the recipient in 2004 of the Paul Harrison award for a lifetime of service to the rural poor. This award is given annually by the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India to its alumni. He was also awarded the R.R. Keithan Gold Medal by The Indian Academy of Social Sciences (ISSA) on 31 December 2007 which described him as "one of the most eminent scientists" of India. "The award was given for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of science of Nature-Man-Society and his honest and sincere application for the improvement of quality of life of the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed people of Chhattisgarh." His "suffering and personal risk" would inspire scientists as well as the general public for a very long time, according to the citation.

  He was also selected for the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2008. The Global Health Council in its public statement said that his accomplishments is a proof about what can be achieved in very poor areas when health practitioners are also committed community leaders. He has also staffed a hospital which was created by and funded by impoverished mine workers, and has spent his lifetime in educating people about health practices and civil liberties—providing information that has saved lives and improved conditions for thousands of people. His good works need to be recognized as a major contribution to India and to global health; they are certainly not a threat to state security."

His trial times

 On 14th May 2007, Sen was arrested in Bilaspur on the charges of acting as a courier between jailed Naxalite leader Narayan Sanyal and businessman Piyush Guha, also accused of having links with Naxalites. Sen had met the 70-year-old Sanyal 33 times in Raipur jail, though all the visits were with prior police permission. The Chhattisgarh police also reportedly relied on certain electronic documents to establish a link between Sen and Naxalites. The evidence presented against Sen included-

• A post card dated 3rd  June 2006, written by Narayan Sanyal to Binayak Sen from Raipur Central Jail, regarding his health and legal case, duly signed by the Jail authorities
• A yellow coloured book "On the Unity between CPI and Maoist Communist Centre".
• A letter written by Madanlal Banjare of CPI (Maoist) to Binayak Sen.
• An article titled "Krantikari Janwadi Morcha (ITF) (Revolutionary People's Front) Vaishvikaran evam Bharatiya Seva Kshetra; (Globalization and the Service Sector in India)
• Two articles titled "Naxal Movement, Tribals and Women's Movement" and "How to build an Anti-US Imperialist Front."

 On 15th May 2007, Sen was presented before a local court where he was denied the bail and was remanded to judicial custody. On 18th  May, he was produced in the Sessions

Court, Raipur where in the Court ordered a search of Sen's house at Katora Talab in Raipur in presence of independent witnesses and his wife, Ilina Sen. The search was conducted lawfully the next day. His bail plea was again rejected on 25 May denied, as the Chhattisgarh Police claimed that he was a threat to the security of the State. But his arrest led to the supporters of Binayak Sen organizing a series of rallies, in several cities including Raipur, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, London, Boston and New York, to protest against his arrest. Various delegations of physicians and human rights activists had met chief secretary and law secretary to appeal for Sen's release.

  But there were people who did not want Dr. Sen to get the bail and they said that protestors were not well versed with the workings of Binayak Sen or the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. The Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Hyderabad was given the orders by the session court to analyze the content of Sen's computer during 6th to 11th June 2007. On 7th  June 2007, Sen's wife Ilina Sen wrote a letter to the National Human Rights Commission, stating that the couple's work "has always been in the public sphere and completely overboard [above board] for the last 20 years and more." According to her the Chattisgarh State has its own vested interests in identifying the victims and then building up false cases against them.

His trial times

 On 14th May 2007, Sen was arrested in Bilaspur on the charges of acting as a courier between jailed Naxalite leader Narayan Sanyal and businessman Piyush Guha, also accused of having links with Naxalites. Sen had met the 70-year-old Sanyal 33 times in Raipur jail, though all the visits were with prior police permission. The Chhattisgarh police also reportedly relied on certain electronic documents to establish a link between Sen and Naxalites. The evidence presented against Sen included-

• A post card dated 3rd  June 2006, written by Narayan Sanyal to Binayak Sen from Raipur Central Jail, regarding his health and legal case, duly signed by the Jail authorities
• A yellow coloured book "On the Unity between CPI and Maoist Communist Centre".
• A letter written by Madanlal Banjare of CPI (Maoist) to Binayak Sen.
• An article titled "Krantikari Janwadi Morcha (ITF) (Revolutionary People's Front) Vaishvikaran evam Bharatiya Seva Kshetra; (Globalization and the Service Sector in India)
• Two articles titled "Naxal Movement, Tribals and Women's Movement" and "How to build an Anti-US Imperialist Front."

On 15th May 2007, Sen was presented before a local court where he was denied the bail and was remanded to judicial custody. On 18th  May, he was produced in the Sessions

Court, Raipur where in the Court ordered a search of Sen's house at Katora Talab in Raipur in presence of independent witnesses and his wife, Ilina Sen. The search was conducted lawfully the next day. His bail plea was again rejected on 25 May denied, as the Chhattisgarh Police claimed that he was a threat to the security of the State. But his arrest led to the supporters of Binayak Sen organizing a series of rallies, in several cities including Raipur, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, London, Boston and New York, to protest against his arrest. Various delegations of physicians and human rights activists had met chief secretary and law secretary to appeal for Sen's release.

  But there were people who did not want Dr. Sen to get the bail and they said that protestors were not well versed with the workings of Binayak Sen or the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. The Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Hyderabad was given the orders by the session court to analyze the content of Sen's computer during 6th to 11th June 2007. On 7th  June 2007, Sen's wife Ilina Sen wrote a letter to the National Human Rights Commission, stating that the couple's work "has always been in the public sphere and completely overboard [above board] for the last 20 years and more." According to her the Chattisgarh State has its own vested interests in identifying the victims and then building up false cases against them.

Amnesty International

Amnesty International, sees the arrest of Dr.Sen as a harrasment of a human rights activist.  It issued a call to the Government of Chhattisgarh to immediately release Sen, unless he could be charged with a cognizable offence. On 7th  June 2007, the British House of Commons published an Early Day Motion entitled "Arrest of Dr. Binayak Sen" supported by several Members of Parliament across party lines, including Diane Abbott (Labour), Peter Bottomley (Conservative), John Hemming (Liberal Democrat), Dai Davies (Independent, Wales), Mike Weir (Scottish NP), among others.

 Various views about Sen's arrest.

 On 9th June 2007, the British Medical Journal published an article about Sen's arrest. Ramesh Gopalkrishnan of Amnesty International stated that the arrest of Dr.Sen was of criminal intent. According to him in India activists are arrested all the time on such charges giving wide arbitrary powers to police. The report also stated that 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 and should be released immediately. Noam Chomsky and several other prominent figures issued a press statement dated 16th June 2007 alleging that "Dr Sen's arrest is clearly an attempt to intimidate People's Union for Civil Liberties(PUCL) and other democratic voices that have been speaking out against human rights violations in the state."

  On 20th June 2007 a delegation from the PUCL met the Chief Minister (CM) of Chhattisgarh state, and objected to Sen being accused of supporting the Naxalites. The delegation insisted that Sen's visits to the jailed Naxalite Narayan Sanyal were for the latter's "medical treatment" and these visits took place in the Raipur jail, following procedures laid down in the jail manual." The PUCL delegation also raised objections about the analysis of Sen's computer in the absence of Sen's advocate and the independent court-appointed witness that they said could have offered the chance to tamper with evidence. The court had ordered on 22nd May 2007 that both these observers should be present during the examination of Sen's computer. Nobel laureate economist and thinker Amartya Sen also criticized the Dec 2010 verdict for Sen's imprisonment. He stated that instead of getting his due honor for his service, Sen had met with an unfortunate verdict.

 On 23rd July, lawyers of Binayak Sen approached the Chhattisgarh High Court at Bilaspur with the bail plea of his but his plea was rejected. Police claimed that they had got incriminating evidences against Binayk Sen from his hard disc belonging to him. On August 3rd, 2007, Chhattisgarh Police filed charge-sheets under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 (CSPSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Satyabhama Dubey against Sen.

 The evidence presented against him included his meetings with the jailed Naxalite leader Narayan Sanyal and certain documents allegedly supporting his links with the Naxalites. He first applied for bail before the Raipur Sessions Court and then the Chhattisgarh High Court in July 2007, soon after his arrest. On 31st August 2007 the Supreme Court of India issued notice to the Chhattisgarh government on a petition seeking Sen's release from alleged illegal detention. A bench of Justices Ashok Bhan and V. S. Sirpurkar sought a response from the Chhattisgarh government after senior counsel Soli Sorabjee claimed that Sen was illegally detained since 14th May on fabricated charges of supporting Naxalites. But it was refused. On December 10th, 2007, Supreme Court dismissed Sen's bail petition. A Bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhan and D K Jain refused to accept Sen's plea, at this stage, that he was only an activist of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and was in no way connected with the banned outfit CPI-ML. On the point that that there was no evidence to suggest that he was involved in naxal activities, Bench while rejecting the same said "You are emphasizing too much on PUCL. This does not mean that you are immune. This also does not mean your are not associated with banned activities."

 Sen was kept in solitary confinement during the period from 15th March to 11th April 2008. The prison authorities stated that this was for his security. Sen's wife Ilina stated that he has been isolated from the world during his year of imprisonment, with access to only pro-government newspaper. On 29th April 2008, Human Rights Watch in New York issued a public statement regarding the trial of Sen due to begin in Raipur on 30th April 2008: "the district court's limit of one supporter of the defendant at the trial is unnecessarily restrictive and raises broader concerns about the fairness of the trial."

 The Global Health Council, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School and several other prominent global health organizations issued a joint statement of support for Sen, requesting that Indian authorities allow the doctor to receive the Jonathan Mann Award for Health and Human Rights in person in Washington, D.C. on 29 May 2008, at the 35th Annual International Conference on Global Health.

   The Global Health Council, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School and several other prominent global health organizations issued a joint statement of support for Sen, requesting that Indian authorities allow the doctor to receive the Jonathan Mann Award for Health and Human Rights in person in Washington, D.C. on 29 May 2008, at the 35th Annual International Conference on Global Health.

 The declaration stated: "We would also like to convey our concern and dismay that Dr. Sen remains imprisoned, after nearly one year without trial, on allegations that he passed notes from a rebel leader whom he treated in jail to a person outside the prison. Dr. Sen has denied all wrong doings and nothing in his character or history, as a dedicated community leader who has urged a peaceful settlement to this conflict for years, would support the accusations made against him. These allegations have not been substantiated or proven and have prevented Dr. Sen from providing his much-needed health services to the poor in his area, as well as his community leadership activities as an officer of the People's Union for Civil Liberties." Twenty-two Nobel laureates from around the world wrote to India's President and Prime Minister and Chhattisgarh state authorities. They said Sen should be allowed to travel to the US to receive the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. "We also wish to express grave concern that Dr Sen appears to be incarcerated solely for peacefully exercising his fundamental human rights," the letter said. This is "in contravention of Articles 19 (freedom of opinion and expression) and 22 (freedom of association) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - to which India is a state party - and that he is charged under two internal security laws that do not comport with international human rights standards," it added.Doctors across India started holding free clinics for the poor in tribute to the example of Sen and to peacefully campaign for his release. The Government of India led by the Indian National Congress which is the opposition party in the state of Chhattisgarh reacted strongly to international appeals for the release of Dr Binayak Sen. The Government feels that the issue around Dr Binayak Sen is a well orchestrated campaign and just because he is selected for a western award, does not make him less guilty in their view. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the State Government is right in opposing Dr Sen's appeal.

 The trial against Binayak Sen began in the trial court in Raipur on 30th May 2008. On 4th May 2008, Supreme Court issued notice to Chhattisgarh government on Sen's bail plea. It asked the state government to provide "best medical aid" to Sen, who is suffering from a heart ailment. On August 11th, 2008, a second bail petition was filed in the Chhattisgarh High Court in Bilaspur. On 21st October, Sen made a public appeal and proposal for peace in South Bastar. Sen was granted bail on 25 May 2009 by a vacation bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Deepak Verma as his health conditions were deteriorating.

 On 24th December 2010, the Additional Sessions and District Court Judge B.P Varma Raipur found Binayak Sen, Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha, guilty of sedition for helping the Maoists in their fight against the state. They were sentenced to life imprisonment. Immediately after the sentencing, Dr. Sen's bail was revoked and he was taken back into custody.

 Binayak Sen was held guilty under Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, of being a conduit between Naxals and of meeting Narayan Sanyal in jail. The trio has also been convicted under provisions of section 124A of Indian Penal Code (IPC) (sedition) and 120-B Indian Penal Code (conspiracy). Binayak Sen's sentence has been condemned both in India and internationally. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has condemned the judgment as "unjust".

 Against this judgement, Binayak again applied for bail on 6th Jan 2011. Sen's lawyer Ram Jethmalani argued for over two hours for grant of bail on 24th Jan 2011, and described the trial court verdict as one based only on police versions. An eight-member delegation of the European Union were present at the court during the entire hearing. On 25th Jan 2011, the Chhattisgarh High Court heard his bail plea for the second consecutive day and then fixed 9th February for the next hearing. The court denied bail to him during the subsequent hearing. Dr. Sen had moved the apex court challenging the order of the Chhattisgarh High Court which had rejected his bail plea on 10th February 2011. Dr. Sen has sought bail contending that the trial court has erred in convicting him as there was no substantial evidence against him. Human rights and social activists have described Dr. Sen's conviction and sentence as "politically motivated." The Supreme Court on 11th March 2011 issued notice to the Chhattisgarh government on a petition by rights activist Binayak Sen seeking bail and stay on his life imprisonment imposed by a session's court for his links with Maoists. A bench of justices H.S. Bedi and C.K. Prasad asked the Chhattisgarh government to file its response within four weeks. The bench passed the order despite counsel for Dr. Sen seeking adjournment of the matter. On April 15th, 2011, the Supreme Court of India granted bail to Dr. Binayak Sen after completely rejecting the sedition charge against him and adding that "the question of passing letters or documents does not arise.

The final verdict is still pending and the case, including charges of sedition, will be carried forward in the High Court of Chhattisgarh. Dr. Sen reflected on the "hundreds of prisoners fighting charges of sedition in Chhattisgarh and elsewhere in the country." Pointing to a recent statement in which Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily spoke of re-examining the sedition law, Dr. Sen said: "I hope we can break out of this colonial framework and work towards a free citizenry in a free country."

About the Author

• Passed post-graduation in Political Science from Mumbai University,Maharashtra, India.
• Has worked in an non-governmental organisation called "Centre for Study of Society and Secularism", Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and worked on various research issues relating to communalism and many other issues.
• Had also published various articles in newspapers and journals.
• Presently working as a freelancer and writing on various issues in newspapers and magazines.

★ [DETENTE] Medal of Honor [HD] ★