DR. BINAYAK SEN NOW "CHARGED" WITH FURTHER CRIMES

UPDATE

To understand the significance of the quotation remarks added, please read the post of June 22, 2007 in this blog.

Dada is now not only charged with consorting with alleged terrorists, but a number of other charges under the Indian Penal Code of 1860 have been added to the list of his alleged crimes. These new charges, filed while he is still in judicial custody, are criminal conspiracy (section 120B), conspiracy to wage war against the state (section 121A) and sedition (section 124A).

One of Dada's principal colleagues in the Chhattisgarh unit of the People's Union of Civil Liberties, Advocate Rajendra Sail, has also been arrested under a sentence passed on him by the Supreme Court in 2005 for contempt of court. He will be held for a week to carry out the sentence of one week's imprisonment.

In other words, a warrant for Advocate Sail's arrest was kept in abeyance for more than a year, and only applied when he was extraordinarily active in highlighting the flagrant abuse of power both in my brother's case as well as in Salwa Judum. This shows the extraordinary contempt for law and justice that currently characterizes the behaviour of those charged with upholding them.

There is huge outpouring of support for my brother, with public demonstrations being held in Delhi and Raipur. And the Salva Judum campaign of murder and intimidation is finally earning the public opprobrium that it deserves, thanks to the arrest of the very people who played a major role in bringing them to light. Yet the forces of law and order are now attempting to intimidate the activists into silence. Their impunity is now in plain sight.

My hunch is that having failed to anticipate the reaction to Dada's arrest, the state government now finds that it is hoist by its own petard, and is casting around for face-saving devices that will distract public attention from their methods in dealing with the resistance of tribals to the expropriation of their sources of life. Hence this show of bravado.

On quite another note, the Director General of Police in Chhattisgarh died suddenly of a heart attack the day before yesterday while making a public speech on countering terrorism. He was a major supporter of the Salva Judum (meaning "Peace March" in the tribal Gondi language, demonstrating that Orwellianisms are not confined to English). With the Supreme Court issuing a writ to his government asking them to show cause why the movement should not be disbanded, he may have been troubled by the ignominious prospect of public failure. The poor man must have been under enormous stress. May his departed soul at last rest in peace.

Meanwhile, a few new sites have appeared dedicated to publicizing my brother's work. Apart from the Save Binayak campaign from a group of doctors in the UK, there is also a blog and a wikipedia entry on him. This must be somewhat embarrassing to Dada, who would much rather talk about the issues and the institutions than his own work. This is one of the reasons why I am only beginning to find out about the extent of the work he and his wife Dr. Ilina Sen (a demographer and social analyst who also founded a NGO called Rupantar in Raipur) have done in the area of public service.

Comments

[Dr. Joel Almeida]

Dear Gautam,

No additional charges were made on or about 24/25 May 2007 in any way, form or shape. The press release from PUCL which included such erroneous information no longer stands in their list of press releases.

At the end of May, Dr. Sen's lawyers told reporters that the Chhattisgarh government "has on some excuse or another been refusing to show them the First Information Report or any other document". In the absence of the customary and legally required access by Dr. Sen's lawyers to relevant case papers, unsubstantiated rumours could circulate. Such rumours could receive credence from even supporters of Dr. Sen including the PUCL, who objected to the rumoured addition of charges on or about May 24/25.

When Dr. Sen's lawyer finally - in early June - was able to examine some documents in court, these charges supposedly made on or about May 24/25 were conspicuously absent.

Sincerely,

Dr. Joel Almeida

[Owen Dyer]

Dear sir, this is Owen Dyer of the British Medical Journal, and I wrote the article that Dr Almeida says is erroneous (Hello, Dr Almeida, we spoke briefly), having learned on this page that he had been charged. If I have repeated a mistake, we will be happy to correct it.

I hope this mistake (if it is one) hasn't harmed Dr Sen in any way.

Owen Dyer
British Medical Journal

[Joel Almeida]

Hello Gautam,

I trust you are all well.

I am unable to find any evidence that Dr. Binayak Sen has been charged with any crime whatsoever, since no written document of this sort has been seen by anyone as far as I know.

Unfortunately the rumours of him being charged with this or that seem to be spreading. They are sadly even repeated in a British Medical Journal article (issue dated 9 June 2007).

Dr. Ilina Sen in her submission to the National Human Rights Commission dated 7th June 2007 has clearly stated that no chargesheet has been prepared against Dr. Binayak Sen.

In the absence of written charges, I am not prepared to accept or repeat any rumours about what Dr. Binayak Sen might or might not be charged with. Once the chargesheet is prepared, it will be a different matter.

I very much hope that the failure to observe due legal procedures in this case will be found so glaring as to lead to a rapid quashing of the arrest.

Warm regards

Dr. Joel Almeida, PhD, MBBS

[usha benjamin]

Llina and Binayak, My thoughts and prayers are with you both and your two daughters.I have very pleasant memories of you both. Hope things will get cleared up as quickly as possible.
Warmest regards to you both,specailly our 'hero'
usha benjamin

[Dr. Fil Munas]

5/25/07. I sent the following email message to Dr. Binayak Sen on 5/23/07. I was a medical student at Christian Medical College in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, when Binayak was also a student there, and I got his email address from CMC. I have not heard back from him and am wondering if he has access to the internet. Fil Munas.

Dear Binayak,

You've become a hero to us all - they're even talking about you in Timbuktu!

I am fondly thinking of you, and hope that the brutal and anti-human government of the state of Chhattisgarh will quit acting so perverse. I noted that one of my great idols, Arundhati Roy, is demonstrating for your release and vindication. So are all your old friends from CMC.

Falies

Fil Munas, M.D. (USA)
(CMC Batch of 1964)