‘Release Dr.Binayak Sen Committee’ is now ‘A Committee For The Defense Of Democratic Rights In Chhattisgarh’.
Dear Friends,
A Meeting of ‘Release Dr. Binayak Sen Committee, Pune’ was held on 16th June, 2009 following the Supreme Directive to release Dr. Binayak Sen on Bail forthwith.
The Meeting after due deliberation arrived at the following Decisions:
1.To dissolve the existing Committee And to rename it as ‘The Committee For The Defense Of Democratic Rights In Chhattisgarh’. It may be remembered that Dr. Binayak Sen has not yet been released unconditionally. Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA) which is a highly repressive act is in force in the state today. ‘Salwa Judum’ campaign is still being conducted mercilessly.
2.To extend all practicable cooperation to those who will continue to struggle for the defense of Democratic Rights in Chhattisgarh and elsewhere in India.
3.To invite Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj and/or Mr. Himanshu, and Dr. Binayak Sen if possible to address a public meeting in Pune as early as possible (end of July or 1st week of August at the latest.)
In Solidarity,
R.P.Nene, Shanta Ranade, Dr. Anant Phadke, Dr. Abhay Shukla, Dr. Suhas Kolhekar, Shailesh Dikhale and Milind Chavan
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Kamayani Writes about Meeting Binayak
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Kamayani Bali Mahabal
On May 29th Morning I left Mumbai for the fact finding mission to Dantewada for demolition of the Gandhi an Himanshu’s Vanvasi Chetna Ashram. I reached Raipur, but I could not keep my excitement to meet Dr Binayak Sen, the journey from airport to his home seemed like a century.
As I reached his house in Raipur, I saw him standing outside his house in a khadi kurta and pyjama with an effervescent smile. I gave him a huge hug from more than 2,000 global members of the facebook group of Free Dr Binayak Sen Campaign.
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Chhattisgarh Government’s Self-destructive Act
by Sandeep Pandey
Mainstream, Vol XLVII, No 26, June 13, 2009
Akin to George Bush in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attack who, while declaring his war on terror, proclaimed that if one is not on the side of US Government then one is with the terrorists, the Chhattisgarh Government thinks that if one is not with the Salwa Judum, the state sponsored tribal militant group meant to counter the Naxalites, then one would be considered a sympathiser of the Maoists. Binayak Sen paid the price for criticising the Salwa Judum. Now, it the turn of Himanshu Kumar. Encouraged by the recent success of the Sri Lankan Government against the LTTE, the local administration moved in three JCV machines and 500 police personnel on the morning of May 17, 2009, to finish off the Vanvasi Chetna Ashram, the centre painstakingly created by Himanshu over the last 17 years in Kanwalnar village of Dantewada district.
Himanshu Kumar was presently engaged in a very important task of resettling tribals who had left their villages amidst violent confrontations between the Naxalites and Salwa Judum since 2005. Some of them were living in camps run by the Salwa Judum, under strict para-military supervision, and some of them had escaped to as far as neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. People of Lingagiri in Bijapur district have returned from Cherla in AP after three years. Similarly, people of nearby Basaguda have returned from a Salwa Judum camp across the river from their village, a river which nobody dare cross for the last three years due to fear of violence from both sides. The government-backed Salwa Judum wants people in camps, most of them on the roadside, but there is a Supreme Court directive that the government must help people resettle in their original villages. Around three lakh people were internally displaced during these violent years, of which 56,000 landed in the camps. But now their number has come down to less than half. More people yearn to return to their villages. The reason is simple. How long can one be dependent on government dole and live under armed security? Life has to start again in villages. That is where the agricultural fields and cattles are. Himanshu, who like the common people, is equidistant from both the Naxalites and Salwa Judum, was helping the people realise their dream of returning to normalcy. The government is certainly not in a position to undertake this perilous and arduous task at the moment.
The government, instead of being grateful to Himanshu, has been vindictive because Himanshu has been raising the cases of human rights violations of tribals by the security forces, SPOs—the 3500 adhoc tribal police force—and the Salwa Judum, the most recent being the killing of 19 innocent people in Singaram who were declared to be Naxalites in January, 2009, in a false encounter by the police. The government and the local administration were obviously not happy with him. They gave him a notice a day before the demolition to vacate the land, which they claimed the VCA was encroaching upon. The land was obtained by the VCA from the Gram Sabha based on a resolution in its favour. Even though it is a tribal area the government refused to recognise the right of the Gram Sabha.
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PUDR would like the bail order for Binayak Sen to be applied also to his co accused . . .
From: Economic and Political Weekly, May 30 – June 05, 2009
Letters
Binayak Sen
The People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to Binayak Sen in the case levelled by the Chhattisgarh government that resulted in the noted civil rights activist being confined for over two years in Raipur jail on charges of sedition and participation in “unlawful activities”. It is pertinent to note, in reading out the order, the Supreme Court judge specifically commented upon the long period of incarceration for an undertrial, stating “two years is too much”, before passing the instruction “bail granted”.
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Open Letter to Raman Singh, Chief Minister, Chhattisgarh
9 June 2009 Campaign for Peace and Justice in ChhattisgarhDear Mr. Singh,
As an elected representative sworn to uphold the Constitution, we would like to ask you why you support the illegal burning of houses and property, displacement of villagers as well as the killing and rapes that have been carried out by the Salwa Judum and security forces in Dantewada district, Bastar. Now that it has been clearly established by the NHRC and accepted by your government as shown by your own affidavits to the Supreme Court that Salwa Judum is an armed organization which has burnt houses and destroyed property, how do you continue to publicly justify and praise the Salwa Judum? Is it constitutional to support a vigilante movement which has caused such destruction? Naxalite illegality does not justify state illegality.
Since October 2008 we have been waiting for your government to fulfill its promise to the Supreme Court that it would rehabilitate all villagers who had been affected and displaced by Salwa Judum and Naxalite violence. The SC had asked you to act on the NHRC recommendations to compensate and rehabilitate all victims of Salwa Judum and Naxalite violence, to ensure the safe return to their villages of all displaced persons, whether in camps, Andhra Pradesh or elsewhere, to remove security forces from schools and civilians buildings, to identify the large numbers of missing persons and freely register FIRs on complaints. At first you cited the excuse of the election code in the assembly elections for not giving compensation, even though this did not prevent you from promising rice at Rs. 3. Later, you used the excuse of the parliamentary elections to avoid replying to the Supreme Court and managed to get the hearings postponed after the monsoons, despite knowing that if people are unable to come home and cultivate during the summer, they will lose another year. For almost a whole year, you have tried to evade your responsibility to the affected people and to the Court. The affected people are among the poorest in the country. You talk of development but have no concern for those whom your own government has rendered destitute.
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