Bangalore Campaigners welcomes binayak’s release
The Campaign for the Release of Dr Binayak Sen, Bangalore welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court to grant bail to Dr Sen. Dr. Sen’s incarceration had become a symbol of brutal state force, especially after a sustained national and international campaign for his release that involved a wide spectrum of human rights activists, health workers, doctors, trade union workers, grass root movements, NGOs, and other civil society members. Justice Markandeya Katju and Justice Deepak Verma after a very brief hearing on 25th May, 2009, granted bail on production of a personal bond after senior Advocate Shanti Bhushan had appeared before the Court on behalf of Dr. Sen. Dr Sen was arrested by the Chhattisgarh government on May 14th 2007 on charges of abetting Naxalites. Amongst the laws that he was detained under the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, enacted by the Raman Sigh government in 2005. Dr Sen was one of the first of more than 43 people who have been detained under this Act.
Dr Sen’s arrest was a result of his tireless work as a member of the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties, Chhattisgarh in exposing the state government’s human rights abuses, especially violations by the state-sponsored vigilante force Salwa Judum. He was one of the few voices of dissent in state that clamps down on democratic rights in the name of fighting Naxalism. A recent example was the Chhattisgarh government’s demolition of the 17 year-old Vanvasi Chethana Ashram (VCA) in Dantewada run by Gandhian Himanshu Kumar. Though the VCA was contesting an eviction notice filed by the local administration alleging that it was occupying revenue forest land, on May 15th, 2009, 250-300 members of the District Force (DF), Special Police Officers (SPO), and Chhattisgarh police, razed the ashram to the ground. Himanshu Kumar was been instrumental in exposing the fake encounter of 12 adivasis from the Singara Salwa Judum relief camp on March 30th 2009. He was also been working towards the rehabilitation of some of the thousands displaced by the Salwa Judum. Journalists and students who were present during this demolition were intimidated and severely beaten up by the police. Two of those who were beaten were students from the Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore.
There are many parallels one can draw between the situation in Chattisgarh and Karnataka. In Karnataka, the state government is currently planning to promulgate an ordinance making the already draconian Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act (KCOCA) more stringent. Recently a number of leaders of adivasis in Chickmagalur district have been illegally detained, and arrested for raising their voice against the state government’s policies leading to displacement of adivasis in the district.
The Campaign for the Release of Dr Binayak Sen, Bangalore condemns the demolition of the VCA and the assault of the students and journalist present. The Campaign also calls for the repeal of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act and the release of hundreds of innocent persons who have been arrested under this draconian law. We demand that the Karnataka government stop the fabrication of cases and arrests of human rights activists and those protesting government policies. We demand that the Karnataka government should restore and respect the constitutional and democratic right to dissent.
Siddharth Narrain for The Campaign for the Release of Dr. Binayak Sen, Bangalore.
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