Ajay TG : Released But Not Free
ENGAGED CIRCLE
interview
Filmmaker Ajay TG tells SHOBHITA NAITHANI it is important he speaks out, even if it means going back to jail
In May 2008, the Chhattisgarh police arrested freelance journalist and filmmaker Ajay TG in Raipur. The charges against Ajay: violating the provisions of the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005 (CSPSA) which allows the police to arrest anyone with political associations that dispute state policies. Ajay was released on conditional bail on August 5 after the police failed to file a charge sheet against him within the stipulated 90 days. After his release, the filmmaker spoke about his incarceration, his work and starting life afresh.
Now that you’re out of jail, do you feel free?
Not at all. The police haven’t closed the case against me yet. I don’t know what their next step will be. I have to think twice before I say something. I can be thrown back into jail if I make a statement that disconcerts the government or the police. Read more
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I’m no Maoist: Filmmaker Ajay TG
Incarcerated for 93 days on charges of being a Maoist, independent documentary filmmaker Ajay TG has vehemently denied the label, saying he will fight for repealing the draconian law under which he was arrested.
“I am no Naxalite (Maoist). I have never been associated with any acts of insurgency or terror. I don’t know what I am being charged with,” Ajay, who was held under the notorious Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (CSPSA) and accused of sedition, said.
He was released on conditional bail after the police failed to file a chargesheet against him in court within the stipulated 90 days. The case against him has not been closed and he has to report to the police in Bhillai town every alternate Monday. He has also been barred from leaving the country.
“There is no FIR (first information report), no charge sheet. How do I defend myself?” asked Ajay, who is a member of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). He was in the capital to attend a meeting convened by the Committee for the Release of Ajay TG, to celebrate his release.
Ajay was released on August 5 but another prominent rights activist, Binayak Sen, who was arrested under the same act on May 14, 2007, is still in jail. Sen is the PUCL’s general secretary.
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Arundhati Roy, rights activists rally around freed Chhattisgarh filmmaker
Express news service
Posted online: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 0047 hrs IST
New Delhi, August 12
“It’s not the first or the last time someone has been arrested in Chhattisgarh,” said human rights lawyer Vrinda Grover, setting the tone for a public meeting at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on Tuesday to mark the release of documentary filmmaker and journalist Ajay T G.
On May 5, Ajay was arrested and sent to jail by the Chhattisgarh police on allegations of involvement with Naxals and sedition against the Indian Government. When the police failed to find any evidence to support these charges within the mandatory 90 days period, Ajay was granted statutory bail and released on August 5. Yet despite being unable to file a chargesheet, the police have not closed the case against him.
After spending 93 days in prison, Ajay said, “I still don’t feel free. And I’m not the only one, there are so many more imprisoned like me.” His bail conditions require him to report to the police station every second Monday.
Warned by the police not to travel to Delhi or speak to the press, Ajay and his wife, Shobha, attended Tuesday’s meeting at their own risk.
Although the family lives in fear of retaliation from the state, said Shobha, “we were excited about the opportunity to come to Delhi and speak out”.
Led by the Committee for the Release of Ajay T G, human rights activists, journalists and writer Arundhati Roy were among those who spoke of the wider ramifications of his arrest.
Based on her research in Chhattisgarh, Nandani Sundar, sociology professor at the University of Delhi, spoke of the climate of fear in the state as a result of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security (CSPS) Act, 2006, and on the blackout of the violence perpetrated by the Salwa Judum. Speaking at the event, independent law researcher Usha Ramanathan said: “Critiquing this law, as we are now, is illegal under the CSPS, a clear indication we’re moving away from the rights of people.”
Following the meeting, Ajay T G’s film on the life and work of Dr Binayak Sen, who was also arrested under the CSPS Act, on 14 May 2007, was screened. In a fitting concluding note, Sen’s wife, Ilina, said, “We cannot individualise cases, we have to look beyond this.”
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Activists rally around jailed filmmaker
MUMBAI: Filmmakers and human rights activists in the city have rallied to speak up for film-maker Ajay TG, who is in a Chhattisgarh prison on charges of being a Naxal sympathiser.
On Monday, Ajay’s film on imprisoned activist Dr Binayak Sen will be screened at the Prithvi Theatre in Juhu. The screening is being organised by Vikalp, a collective of film-makers that campaigns against censorship.
Two-and-a-half months ago, Ajay (35) was picked up by the police. He had attended and made a film about the trial of Dr Sen, who has worked for decades as a doctor amongst the adivasis, and has been held as a suspected Naxalite for two years.
Amnesty International has pleaded the case of Dr Sen, but activists say, the government has not responded so far.
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Enemy of the state
South China Morning Post, Jul 28, 2008
Human rights activists want the world’s biggest democracy to admit jailing dissenters
BEHIND THE NEWS
Rajeshree Sisodia
There has been a series of arrests of human rights activists across the country. It is plain now that there is a policy to arrest people, put people in jail. We must talk about peace,” Binayak Sen said quietly from the dock.
The judge adjourned the proceedings at the hot and steamy 11th Additional District and Sessions Court in Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh state in east-central India. Sen was not allowed to finish speaking. The first day of trial was over, his lawyer said, adding that it could last a year. Sen has been in custody, denied bail by three courts, since his arrest on May 14 last year. He was charged with sedition and waging war against the Indian government. He denies the charges. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
His case is far from unique. Human rights workers allege that increasing numbers of ordinary people, activists and journalists are being jailed and tortured for opposing the Chhattisgarh state government’s policies.
The New Delhi-based Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) has launched a national campaign to lobby the Indian government to recognise thousands of political prisoners as a separate category of detainees. The CRPP, which alleges detainees are routinely tortured, estimates that India has more than 10,000 political prisoners and the number is rising as state governments act increasingly to crush dissent.
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From freebinayaksen.org- Updates from Google News
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