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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Trail of violence: rights activists at risk
Opinion - Leader Page Articles
The Hindu
Mukul Sharma
Rights activists face a series of obstacles to their work. Rights violations also have wider repercussions. They create a climate of fear.
The Karnataka convener of the National Alliance for People’s Movement, A.D. Babu, was killed recently. He was on his way, along with two colleagues, to a NAPM meeting on an anti-liquor campaign at Ramnagaram, when a group stopped his vehicle at Mayanagram, a few km from the venue, and attacked him with knives and swords. He died on the spot. It is believed that a Karnataka liquor mafia is behind the gruesome murder.
In May, Lalit Kumar Mehta of Palamau district, Jharkhand, who fearlessly raised the issue of corruption in implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme , was murdered. So was Narayan Hareka — a naib sarpanch belonging to the Kandha tribal community — of Kambivalsa village in Koraput district, Orissa, who fought against liquor brewing, private money-lending, land alienation and corruption.
Read more
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Amnesty slams India on Nandigram
Global human rights watchdog Amnesty International has lambasted India for failure to book those responsible for the disappearance of hundreds in Kashmir, unlawful killing and evictions in Nandigram and police action against peaceful protestors against land acquisition for Special Economic Zones in Orissa.
“There have been atrocities against protests in Nandigram, Singur and Kalinganagar in Orissa. People’s rights over natural resources have been denied. Dr Binayak Sen is still in illegal custody,” said Mukul Sharma, director Amnesty International, India, releasing the body human rights report for 2008.
Pointing to the displacement of tribals, the report said, about 50,000 adivasis continue to be displaced
from Dantewada areas and no effort has been made to ensure their voluntary return. Civil rights activists like Saroj Mohanty and Roma were being hounded by government authorities.
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India: Serious concerns over fair trial : Amnesty International Australia
Amnesty International Australia
Published on 27/06/2008
Delay in the trial process of jailed and award-winning human rights defender Dr. Binayak Sen followed by arrest of T.G. Ajay, also a human rights defender who attended his trial heightens serious doubts about Dr. Sen getting a fair trial at a Raipur district court in India, Amnesty International said on 25 June 2008.
Detained since 14 May 2007 Dr. Sen is facing numerous charges including under the Chhattisgarh State Public Security Act, 2005 (CSPSA), which criminalises “unlawful activities” and being a member of banned “terrorist organizations”. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Dr. Sen is a pioneer in providing accessible health care for adivasis (indigenous communities) and mine workers in remote villages of Chhattisgarh. He is recipient of several awards in recognition of his work for more than two decades. As vice-president of India’s leading human rights organisation, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Dr. Sen had highlighted unlawful killings and other human rights abuses in the armed confrontations in Chhattisgarh between the security forces and the Salwa Judum, a private militia widely held to be supported by the state authorities, on the one hand, and armed guerrillas of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) on the other.
Amnesty International called for Dr. Sen’s release soon after his arrest unless he was charged with a recognisably criminal offence - India: Chattisgarh government detains human rights defender, refuses to arrest police officials suspected of involvement in unlawful killings of adivasis. There are sufficient reasons to believe that the charges against him appear to be politically motivated. There has been no investigation so far into the allegations of unlawful killings of adivasis by Salwa Judum and the state police in Santoshpur which he had highlighted prior to his arrest. The authorities held him for seven months without proper filing of charges; in the meantime, he was denied bail; and was kept in solitary confinement for three weeks in March-April 2008; many of the charges against him stem from laws that contravene international standards. His trial, which commenced on 30 April, is now adjourned to 1 July.
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The statesman Cover Story: THE EVIL WITHIN
The Binayak Sen story is more than just about the violation of individual rights, says Shoma A Chatterji
THE Binayak Sen story is much more than one of a gross violation of human rights. It goes far beyond the international appeals to release him from the unlawful detention he has been subjected to for more than one year. Beginning 16 June, a 10-day fast has been organised at Raipur in Chhattisgarh to express solidarity with him and Ajay TG (a film-maker) — both members of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, and others detained under the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (1967) amended in 2004 to include key sections of the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act, 2002. Pota was itself repealed in 2004 following widespread criticism of abuse and human rights violations. The CSPSA allows for arbitrary detention of persons suspected of belonging to an unlawful organisation or participating in its activities or giving protection to any member of such an organisation, and human rights
organisations have demanded its repeal.
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Gallery
From freebinayaksen.org- Updates from Google News
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