Time to Unite : Express Health Care
Express Health Care
Opinion- Articles
That paediatrician and health activist Dr Binayak Sen has spent more than a year now in a Chhattisgarh prison, on charges of being a Naxalite, is a sad reflection of the abject plight of healthcare activists who dare to display courage. It is a matter of national shame that even after a petition was signed by over thousands of doctors, intellectuals and activists for release of Dr Sen, and there was international clamour for his release from prominent American writer Noam Chomsky and 22 noble laureates, and Global Health Council announcing the Jonathan Mann award for Dr Sen, there has been no ray of hope for his release.
It is beyond our imagination as to why is the central Government turning a blind eye to the sufferings of a man who has dedicated his life for improving healthcare of the poor in the tribal regions of central India by running free clinics, setting up a rural hospital, and reducing Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and deaths caused by diarrhoea and dehydration. Dr Sen’s fault lies in raising his voice against the atrocities committed by the Chhattisgarh Government in trying to tackle the Maoists in the State by backing civil militia of local tribals called Salwa Judum. He was penalised for his courage and accused of being a Naxalite, just because he enquired about the health of an incarcerated CPI (Maoist) leader and tried to get him medical attention.
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Individuals at Risk
Mukul Sharma in kafila.org
At the heart of all peoples’ rights work is the individual – as the person at risk of human rights abuses, as the survivor, as the partner in the defense of rights, and as the activist speaking out, and working with and for other individuals. Individuals, as part of the political, social and cultural collective and spread over the length and breadth of the country, lie behind much of the activism of Indian social-political groups, working at local, grassroots and community levels in India today. They try to change lives by acting on their own or with other people and political groups making the same demand – an end to injustice in all its forms. These individuals are increasingly at risk in India today. We have witnessed the killings at regular intervals of activists like Safdar Hashmi, Shankar Guha Niyogi, Satyendra Dubey, Sarita and Mahesh, S. Manjunath, Mahendra Singh and Chandra Shekhar in the past two decades. We have had a series of cases of arrest and detention of people like Dr. Binayak Sen and T. G. Ajay. At a time when the patterns of human rights abuses against rights activists are becoming widespread and showing signs of further deterioration, with the governments showing their apathy, we need to draw attention to the situation, point to the concrete failures of the governments to live up to their obligations, and plan on some concrete actions, so that the human rights activists can carry out their important work free from attacks, fear or reprisals.
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ENEMIES OF THE STATE- Women and men who choose the margins
Cutting Corners
Ashok Mitra
The Telegraph-Calcutta
She was born Krishna Chandavarkar. Love for music ran in the family. She had, even as a tiny tot, a deep, rich, sonorous voice. Rigorous training undergone in the early teens strengthened its texture; it also helped her to negotiate effortlessly the hills and valleys the scales encompassed. The cadence of sensitivity was, however, her very own. Demand for her renditions was intense in the neighbourhood. Another Kishori Amonkar, many thought, was about to emerge. She disappointed them. The prowess of her will nudged her away from music to pursuits of the intellect. There was, in addition, an innate concern for social issues.
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Murder of Lalit Mehta in Palamau: Aimless crime or planned intimidation?
The following letter about the murder of a social activist, Lait Mehta who blew the whistle on corruption in NREG. Like Satayendra Dubey and Manjunath, Lalit Mehta had to sacrifice his life for exposing corruption in public funds. Lalit was part of the Right to Food campaign of which Binayak also was a key player in Chattisgarh.
[To read it in Hindi language, click here]
We are deeply disturbed by the recent murder of Lalit Kumar Mehta, member of Vikas Sahyog Kendra (Palamau District), who was brutally killed on 14 May 2008 as he was returning from Daltonganj to Chhattarpur on a motorcycle.
The circumstances of this murder are disturbing. Lalit (aged 36), an active member of the right to food campaign and Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, has been working in this area for more than 15 years on issues related to the right to food and the right to work. He was a very gentle person and his work was widely appreciated. However he was also fearless in exposing corruption and exploitation, and often came in the way of vested interests.
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Gallery
From freebinayaksen.org- Updates from Google News
- Dr Binayak Sen: An unfortunate achiever - Merinews
- Jailed human-rights activist works for peace - Ode Magazine
- Q&A: 'Rights activism uses space within the Constitution' - Times of India
- DIFFERENT KINDS OF SILENCE - Calcutta Telegraph
- Vote War 2008: Chhattisgarh - Tehelka
- National Convention on Countering Fascist Forces: Defending the ... - NewsBlaze (press release)
- Reports From Indian Media
- Different kinds of silence - Telegraph: Opinion
- Whither democracy? - Oheraldo
- Q&A: 'Rights activism uses space within the Constitution' - TOI: Editorial
- The Shootin' Sheriffs - Outlook
- Videos - Rediff: Top Stories (India)
- India must be reclaimed - Hindustan Times: Views
- A law and its victim - Frontline
- An appeal for peace in South Bastar - Hindu: Opinion
- NGOs demand severe action against attackers - The Navhind Times