Binayak’s issue raised in the Rajya Sabha on 17th; 16th rallly a success

Dear Friends,

Many of you participated in the rally that was organised outside the Parliament on the 16th of December. The rally was a success. We all would like to once again thank the NTUI who took initiative and made this rally a success. We can also be proud of the fact that today the 17th saw some members of the the Indian Parliament take on the issues of Dr. Binayak Sen’s continued incraceration by the Chhattisgarh police.

We were informed by certain MPs that today morning during question hour in the Rajya Sabha when the disucssion was to taking place on “Naxal Violence”, D. Raja MP (CPI) raised supplementary questions on this issue. His first specific question to the HOme Minister demanded that the UPA Government make its stand clear on Salwa Judum, whatever be the directions and the engagement at the level of Supreme Court. His second specific question also directed to the HOme Minister was what the UPA Government was doing in the context of Dr. Binayak Sen. When the second question was raised more than a dozen MPs joined in the chorus demanding an answer.

To the first the HOme Minister made it clear that in no way did the GOI support that Law and order be handed over to non State Actors, like what Salw Judum was. Despite an intervention made by Prakash Javadekar of the BJP who tried to state that it was a poeple’s own spontaneous movement, it was firmly stated by the HM that law and order was the responsibility of the State.

Secondly to the question on Dr. Sen, he said that the issue of Dr. Sen’s incarceration had been brought to his notice and that he was siezed of the matter and would be examinig it shortly.

So this was what transpired today morning.

Yesterday following the rally and public meeting outside Parliament house some of us stayed back and had a small meeting at the Constitution club. Two types of decisions were taken. One ws to explore the possibility of stepping up the agitation for the release of Dr, Sen in Raipur itself. Several suggestions came which included that of a long dharna in Raipur by activists from all over the country as well as filling jails if required.

Secondly, it was felt that modest goals like people reaching Raipur for the trial, contacting medicos in Delhi and elsewhere and doing medical camps would help in generating awarness about the wrongful confinement of Dr. sen.

It was felt that the two were not contradictory and could go hand in hand.

Kavita Srivastava

Related posts

December 18, 2008 | Filed Under announcements 

Comments

Dr. Binayak Sen - A Poem

From Desicritics.org

December 10, 2008
Amitabh Mitra
bnsn1 Dr. Binayak Sen - A Poem

Chattisgarh
Nothing really happened on that day
A few crows bled
Others were strangulated
In a corner of a sky
That turned gradually red
I told you
About these crows
My departure yielding
To another sky
Yet somebody far had been
Brought down suddenly
And cast away behind iron seasons
The crows bled soaking
The sun
I had held aloft
And its redness
Slit the earth too
Faraway again
Would you recognise me then
Would you still mingle your voice
Would you breathe on my shadow
Would you fear catching the corner of
That sky.

Dr Binayak Sen, a medical doctor and human rights defender, was arrested on 12 May 2007 in Chattisgarh, India. He is currently in prison awaiting a trial that has been repeatedly delayed.

Police allege that he passed letters between imprisoned members of a banned leftist group. However, Amnesty International believes the charges against him are politically motivated, aimed at stopping his human rights work. Dr Sen, a pioneer in providing accessible health care to the rural poor, has been documenting the impact of conflict in the region on the rights of marginalised communities.

An orthopaedic surgeon in a busy hospital in East London, South Africa, I actually belong to Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, its long summers and hectic politics. I edit a print poetry journal called ‘A Hudson View’ and a journal on African arts called ‘Inyathi’ and dream of going back to Gwalior.

Related posts

December 12, 2008 | Filed Under solidarity 

Comments