Dr Binayak Sen has been in prison for 22 months, arrested under one ofIndia’s most draconian laws, the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act.This Act has such a vague, diffused definition of ‘Unlawful Activity’ thatit renders every person guilty unless he or she can prove their innocence. DrSen’s bail application was dismissed twice, both times at the very outset, bythe High Court of Chhattisgarh and by the Supreme Court of India. On neitheroccasion was there a discussion on the merits of the case. On the 2nd ofDecember 2008 the High Court of Chhattisgarh once again turned down his bailapplication, without a discussion on the merits of the case, saying that therehad been no change in circumstances.
But there has been a change in circumstances. To begin with, the charge-sheethas been filed. 64 witnesses have been examined by the prosecution. Not one ofthem has provided legally admissible evidence to support the accusations in thecharge-sheet. Even the jail officials, the Superintendent and the Jailer, whowere called as witnesses by the Prosecution, have ruled out the possibility ofDr Sen being a carrier of letters given to him by Narayan Sanyal (said to be asenior Maoist leader) who is a high security prisoner in Raipur Jail. (It shouldbe mentioned here that Narayan Sanyal has a medical condition which requiressurgical intervention from time to time, which is why the jail authoritiespermitted Dr Sen to visit him regularly.)
That Dr Sen should continue to be in prison when the case against him has almostcompletely fallen through says a great deal about the very grave situation inChhattisgarh today. There is a civil war in this state. Hundreds are beingkilled and imprisoned. Hundreds of thousands of the poorest of the poor arehiding in the forests, fearing for their lives. They have no access to food, tomarkets, to schools or healthcare. The thousands who have been moved into thecamps of the government-backed peoples’ militia, the Salwa Judum, are alsotrapped in sordid encampments, which have to be guarded by armed police. Hatred,violence and brutality is being cynically spread, pitting the poor against thepoorest.
There is very little doubt that Dr Sen is in prison because he spoke out againstthis policy of the State Government, because he opposed the formation of theSalwa Judum. His incarceration is meant to silence dissent, and criminalizedemocratic space. It is meant to create a wall of silence around the civil warin Chhattisgarh. It is meant to absorb all our attention so that the stories ofthe hundreds of other nameless, faceless people - those without lawyers, withoutthe attention of journalists - who are starving and dying in the forests, gounnoticed and unrecorded.
Tomorrow is World Health Day. Dr Binayak Sen spent the best part of his lifeworking among the poorest people in India, who live far away from thegovernment’s attentions, with no access to clinics, hospitals, doctors ormedicines. He has saved thousands from certain death from malaria, diarrhoea,and other easily treatable illnesses. And yet, he is the one in jail, whilethose who boast openly about mass murder are free to go about their business,and even stand for elections.
What does this say about us? About who we are and where we’re going?
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Statement issued by Arundhati Roy at the Raipur Satyagraha for the Releaseof Dr Binayak Sen
