How well are our rights protected?

World’s largest democracy- as we self-proclaim. Looking at recent incidents occurred one should get suspicious about the fact that whether the fundamental rights of the citizens are preserved well or not. We had seen Varun Gandhi giving his hate speeches and proclaimed that it was “DOCTORED”. The other case is about Dr. Binayak Sen. I don’t think many of them knows about him.

Dr. Binayak Sen is Pediatrician, Public Health Specialist, and V.P of People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) based in Chhattisgarh. He is a distinguished human rights activist in India. He was detained in May 2007 for allegedly violating the provisions of Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. He was arrested for involvement of drawing attention of unlawful killings of Adivasis in March 2007. When the bodies were exhumed, after autopsy it was found that there were bullets in three of the victims and remaining were axed to death. His organization appealed for arresting the policemen involved in these killings. Home Ministry rejected to take any action against the policemen involved. The police department started accusing that Dr. Binayak Sen was absconding and was passing letters from Narayan Sanyal ( Naxalite whom Dr. Binayak Sen medically treated him in the jail) to another naxalite in another jail. Hearing these false accusations, he returned back from his holiday which was planned long back.

The police with some neutral organizations held search in his house. They did not found single evidence. He appealed for bail. Court rejected. What an Irony!!!! When Mr. Binayak asked for the proof of FIR, there was no evidence. A person who cared for tribes in Chhattisgarh was arrested and detained and rejected bail many times. It’s been 2 years now. There is no verdict regarding this case yet. But, Varun Gandhi who had given hate speech against Non-Hindu religions was released within no time and National Security Act on him was repealed. Do you see any equality of justice here? Off course the cases are different. But the magnanimity of offense is contrasting. A person whose video tape clearly shows his hate towards other religions which is a potential dividing line between religions. He was detained and released within few weeks. When it comes to Mr. Binayak Sen, there is no potential evidence that he is involved in passing letters and his only offence is projecting the mass killings of Adivasis. Forget about Human Right Activist; is that an offense to draw the attention of Mass killings of Adivasis being a citizen?

Many Human Right Activists, Nobel Lauareates, Doctors from all over had appealed to PM. There is no response yet. He and his wife are fully committed to the welfare of the tribal community. For his work, he was awarded the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2008. His health condition is deteriorating. He himself is in mental distress. We can’t afford to lose people like Mr. Binayak Sen. There has been many protests all over the world regarding this issue. Recently on May 14th they marked 2nd anniversary of his arrest. Atleast Government should take some steps to grant justice to Mr.Binayak Sen. We have to stay sanguine putting more efforts in making Mr. Binayak Sen release from the jail. Presently media has taken the baton of projecting the case of Mr. Binayak Sen. We are looking for a response from the Government. Hope he will be released soon.


- Optimistic Indian