Dr. Binayak Sen

The Christmas this year brought the shocking news that Dr. Binayak Sen has been sentenced to life imprisonment for “sedition”. The prosecution case is that he passed on three letters from a Maoist leader to someone. Sometime in 2007, he had gone to a Raipur jail as a physician to examine the Maoist leader. Naturally, he met the latter under the supervision of jailors. While returning from the jail, he was arrested at a railway station. Two other persons too were handed down life sentences along with Dr. Sen by a Raipur court on 24^th December 2010. 

You would certainly have read about Dr. Binayak Sen, but let me jot down some essential facts here. A brilliant student and an alumnus of the Christian Medical College, Vellore, Binayak Sen is a paediatrician. Instead of practising in the comforts of a city and making money, he chose to provide medical assistance to the poor and marginalised adivasis of Chhattisgarh. He has been working there since the early 1980s. The impact of his work has been recognised by many and he has been awarded several international honours.

Mineral rich Chhattisgarh is one of the poorest states of India and is also a major centre of Maoist activities. In 2005, the state (BJP) government set up a vigilante army Salwa Judum to fight Maoists. According to historian Ram Chandra Guha, Salwa Judum “spread terror through the districts of Dantewada, Bijapur and Bastar. In the name of combating Naxalism, it burned homes (and occasionally, whole villages), violated tribal women, attacked (and sometimes killed) tribal men who refused to join its ranks. As a result of its depredations almost a hundred thousand adivasis with no connection to Maoism were rendered homeless.”[i] Activists like Arundhati Roy and Gautam Naulakha put the figure close to three hundred thousand.

Dr. Sen has neither been a part of a Maoist organisation, nor their sympathiser. On the contrary, he has condemned Maoist activities as “an invalid and unsustainable movement.” But as a national vice president of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), he was also amongst the first to document the human rights violations committed by Salwa Judum and police.

That indeed was crime enough to send a 60-year-old internationally respected social worker and doctor to prison for the rest of his life. The verdict looks even more grotesque if you consider that in India many parliamentarians are mafia dons, and the major political debate of the day is how much a central minister cheated the exchequer in a single deal – fifty thousand crore or one hundred and seventy thousand crore!  

The Raipur verdict has been condemned by a wide cross-section of informed voices, from the Amnesty International to Amartya Sen. Retired high court judge and the president of PUCL Rajinder Sachar called the judgment as “ridiculous and unacceptable”. [ii] In an uncharacteristically strong reaction, Professor Sen says, “To turn the dedicated service of someone who drops everything to serve the cause of neglected people into a story of the seditious use of something — in this case, it appears to be the passing of a letter, when sedition usually takes the form of inciting people to violence or actually committing some violence and asking others to follow, none of which had happened — the whole thing seems a ridiculous use of the laws of democratic India.”[iii]

Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese dissident who was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 was taken away from his home sometime in 2009. But it was not until nearly one month later that the Chinese authorities confirmed his arrest. He had a one-day trial in December 2009 and was sentenced to 11 years a few days later – on Christmas Day. Some suspected the Chinese authorities had chosen that day because most people in the West would be on holiday, and not notice.[iv] 

Binayak Sen’s trial dragged on for three years and during the period, many, including 22 Nobel laureates, condemned the politically motivated and patently fake prosecution that was not backed by a shred of material evidence. But in the end, Binayak Sen got life imprisonment, compared to 11 years that Liu Xiaobo got. The other similarity is disturbing too. The verdict against Binayak Sen was announced on the Christmas Eve.

No, I am not insane enough – not yet, anyway – to compare our judicial system with that of China. But surely, there are many people in power in Indiawho would love to have the kind of unfettered powers that the Chinese authorities enjoy. It is significant that for several days after the verdict, none of the mainstream political parties except the Communist Party of India (CPI) have spared one word to condemn the verdict, nay, even question the validity of the monstrous judgment. Some of them might, sooner or later, if they perceive the political cost of silence unacceptably high!

Considering the facts, it would be reasonable to demand that Dr. Sen is set free. Hopefully, that will happen once the case goes to higher courts. But what has happened to our justice delivery system? If this can be done to an eminent person despite international protests, what chance do ordinary citizens (like the two convicted alongside Dr. Sen) have against mighty governments in our law courts? Doesn’t this verdict reinforce the extremists’ claim that India is not a democracy?

Paraphrasing Shakespeare, the Supreme Court has recently stated: something is rotten in the High Court of Allahabad. The former Chief Justice of India (CJI), who is now the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission is involved in a public spat with a sitting high court judge. One of them is lying. There have been reports that the same former CJI’s daughter and son-in-law amassed Rs.7 crore while he was the CJI.[v]

Politicians have failed us and bureaucrats have largely proved themselves to be spineless yes-men. The judiciary may be the last hope for the Indian democracy. After the Raipur verdict, one wonders if it’s much of a hope.

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Postscript: I think every Indian who cares for the future of this country should do something now. You can do something easily, almost without any effort. Please cut and paste the essential facts about the case either from here, or from a better source, onto an email and send it across to whoever would care to open and read a mail from you. Let this message reach every Indian who uses the Internet. Let us inform others; let us register our protest.

[i] Hindustan Times, 27 December 2010

[ii] http://www.indianexpress.com/news/will-challenge-sens-conviction-justice-sachar/730147/

[iii] The Telegraph, 28 Dec 2010

[iv] Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11492131

[v] Hindustan Times, 27 December 2010

Kolkata, 29 December 2010

Niyamgiri in West Bengal?

The dispute between dismally poor Adivasis of the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa and the powerful multinational Vedanta Resources is a hugely asymmetric conflict, particularly in view of the central and state governments’ eagerness to bend over backwards to help industrialists. Scrapping of the Vedanta aluminium mine has been a rare victory for the marginalised poor. Another David has tamed for now, though certainly not killed, a Goliath.

The reasons given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in support of their decision to scrap the project has put an official stamp of approval on the concerns of the people who oppose such projects, namely, destruction of forest dwellers and irretrievable damage to ecology. The ministry and its head, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, and a section of the Congress party including Mr. Rahul Gandhi deserve to be congratulated for this.

But the question that comes to the mind is: does this one swallow make a spring? Does this mean some day in the future, our policy makers will believe development means water, food and shelter for all, instead of more highways, glitzier malls and bigger airports in a country where half the children go to bed hungry? Does this mean industries that pollute and slow-poison people will be scrapped in other parts of the country too? Let’s discuss another case.

In West Midnapore, Burdwan, and Bankura districts of West Bengal, many sponge iron factories that have sprung up during the Left rule have been causing massive damage to the environment.

My senior friend and a retired teacher of economics of Calcutta University, Subhendu Dasgupta has given some startling information in an article published in a Bangla newspaper today: production of 100 tonnes of sponge iron requires 1.6 lakh tonnes of water, (an equivalent amount is consumed by 80 thousand humans per day). 100 tonnes of sponge iron also produces 180 to 200 tonnes of carbon-di-oxide, 26 to 30 tonnes of waste, and 100 tonnes of dust. The fields and grazing tracts around the sponge iron plants have turned black and water in tanks has been contaminated. Agricultural productivity has reduced: from 36 to 45 sackfuls of paddy per acre to 21 to 24 sackfuls. There is also black stain on the rice and the rice mill owners refuse to buy such paddy; Mangoes fall off before ripening, saal leaves are turning black, and even fish have developed black stains, and cannot be sold. Domestic animals too are harmed; cows give birth to stillborn calves. [Ekdin, 3 September, 2010, article by Shubhendu Dasgupta on edit page]

I checked with another friend, a chemical engineer by training, who currently works on industrial pollution. My friend confirms this is actually happening and one can see buildings and roads covered with black soot in wide areas around Durgapur and Asansol where there are about forty sponge iron factories.

The government of West Bengal has reacted to the crisis by arresting the people who have been protesting against this wanton destruction of Nature and her children. Members of Jhargram Block Environmental Pollution Resistance Committee, Hemanta Mahato and Upangshu Mahato were arrested and charged with waging war against the state. Naba Datta, of Citizens’ Forum, who has been studying the effects of industrial pollution by sponge iron factories, too was arrested. Twenty cases, including waging war against the state, have been slapped against him. [Ibid.] Perhaps even the worst criminal in the state would not have received such attention and honour from the government.

Will anything be done to protect the poor villagers affected by sponge iron plants in West Bengal and elsewhere?

Bangladesh Diary I

Day 1 / 13 January 2010

Our flight to Dhaka was delayed because of fog. As several aircraft had just landed at Zia International airport around noon, there were long queues before immigration desks; we stood behind a hundred people. As it always happens, our queue was the slowest; it took over an hour to reach near the front. And then there was some problem with the man at the head of our line … we stood rooted to the same spot for a while. Someone had noticed our plight; a policeman came and led the first ten of our queue to another counter that had just been opened. It was good to see a helpful policeman. For a change!

As we walked out, we met two old friends: Sachin and Laxman. They were on their way to join the Indian test team. But we couldn't talk to them as we were in a hurry.

There was a milling crowd outside: anxious relatives in shabby sweaters and gaudy scarves waiting to receive workers returning from the Middle East. One of the biggest exports of Bangladesh are blue collar workers.

Every human is related to everyone else in this world because we breathe in the same air that’s now rich in carbon dioxide. But my sister, who was with us, has a more serious kinship with Sultana Zaman, a social worker in Bangladesh. They are alumnae of the same school in Kolkata. Sultana is about twenty years older and just about knows my sibling. She had sent a car to receive us at the airport.

As we hit the three-lane road leading to the city, we met with a solid traffic jam. The PM was returning home after her visit to India. There were rallies to welcome her with “floral good wishes”. (This weird phrase is a translation of an equally weird Bangla expression seen on many a banner: phulel shubhechcha. Politicians screw up not only our life, but also our language!) The tailback created by Sheik Hasina’s admirers extended to miles. Our car inched forward. A fog and a prime minister took away one eighth of our holiday.

The road was excellent, but congested, to put it mildly. Drivers jostled for spaces that didn’t exist. Yet, there was absolutely no bad mouthing. Bus conductors too were far less aggressive and noisy than their counterparts in Kolkata. There were all kinds of vehicles that have been invented in the last few centuries, from cycle rickshaws to the latest SUVs. Auto rickshaws are putatively called CNGs in Bangladesh, they run on CNG. They have wire mesh all over and look like cages on wheels. The system is user-friendly, but unfortunately, it would have made life difficult for chain snatchers. Almost all the local buses were crowded, battered, and bruised. (In two days, I saw one freshly painted bus in Dhaka.) Taxi cabs too were ramshackle. But there were also quite a few imported cars and SUVs. For some reason, most of them were Toyotas. They looked more impressive in the midst of their poor cousins.

A good public transport system bears the stamp of a thriving middle class. Mumbai has had one, rather two, for as long as one can remember. The rising middle class forced governments to build metro rails in Kolkata, New Delhi, and Bengaluru. My first hour in Dhaka conveyed the impression that people in Bangladesh are either rich or poor. There may not be many in the middle.

The little discomfort we had during the journey was wiped off by an excellent lunch with ilish machher jhol and bhat. The service was even better. The waiters treated us as if we were their personal guests.

My cousin had a semi-official meeting with Tahmina Rahman, the director of the Bangladesh chapter of ARTICLE 19, a London-based human rights organisation. ARTICLE 19 specifically focuses on the defence and promotion of freedom of expression and freedom of information. It takes its name from the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.

To be a serious human rights worker is no mean achievement in the third world. In Bangladesh, which has a history of de-facto and de-jure military rules, it would perhaps require a lot more courage. Tahmina is a gutsy woman who seemed to be doing very good work. She is also building a team. It was great to meet her.

Tahmina not only organised our transport, but also took us all out for a superb Thai dinner.

Bangladesh, poorer than my poor country; does it have a richer soul? I would try to find out during the next few days.