---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pushkar Raj <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2016 23:50:39 +1100
Subject: who will speak for the human rights defenders?
To: Pushkar Raj <[email protected]>
*Who will speak for the Human Rights Defenders?*
Pushkar Raj*
The Bombay high court judgment cancelling Prof. Sai Baba’s bail and
initiating contempt proceedings against the writer Arundhati Roy is a major
blow to the human rights defenders in the country.
Dr. Sai Baba was arrested by the police in 2014 for allegedly indulging in
maoist activities. He was charged under various sections of Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act and later denied bail. In an article in a
magazine Arundhati Roy had questioned the manner of arrest of the professor
and grounds on which he was denied bail. She had criticized the courts in
the country for following different set of rules while granting bail
depending on person’s ideology and proximity with the government of the day.
Dr. Sai Baba organized and participated in the meetings in the capital that
highlighted the misery of the indigenous population who face displacement
and crisis of survival in light of the governments’ big project centric
development agenda. Arundhati Roy stressed that Dr. Sai Baba is primarily a
human rights defender who should be treated humanely in light of his 90 per
cent disability and the jurisprudence principle of presumption of innocence
till proven guilty.
Ideally the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) should have come out in
support of activists like Dr. Sai Baba. However, its record for defending
the HRDs, despite having a dedicated cell for this purpose, has been dismal
for various reasons. Therefore, the burden of speaking on the behalf of
people like Dr. Sai Baba has fallen on the shoulders of the civil society
in the country.
However, the civil society organizations too require support of the
writers, artists and intellectuals to lend weight to their voice,
especially when the present government, erroneously, treats the rights
based human rights activities in the country as an anathema to its
development and ideological agenda.
As a writer, one would assume, Arundhati Roy may feel that branding people
naxalites and then treating them inhumanely before their guilt is proven is
an outrageous practice in a constitutional democracy. In the outlook
article which is the subject of ‘interference in administration of justice’
charge against her, the writer puts her perspective with her own set of
arguments. These arguments may be right or wrong. The judgment of the court
castigates the writer’s right to hold that perspective or opinion which is
a disturbing trend.
It is a matter of concern that the contempt proceedings against Arundhati
Roy, might serve as a warning to the writers and thinkers of the country to
stay away from the public issues. Already, a section of the government has
vilified a large number of writers because they dared to voice against
encouraging and growing intolerance in the Indian society.
Any kind of threatening message coming from any branch of the government on
thought and its expression is an erosion of our constitutional values and
detrimental to the interest of our society. The writer, as Chinua Achebe,
doyen of African literature, argued, creates the values of a society. When
we silence the writer, we create a value vacuum in the society, i.e., a
breeding ground for the mob driven justice and fascism.
The Bombay high court judgment is regrettable that it has come from an
institution- the judiciary- that the writers and HRDs of the country look
up for protection of their life and civil liberties. Several of courts’
landmark judgments preserved and expanded the rights of the individual
rather than shrinking them. In that light, the Bombay high court bench
judgment is an exception.
The present case is sure to go to the Supreme Court. One hopes that it will
be reviewed and nullified in the interest of civil liberties and
constitutional values of the
country.
********
** Pushkar Raj is an independent writer based in Melbourne
(Australia). Earlier, he taught political science in Delhi University and
was the National General Secretary of the People’s Union for Civil
Liberties (PUCL), India. *
--
*Dr. Pushkar Raj*
CSR Global Peace Project Coordinator
Australian Centre for Education & Training
General Secretary, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), India (EX.)
Level 2, 710 Collins Street | Docklands | VIC | 3008 | Australia
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9333 6562 | Mob: 0430563900
Email: *[email protected] <[email protected]>* | Web:
www.acet-global.com
--
Peace Is Doable
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