It is too early to be satisfied , hundreds of Advasi people , Dalits ,
peasants ,
agricultural workers among others including in Maharashtra such as Sudhir
Dhawale have been falsely charged merely because they have resisted or spoken
against exploitation or the Corporate land grab in vast territories which
have been tribal and forested from time memorial or THEY agitated against
organizations such as the Salwa Judum or against excesses of the Para military
forces or the police or exposed upper caste oppression.
Just like Dr. Binayak Sen was illegally charged and detained hundreds of youth
from lower middle class and working families of the religious minorities are
in
detention on false charges of bomb blasts even as the Swami Aseemananda
confessions
and the late Shaheed Jt.Commissioner of Police Hemant Karakare 's
investigations as
head of the Anti-Terrorist Squad have prima facie disclosed that the Sangh
Parivar was
involved in a plot which prima facie was aimed against the unity of the
country.
In the last two decades in particular the situation on the civil liberties and
human
rights front has deteriorated from one region to another, from one State to
another, with
conditions resembling political fascism in some regions to camouflage
predatory
economic policies or to divert attention to scapegoat the religious minorities
to camouflage
the divide and rule policy and policies against the economic interests of the
vast
majority of working and middle income people irrespective of religious or
caste identity .
There is no room for complacency as it is difficult for citizens who do not
belong to the
upper middle class or middle class to move the Supreme Court and as Himanshu
Kumar the Gandhian correctly observed ,even while we all supported and continue
to support
Dr. Binayak Sen that this case evoked strong reaction as it was a well known
individual belonging
to the Middle Class . Will it be the same solidarity be visible if it was a
Tribal , a Dalit , a worker , an
individual from the lower middle class , a peasant or agricultural worker , a
worker ?????????
We have entered a significant political phase in India , on the one hand we
need a
broad alliance of those who will support the widening of democracy and oppose
repression on citizens and defend democracy and political rights and another
alliance
for an economic , social and political manifesto for the masses of the people .
It is neccessary
to reflect whether one house of the Parliament and State legislatures should
be representative
of the major occupations in the country proportionate to their numbers and
strength in the
economy for example peasantry and farming interests , agricultural workers ,the
tribal people , organized workers , unorganized workers , fisher folk , the
teaching community, soldiers/airmen/sailors/paramilitary / bureaucracy , the
media and police etc , not excluding any section including the
private/corporate sector on the basis of their numbers and percentage in the
population.This is to secure that economic andsocial policy is enacted after
consultation with
the widest interests.
It is dangerous to create illusions that merely by the release of one person
illegally detained
or by enacting one new law we have overcome political and social problems . The
Prevention
of Corruption Act was enacted decades ago . It provides that once prima facie
the known assets
are disproportionate to the source of income the burden of proof shifts on to
the accused . However
without special fast track courts and an independent body to prosecute, despite
this Act ,the situation
is worse than earlier as society as a whole has degenerated without political
inspiration and a higher
social and political culture, as corruption has been condoned as identified
with dynamism of private
enterprise and societal success . Major Corporate Houses who have flagrantly
violated the law
continue to be lionized .
The Human Rights Commission similarly cannot fulfill its functions unless it is
manned
by those singularly committed to uphold democratic rights as granted by the
Constitution
of India read along with International Conventions and Human Rights reports of
those
affected in various parts of the country of the individual and of collective
groups targeted
for land and water seizure or for projects devastating livelihoods without
viable alternatives
created or for exploitation by vested interests leading to a threat to their
life and livelihood.
Niloufer Bhagwat
----- Original Message -----
From: NAPM India
To: [email protected] ; [email protected] ;
[email protected] ; [email protected] ;
[email protected] ; [email protected] ;
[email protected] ; [email protected] ;
[email protected] ; [email protected] ;
[email protected] ; [email protected] ; initiativeindia Groups ;
SEZ Peoples Audit
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 3:11 PM
Subject: [ANN:4095] NAPM Welcomes Supreme Court Granting Bail to Dr. Binayak
Sen
NAPM Welcomes Supreme Court Granting Bail to Dr. Binayak Sen
New Delhi, April 15 : The news that Dr. Binayak Sen has been granted bail by
the Supreme Court and sedition charges dropped has brought cheers to many of us
who have campaigned for his release all this while across the world. NAPM
welcomes this and hope the case would be finally quashed since from beginning,
as established, the case has too many loop holes. It has only been due to the
persistence of the Chattisgarh government that Dr. Sen has been kept in jail
all this long.
Dr. Sen had filed a petition in the Chhattisgarh high court on January 6,
challenging a district and sessions court order that had convicted him, on
December 24 last year, on various charges, including sedition, and had
sentenced him to life imprisonment. Dr. Sen was arrested in Chhattisgarh in
2007 and was granted bail two years later by Supreme Court.
Supreme Court by its order has restored the faith in the due process of law
for many in this country once again. The observation by the Court that mere
possession of Naxal literature does not make a person a Naxalite, guilty of
sedition, as one who possesses Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography can not call
himself a Gandhian, hopefully will provide relief to many of the human rights
activists, journalists, adivasis and others lodged in different jails across
the country under UAPA, CSPSA, MCOCA and other draconian acts.
We do hope that this will also deter Chattisgarh government from further
mobilising attacks on the journalists and rights activists who have tried to
reach out to the adivasis in Bastar and Dantewada and not brand them as
'Maoists' and stop perpetrating violence on dalits and adivasis in the name of
Operation Green Hunt.
Release of Dr. Binayak Sen will give a boost to our struggle for defending
the rights of the political prisoners and restoring justice and peace in
Chattisgarh.
Zindabaad !
Aruna Roy, Medha Patkar, Sandeep Pandey, Ulka Mahajan, Gabriele Dietrich,
Sister Celia, Akhil Gogoi, Ramakrishna Raju, Maj. Gen (Retd) Sudhir Vombatkere,
Roma, Prafulla Samantara, Anand Mazgaonkar, Suniti S R, Arundhati Dhuru,
Rajendra Ravi, Bhupendera Singh Rawat, Mukta Srivastava, Madhuresh Kumar
--
National Alliance of People’s Movements
National Office: Room No. 29-30, 1st floor, ‘A’ Wing, Haji Habib Bldg,
Naigaon Cross Road, Dadar (E), Mumbai - 400 014;
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6/6, Jangpura B, Mathura Road, New Delhi 110014
Phone : 011 26241167 / 24354737 Mobile : 09818905316
E-mail: [email protected] | [email protected]
Web : www.napm-india.org
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