Dear Members, Please do not treat this group as a dumping ground for press releases. There are specialized groups for circulating press releases issued by people with dubious antecedents - ours is not one of them.
Sarbajit --- In [email protected], Vijayan MJ <vijaya...@...> wrote: > > Press Statement by Arundhati Roy > > Issued at the Raipur Satyagraha for the Release of Dr Binayak Sen > April 6, 2009 Raipur, Chattisgarh > > ____________________________________________________________ > > Dr Binayak Sen has been in prison for 22 months, arrested under one of > India's most draconian laws, the Chattisgarh Special Public Security Act. > This Act has such a vague, diffused definition of `Unlawful Activity' that > it renders every person guilty unless he or she can prove their innocence. > Dr Sen's bail application was dismissed twice, both times at the very > outset, by the High Court of Chattisgarh and by the Supreme Court of India. > On neither occasion was there a discussion on the merits of the case. On the > 2nd of December 2008 the High Court of Chattisgarh once again turned down > his bail application, without a discussion on the merits of the case, saying > that there had been no change in circumstances. > > > > But there has been a change in circumstances. To begin with, the > charge-sheet has been filed. 64 witnesses have been examined by the > prosecution. Not one of them has provided legally admissible evidence to > support the accusations in the charge-sheet. Even the jail officials, the > Superintendent and the Jailer, who were called as witnesses by the > Prosecution, have ruled out the possibility of Dr Sen being a carrier of > letters given to him by Narayan Sanyal (said to be a senior Maoist leader) > who is a high security prisoner in Raipur Jail. (It should be mentioned here > that Narayan Sanyal has a medical condition which requires surgical > intervention from time to time, which is why the jail authorities permitted > Dr Sen to visit him regularly.) > > > > That Dr Sen should continue to be in prison when the case against him has > almost completely fallen through says a great deal about the very grave > situation in Chattisgarh today. There is a civil war in this state. Hundreds > are being killed and imprisoned. Hundreds of thousands of the poorest of the > poor are hiding in the forests, fearing for their lives. They have no access > to food, to markets, to schools or healthcare. The thousands who have been > moved into the camps of the government-backed peoples' militia, the Salwa > Judum, are also trapped in sordid encampments, which have to be guarded by > armed police. Hatred, violence and brutality is being cynically spread, > pitting the poor against the poorest. > > > > There is very little doubt that Dr Sen is in prison because he spoke out > against this policy of the State Government, because he opposed the > formation of the Salwa Judum. His incarceration is meant to silence dissent, > and criminalize democratic space. It is meant to create a wall of silence > around the civil war in Chattisgarh. It is meant to absorb all our attention > so that the stories of the hundreds of other nameless, faceless people - > those without lawyers, without the attention of journalists - who are > starving and dying in the forests, go unnoticed and unrecorded. > > > > Tomorrow is World Health Day. Dr Binayak Sen spent the best part of his life > working among the poorest people in India, who live far away from the > government's attentions, with no access to clinics, hospitals, doctors or > medicines. He has saved thousands from certain death from malaria, diarrhea, > and other easily treatable illnesses. And yet, he is the one in jail, while > those 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? > > > > > > Arundhati Roy > > > > > > > Also visit www.raipursatyagraha.wordpress.com > > > > > > > > -- > Delhi Forum > F-10/12 (GF), Malviya Nagar, > New Delhi INDIA - 110017 > Phones: + 91-11-26671556 (Direct), > 26680914/883 Fax:26687724 > Emails: vija...@..., delhifo...@... > Web: http://updatecollective.wordpress.com/ > http://delhisolidaritygroup.wordpress.com/ > > "Beware of the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the > citizenry into patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged > sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when > the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate > and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights > of the citizenry, [who] infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will > offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How will I know? > For this I have done. And I am Julius Caesar." > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >
