Binayak Sen: Civil Rights Activist to Convicted Criminal
The Indian judicial system is imperfect. Most Indians know that when charged with a crime an individual’s position in society, financial background and political clout will play a major role on whether or not that person will be convicted of the crime and on the nature of the punishment if convicted. Surprisingly India is not the only country in this position. Study after study has shown that the much vaunted American judicial system is not all that different. The American system is clearly not that corrupt but the financial powers of the accused (which will directly impact the type of lawyers he/she can hire) and the racial background of the individual has a huge impact on the outcome of the case. Although our system has its imperfections it is still a liberal and transparent system. The judiciary in India is independent and there is a fairly well-established system of appeals.
This system was put to the test in the trial of noted doctor and activist Binayak Sen. He is the national Vice-President of Peoples Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL). He was charged by the Chhattisgarh government under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005 (CSPSA) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967. On December 24, 2010 the Raipur Sessions Court found him guilty of helping the Maoists and for having connections with a banned organization.
Maoism presents the single biggest threat to India’s security. 2010 was a banner year for the Maoists. Thousands of innocent civilians were killed by the Maoists and numerous others kidnapped and held for ransom. Many trains were derailed and vital bridges blown up. The Indian national government and the various state governments in the affected areas lost billions of dollars in revenue. Maoism clearly is a result of years of government negligence and abuse of the tribal people in states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal. But today’s Maoists and their leaders are very different from those of the past. The poor and the week are just pawns in their quest for power and money. They are ruthless killers and have replaced the local governments as the exploiters of the poor and the needy.
Binayak Sen has been flirting with danger for a while. He is a very vocal opponent of Government of India’s actions against the Maoists while at the same time very silent when it comes to violence committed by the Maoists. During his trial the government submitted evidence that showed that he visited jailed Maoist leader Narayan Sanyal almost 33 times under false pretences. According to prison authorities he claimed that he was a relative of Narayan Sanyal when he was not.
The judge who delivered the verdict said “…it showed the unity of mind of the accused and established facts relating to conspiracy to commit sedition. Apart from this, even before the incident, Narayan Sanyal had sent a Postcard to Binayak Sen. Claiming to be a relative, Dr Sen met Sanyal several times in jail”. The judge also noted that the PUCL office in Rupantar (NGO outfit run by Binayak Sen’s wife Ilina Sen) did not appear to be registered bodies. In addition the judge said “Naxals like Shankar Singh, Malati, etc used to work for Rupantar. This proves Binayak Sen was involved in Naxal activities, and gave them shelter and support”. This is damning evidence.
The response of Binayak Sen’s supporters to the verdict has been appalling. They have tried to smear the Indian judicial system and its commitment to democracy. Ilina Sen said after the verdict that the trial was a “sham… the allegations against him are vague and even a child can make out there is not an iota of truth in it”. She added “I am sad at the judgment. I am sad because my daughters and I and my husband will have to fight another long legal battle and I don’t how long will this be. But I am even more sad for the state of Indian democracy”. There is nothing wrong with the trial or the Indian democracy at this point. The democracy is stronger than it ever was. The legal process and the trial process that was followed in this case is what an average Indian would have undergone in similar circumstances. Why should Binayak Sen be treated differently?
The reality is that Binayak Sen got a very fair trial than most average citizens would have under the circumstances (In India a case can take years before it can go to trail) because of all the media attention and the high profile nature of the defendant. Most Indians are generally happy that our system finally worked in a high profile case. We are used to well-connected people walking away scot-free after committing serious crimes.
Ilina Sen also made allegations that she and her family were not safe in India after the verdict. She also took an indirect shot at India. She said “only recourse left for me is to go to some embassy of a liberal, democratic country and ask for political asylum”. Other than complaining to the media has she filed any police reports regarding these complaints? If she has filed complaints then she should let law takes its course before deciding on the “only recourse” like political asylum. I can to some extent understand the personal trauma that she is going through. But there is no need to call India’s credentials into question. India’s Home Minister P Chidambaram has been nice enough to extend special security for Ilina Sen and family if they so desire.
Unfortunately some of Binayak Sen’s supporters have turned this into a communal event. Representatives of the National Council of Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship, The Catholic Church and the All India Christian Council organized a demonstration and made the following statement “Today the largest democracy in the world is faced with similar situations [as at the time of Jesus]. It is in deep distress and anguish that we point out to you that Human rights defenders are being targeted, and silenced, by all sorts of forces – from sections of the judiciary, administration and police on the one hand to political extremists on the other hand”. This is utter nonsense.
This “conspiracy theory” against Sen proposed by these Christian Church groups that involves the Indian judiciary, administration, police and the “political extremists” is baseless and without merit. Don’t these groups have the responsibility to submit evidence before making such serious allegations? And since when did these Church groups become the defenders of human rights in India? Where were these people when police officers kidnapped by these Maoists were being beheaded? It appears as if they turn out to support the rights of well known individuals but not that of the average man. There are allegations that Ilina Sen is an ISI agent. No evidence has been submitted to support this claim. But when Ilina Sen was asked about these allegations she added fuel to the “communal fire” by stating that “We have friends with Muslim names and we are proud of that. But it seems it’s illegal to have friends with Muslim names in this country”. Would any responsible human rights activist be making such a statement at this volatile juncture?
Binayak Sen and company have a lot of friends in high places including the Indian media. Organizations like Amnesty International and “intellectuals” like Professor Noam Chomsky and historian Professor Romila Thapar have started applying pressure on the government of India to release him. I hope that the Indian government does not give in. I hope so not because I believe that he is guilty (It is up to the Indian judicial system to find guilt or innocence). I hope so because I believe in equal rights and treatment for all Indians. I do not believe that any Indian should be given preferential treatment because of who they are. That includes Dr. Binayak Sen!
“No man is above the law and no man below it” – Theodore Roosevelt
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- A Case For Activist Judges in India
- India Governed By Rule of Law
- News Broadcasters Association of India Self Censorship
- Censorship in India: The Right to Read
- Indian Politics: Secularism and Pseudo-Secularism
Category: News & Government
I am not the supported of maoist per say, but when you say we have got as good as judiciary system as compare to US, I am not with you Hari.
Our Judiciary system is the brain child of British so that they can rule us for thousands of the years. 34735 Laws have been made by British including Police Act, Land Acquisiton Act etc.
Police Act is the very same against which Shahid Bhagat Singh(u can call him terrorist) raised his voice after Lala lajpat rai (famous freedom fighter for me, u can call him terrorist) has been hit numerous times for the peaceful protest against this Police Act Law and Lalaji got died on spot. Shaheed Bhagat singh appeal against the Sanders (British Officer), he got freed by Court which says that Police have right to assault but in turn if the pity person resist, he would be guilty to resist. Even after this act of Sanders, he got promoted. The Message was clear to all indians, So only Shahid Bhagat singh killed Sanders shooted him from the Point blank range and got hanged for opposing Police act and throwing Bomb in the assembly (in which not a single injury happens due to the fact that Bomb does not contain Sharp metal pieces but contains his Parties manifesto in the papar pieces form)
I am not here to teach history to anyone here, but the point is this Police Act is still exist in its original form made by British.
Now recently during BJP govt in Rajasthan, they decided to open Liqour shops in every village, to whihc farmer opposed and demanded water to drink, to do farming etc. to which Govt of Rajasthan use guns against agitating farmers , 22 farmers killed, numerous rapes by police, but since laws are in favour of those who made it, common people are bound to suffer. They suffered durinn British Raj and they would continue to suffer even now, as none of the 34735 laws have been scrapped (suggested by Mahatma Gandhiji)
Land acquisition Act was also the ploy to remain in power for thousands of the years.
How, here it goes..
During British Rule out of 20 Crore indians, 10 crores where Farmers. Farmers, Teachers are community which was the main targets for British as these people were against British Rule and leading the Freedom Movements.
So this Land Acquisition Act discussed in House of Commons in UK, and got approval from then Queen of UK. This law say that whosoever does not have land papers to prove the land ownership, has to surrender their land to British Govt. They snatched land from Farmers to weaken their freedom struggle. Impose their education system to weaken our own education system to weaken the Freedom movement. I really appreciate, that British planned there act using new laws in India.
Due to this law today we have got labour class built over the period of time, who were originally farmers.
This is just two laws I discussed, if you go in depth of all the laws made by british, you would be amazed to know the planning part of British, but thanks to Civil Disobiedience, Baycott lead by Gandhiji and the Voilent way of dealing by Shahid Bhagat singh, Netaji Subhash and many more countless freedom fighter, britishers have to left india, but then British make sure that Nehru would continue their legacy who believe whatever comes from West are Best..
Maoist would be vanished if all the indians gets their basic rights of sustained food, shelter, laws which protect civilian rights and self respect to say the least.
Paras,
I did not state that Indian judicial system is as good as the American system. I indicated that money and race plays an important role in the outcome of a case in America. So the system is not as fair as some of us in India think. Recently a man was released after spending 30 years in jail for a crime he did not commit.
Most Indians know that the laws that we follow today are laws that were established during European rule. We should also stop complaining about the law after the fact. Clearly many of these laws should be modified to reflect Indian values and culture. But it should be noted that the British enacted very same laws in all the countries they ruled including the United States. But many of the European countries and countries like Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States do not have the law and order problem that we have.
This is an indication that the law by itself is not the problem. It is a question of enforcing these laws and making sure that those who violate are held accountable. In India itself a state like Kerala or Tamil Nadu is much better off than say Bihar or Uttar Pradesh although the criminal laws are the same. It again goes back to law enforcement and the ability of the people to hold their governments accountable.
I do agree that some of the Maoist problems will go away if they get their basic rights. But lack of basic rights should not be used as an excuse to commit heinous crimes against others. India is full of poor people and the vast majority of them do not take up arms against the government and kill people or bomb trains. The tribal people of north west India have been clearly taken advantage of by the leftist mafia.
a person lik u enjoying on the wealth of tribals is surely to make points lik this..perhaps u haven’t or hav made no attempt to see vast numbers of loopholes in the manufactured police story..u are too patroitic ..a blind one..good dng its jst a matter of tim when ppl lik u will sell this country to us..as revelled by recent wikileaks cables..india is full of patriots wanting to sell their country
Harsh Vardhan,
You are completely wrong. Binayak Sen is no tribal nor a friend of the tribal people. He has very rich and powerful friends all over the world to support him. Most Indian tribals do not have this privilege. I do not know whether he is guilty or not. But I want him to stand trial (just like the rest of the people in India including the tribal people would if they were accused of a similar crime). I do not want his rich and powerful friends to bail him out. He is seeking special treatment. I want equality.