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On the morning of May 17th, when the election results from the biggest democracy in the world were still being digested, a 500 strong paramilitary force went and demolished the premises of Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (VCA), a Gandhian organization that has worked tirelessly in sourthern Chhattisgarh for the last 17 years. Student researchers and a journalist at the site were beaten up by the police.
Not only was this demolition inhuman, it was also illegal. The question of VCA's right to the land it occupied has been sub-judice since 2007.
Please read and sign the petition http://petitions.aidindia.org/VCA and make your voice count against this gross injustice |
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To: Dr. Raman Singh
Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh
Chief Minister Niwas
Raipur, Chhattisgarh
Respected Chief Minister Singh:
We, members of an international coalition of peace and justice groups, are writing to you to express our solidarity with the ongoing Satyagraha in Raipur[1], and urge you to release Dr. Binayak Sen immediately. Starting from March 16th, every Monday, batches of 50-100 people are going to Raipur Jail to demand the release Dr. Binayak Sen. Supporters in other cities around the world are holding solidarity actions during this period. We fully support this Civil Disobedience movement which has been launched by individuals and organizations in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King to protest the unjust and illegal imprisonment of Dr. Binayak Sen under false and unproven charges, and the repeated denial of his bail application.
Our Demands
We, the undersigned, extend our fullest support to the Satyagraha in Raipur and demand that the government of Chhattisgarh take immediate steps to:
1. Release Dr. Binayak Sen and stop harassing other human rights defenders
2. Repeal the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005[2] (CSPSA), and restore civil liberties for all citizens
3. Disband Salwa Judum, the state-sponsored militia whose involvement in large-scale arson and killings have been indisputably documented, and provide full compensation and justice for all its victims
1. Release Dr. Binayak Sen:
Dr. Binayak Sen, the 2008 Jonathan Mann awardee for Health and Human Rights[3], a physician-for-the-poor, public health professional and civil liberties and development activist has now been behind bars for 22 months on false charges of abetting activities of an armed underground movement[4]. Dr. Binayak Sen is the national Vice President of People’s Union for Civil Liberties, one of the oldest civil liberties organizations in the country, and has been a trenchant critic of the state’s lop-sided policies which advance corporate interests over those of its poorest inhabitants, the indigenous people of Chhattisgarh.
Even though the state has been unable to produce any evidence against him[5], Dr. Binayak Sen’s pleas for bail have been repeatedly refused by judicial institutions at all levels in the country. The best traditions of justice and precedents set by Indian courts demand that ‘bail should be the rule and jail the exception’. Bail is normally denied only to those accused that are likely to run away, repeat the crime, or tamper with evidence. None of these conditions apply in the case of Dr. Binayak Sen[6]. He was arrested when he voluntarily went to the police on 14 May 2007 after learning they were looking for him. Bail cannot be used as a punitive measure; rather, it is an inherent civil right in democracy, and is an essential part of the Indian criminal justice system.
In the days and months following his incarceration, Dr. Binayak Sen has received tremendous support from within India and outside. Twenty two Nobel Laureates have signed a letter in his support[7]. International and national media, through news stories and editorials, have consistently pointed to the unjustified nature of Dr. Binayak Sen’s imprisonment[8]. The current Satyagraha represents the public’s indignation and frustration with the responses of the Indian legal system and executive.
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