Main Menu

Essay Competition 2009

Member

Defenders Online

Tomas Nordlander

----------------

4 guests

Dr Binayak Sen, a jailed Human Rights Defender

( 11 Votes )

Written by Dr. Tomas Eric Nordlander

Dr Binayak Sen, a 56 year old Indian paediatrician known for his commitments to human rights and health care to the poor was arrested on the 14_^th of May 2007. He lived and worked in Chhattisgarh, one of India's most deprived states. In his role as the national vice president of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) he was engaged in highlighting human right violations in Chhattisgarh.

He was arrested and accused for ties with the Naxalites, a revolutionary communist group that is ideologically close to Maoism. The arrest took place one week after Dr Binayak Sen's investigation by local police and Salwa Judoom's (an anti-maoist militia group) involvement in the murder of several indigenous people. Six month after his arrest, the Indian Supreme Court rejected his bail petition. His trial started a week ago (30th of April), almost a year after his arrest.

The growing international support for Dr Binayak Sen of human rights organisations, governments and Nobel laureates pressures his release. Susmit Bose, a urban Indian folk singer and a member of our HumanRightsDefence organisation wrote and recorded the following song as a tribute to Dr. Binayak Sen's resistance to anti people's politics; the song is in solidarity with his struggle.

Susmit Bose - Dr. Binayak Sen (written on May 14, 2008)

HumanRightsDefence will continue to monitor the ongoing trial. Should you possess further information or news please feel free to send it to Editor@HumanRightsDefence.org. In the meantime you might like to sign a petition for his release. See the link below. A 10-day fast begins in support of Dr Binayak Sen began 16th June and will end June 25th the day emergency Rule in India was declared in 1975.