Dr Ilina Sen's letter to NHRC
Submission to the NHRC team investigating arrest of human rights
Defender, Dr Binayak Sen.
7 June 2007
Since my return from Delhi on the 30th, I have had occasion to examine
the court file in this case together with our lawyer, ms Nitya
Ramachandran. To my horror, I found that letters from the Jail Supdt.
to the district police establishment asking for security guards to
escort Dr Sen to the court for extension of remand already refer to
him as a hardcore naxalite prisoner. This is particularly shocking as
neither has the chargesheet in the case been filed nor,
understandably, the trial taken place. If the jail supdt draws this
kind of conclusion unilaterally, it is only fair that we seek to
discover the authority under which he does so. At the jail premises
also, every time we visit Dr Sen, we are made to sign in a special
register pertaining to naxalite prisoners. This is uncalled for and
preposterous in a country where an accused is held to be innocent
until proved guilty, and indicates the malafide intent of the state of
Chhattisgarh in first identifying its
victims, and then seeking to build up concocted cases against them.
In keeping with the pattern observed during the arrest of Dr Sen, in
which a media vilification campaign was mounted prior to actual
arrest, I found, after the 30th , that a similar campaign had been let
loose against me alleging that my relationships and activities would
be investigated I learnt today that a special investigating team led
by a CSP has this morning visited my mother's home in Kolkata and
enquired about my antecedents and tried to find out WHY we chose to
work in Chhattisgarh.
It is useful to point out that while both Dr
Binayak Sen and I have been publicly critical of Salwa Judum and have
drawn attention to its many repressive features ,our work has always
been in the public sphere and completely overboard for the last 20
years and more. I believe that the right to hold dissenting political
positions is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution, and
that the state of Chhattisgarh is operating under a presumption that
'you are either with
us or against us'.
This is quite apart from the fact that any Indian
citizen has the right to live and work in any part of India. The kind
of monolithic thinking that the present government of Chhattisgarh
holds is lethal to the democratic way of life. If this trend is
allowed to continue, the Indian nation and national values will be
destroyed from within quite without the assistance of the naxalites.
The arrest of Dr Sen is a test case for Indian democracy.
I may be out of station after tomorrow, but will be happy to talk to
the team on phone if they contact me on 94252-06875.
(Dr Ilina Sen)
7.6.07