A Step towards achieving the Right to Democratic Dissent
The Supreme Court granted bail to Dr. Binayak Sen on 25 May 2009.
Binayak was arrested by the government of Chhattisgarh on the 14 May 2007 and
charged under sections of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act
(CSPSA), 2005, as well as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA),
1967, and sections of the Indian Penal Code for his alleged links with Maoists.
His release has been a victory for all the human and democratic rights organizations
and other people’s movements that have been consistently struggling and
demanding for his release.
The two year long campaign for the release of Dr. Sen has shown the enormity
of the capacity required of social and political forces in order to defend human
rights of activists in areas of strife and armed conflict.
This struggle had also witnessed the much needed consolidation of a large
number of democratic and human rights organizations, people’s movements,
trade unions, social, political and cultural activists and individuals on a single
platform to not only demand Dr. Sen’s release but also to demand for the repeal
of anti-terror laws such as the CSPSA,UAPA.
Binayak’s arrest was symptomatic of larger efforts by the state to curb all forms of democratic
dissent.
Nowhere is this fact clearer than in the mineral rich belt of Central India, where the process
of displacement for ‘industrialisation’ has been particularly violent and antidemocratic.
Stop State Repression of Human Rights Defenders
New Trade Union Initiative
B-137 Dayanand Colony, First Floor,
Lajpatnagar Part IV, New Delhi 110024 India
Tel: 91-11-26214538
Fax: 91-11- 26486931
E-Mail: ntui@vsnl.net
