By Azera Rahman,IANS,
New Delhi: Medical doctor and civil rights activist Binayak Sen, who was arrested over two years back under unproven charges of links with Maoists in Chhattisgarh and freed on bail two months ago, Saturday spoke strongly against “military confrontation to solve social problems”.
Sen was in the capital to attend his first public meeting with civil society activists after the Supreme Court granted him bail.
“The main reason why I am here today is to start a peace initiative in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and other Maoist-hit states, mainly with the civil society and give out the message that there should be delegitimisation of military confrontation to solve any social problem,” Sen told IANS on the sidelines of the meeting at the Indian Social Institute.
“Primarily we want the civil society and others to participate in this initiative and we will have a meeting in this regard Aug 4. There is no direct initiative to involve the government now although some of the members of our group, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), are talking about inviting parliamentarians too,” added the 59-year-old activist.
Dressed in a blue kurta and carrying an olive green jhola, Sen was accompanied by his wife Ilina who has been his constant supporter through all civil liberty movements.
An activist who has contributed immensely in the field of public health and other social issues, Sen has been quite vociferous against “human rights violations” by the state-sponsored militia, the Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh.
The hospital that he started for the benefit of the downtrodden in that state is still functioning, but “has no doctors”.
The Chhattisgarh government booked Sen, the vice president of PUCL, under the stringent anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, for his alleged links with Maoists. He was arrested May 14, 2007 and accused of acting as a courier for an alleged Maoist leader lodged in jail.
After a campaign by the civil society and international bodies to free Sen from the “illegal detention”, he was granted bail May 25 this year.
He is quick to add: “178 people are still behind bars in Chhattisgarh under the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005. This was one of the charges I was arrested under. And there are others who are arrested under similar charges in other states.
“Therefore, although I am happy that I am out on bail after two years, this is not a complete win. My struggle against violence will continue.”
It was not before two months that Sen had his first public meet here.
“I was undergoing treatment because of my heart problem, therefore I could not meet anyone before,” said a clean-shaven Sen — in contrast to his bearded look in photographs in the media during his imprisonment.
Asked what change has he seen in the world outside after spending two years in prison, Sen said: “We are definitely much closer to deployment of military process now than earlier.”
Even as other members of the PUCL said that the military action to tackle the Maoists “will be on soon”, Sen said that if true than the amount of harm done will be unimaginable.
“We want to discourage any kind of military means or violent means to tackling any problem because a lot of ordinary people will be affected. There will be extensive displacement, the economy will be pulled down and it will all be a waste of time and effort.
“The effect will be far worse than the violations by the Salwa Judum,” he said.
On a lighter note, Sen said that after his two-year stay in the prison, he is also getting a ‘celebrity status’ that he has never had before — one he wants to get rid of as soon as he can.
“After I came out of the prison gate, I was met with journalists wall-to-wall and cameras clicking me endlessly. It was a sight I had never seen before! I have lost my anonymity. In six to eight months I hope to get it back,” he smiled.