The last lap of the prelude to the 'Dance of Democracy'(the real moves begin on the 16th) ended yesterday and courtesy this last phase, the voting percentages might just about match those of 2004. So that's it then! We live in a happy and fulfilling democracy! Hurrah and three cheers.
Once our hangover subsides, we may also choose to remember that it's been exactly 2 years since Dr. Binayak Sen was imprisoned by the sate of Chattisgarh on the flimsiest of grounds. Over the past two years, the case has crumbled bit by steady bit. And yet, the government or for that matter the judiciary have not only refused to withdraw the case but have even denied a sick man the right to medical treatment of his choice. Nobel laureates and British MPs(a bit rich considering Binyam Mohamed) have appealed for his release. There has been a decent amount of publicity and a lot of protest over the issue(including the now-inescapable facebook group). Despite all this, Dr.Sen is still in jail.
I am not one who would argue that publicity and news outrage should influence the way the government or the judiciary proceeds. However, considering the notoriety the case has earned, doesn't it seem sort of obvious that the government or the judges hearing the case would move in a slightly different manner, like say, with a bit more speed? If the establishment(the only word i can think of now) can allow a sore like this to persist so openly, don't all those words we have been repeating about accountability and the power of the press and other such things ring so hollow? And if this is the case with such a well-known figure, the fate of common-er citizens is well...
I like to believe I am not that naive about the way things happen in India. But I also believe that often, in the midst of the fairly comfortable existence many of us lead, we tend to believe and swallow the lessons we have been taught. We tend to believe it's a free country, a beacon of democracy amidst failed states and that with a lot of effort, anybody can make it good. These beliefs are not articles of faith for us. No one can be that dumb! But sometimes, grudgingly, with a lot of qualifications, we tend to sit back, look at ourselves and think..'You know what? This place isn't that bad after all'.
Perhaps, being 'political' implies taking off the goop that gathers around your eye while you are asleep!
A better way of phrasing it is the way Devina Mehta said it. Devina Mehta, who along with her husband was persecuted only because they were the financiers of Tehelka which had just, then conducted 'Operation West End'. Devina Mehta, who said:
"Now you realize that anybody out there is only there because nobody wants you inside. Any time somebody wants you inside [jail], you can be inside."
A couple of days ago, Iran, as repressive a state as any, released US-Iraninan journalist Roxanna Saberi after she was convicted in a spying case. It could have been due to US pressure or a 100 other reasons. The fact is if Iran can do it, is it really that hard for the Supreme Court of India?? Or do we need a letter from Barack Obama for this as well?
Ps Do read the story of Shankar and Devina Mehta from the excerpts of Madhu Trehan's book 'PRISM ME A LIE TELL ME A TRUTH: TEHELKA AS METAPHOR'. It's one of the most tragic instances of the point I have been trying to make.
Ps 2. Also check out binayaksen.net, a website which is faithfully chronicling the case of Dr. Sen besides emerging as a rallying point for protests and public initiatives in his support.
Ps 3. The previous post I wrote on this issue(in the interests of context)
Showing posts with label Binayak Sen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Binayak Sen. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Thursday, May 15, 2008
POTA and Sons Inc.
It's one year since Dr.Binayak Sen was arrested, a full year during the course of which almost every wing of the Indian state combined to put a committed social worker behind bars on the basis of flawed evidence and coerced testimonials. Dr. Sen, who campaigned relentlessly against the extra-constitutional "Salwa Judm" in Chattisgarh, was/is accused of colluding with terror-the one charge that will ensure that institutions/individuals normally accustomed to voicing their opinion keep silent and entrust everything to the Government.
The strange case of Dr.Sen slithered to the underside of public(you know what I mean) memory, kept alive by a few voices which were generally ignored. In April, The Supreme Court expressed its disapproval of the basic idea behind the
creation of an organization like the Salwa Judm, thus vindicating the stand of Dr. Sen and his comrades.
The state government however, not only refused to relent on Dr.Sen's case, but carried out another arrest in almost similarly shocking circumstances. The arrest of T.G Ajay under the CPSA (Chattisgarh Public Security Act) on the 5th of May and the conferral of The Jonathan Mann award for Global Health and Human Rights on Dr.Sen have seemingly awakened erstwhile silent sections of civil society to this issue. The demonstrations, petitions and marches have begun and will hopefully intensify. However there is one broader trend that must be isolated and resisted, since it goes beyond these particular cases and contexts.
I am referring of course, to the CPSA and its brother laws.
The blog for the "Campaign for Peace and Justice in Chattisgarh" has a link to the copy of the Act as well as a review of the Act by the People's Union for Democratic Rights.
A very cursory reading of the Act itself indicates the immense potential for the misuse of this act and the severe restrictions on review of decisions made under this Act(The Government is the only agent empowered to call for an Advisory Board). The CPSA is yet another bastard offspring of the "War on Terror" and its true significance can only been understood when studied in the global context. Of course oppressive laws abounded even before, but 9-11 and the incidents that followed proved to be a boon for those believed that tough measures like POTA or CPSA are the solutions to issues of public security. The recent bomb blasts in Jaipur saw a great deal of noise about the need to act tough on terror. There were even calls for POTA to be brought back from the place it was rightly consigned to after the NDA was thrown out in 2004.
The most important temptation to be resisted is this-the belief that a hastily-crafted law without any of the proper safeguards necessary can, on its own, solve all those issues that give rise to terrorism. Statistical evidence aside, common sense alone is enough to tell one that centralization in law-making is not the strategy to combat terror structures that are getting increasing de-centralized. Centralized(those that effectively end up concentrating power in fewer hands), coercive laws invariably end up affecting those at the margins, alienating them further and stretching the fabric of the state to its breaking point. However this is something that happens over a longer period of time and the myopic comfort provided by harsh and effective sounding laws often trumps considerations about the society of the future.
A cautionary note must be sounded here in the context of liberal voices associating a preference for these kinds of laws with "communal forces". While it's true that the Sangh Parivar has been in the forefront of advocating such laws, it is also to be remembered that there is as great a mass of the populace, which while distancing itself from the Parivar's agenda, firmly believes that the nation must take a "strong" stand against terror. This group is the "swing group", the one which must be engaged if we are ever to be saved from the indignity of our Democratic state transforming into a complete Police State.
The strange case of Dr.Sen slithered to the underside of public(you know what I mean) memory, kept alive by a few voices which were generally ignored. In April, The Supreme Court expressed its disapproval of the basic idea behind the
creation of an organization like the Salwa Judm, thus vindicating the stand of Dr. Sen and his comrades.
The state government however, not only refused to relent on Dr.Sen's case, but carried out another arrest in almost similarly shocking circumstances. The arrest of T.G Ajay under the CPSA (Chattisgarh Public Security Act) on the 5th of May and the conferral of The Jonathan Mann award for Global Health and Human Rights on Dr.Sen have seemingly awakened erstwhile silent sections of civil society to this issue. The demonstrations, petitions and marches have begun and will hopefully intensify. However there is one broader trend that must be isolated and resisted, since it goes beyond these particular cases and contexts.
I am referring of course, to the CPSA and its brother laws.
The blog for the "Campaign for Peace and Justice in Chattisgarh" has a link to the copy of the Act as well as a review of the Act by the People's Union for Democratic Rights.
A very cursory reading of the Act itself indicates the immense potential for the misuse of this act and the severe restrictions on review of decisions made under this Act(The Government is the only agent empowered to call for an Advisory Board). The CPSA is yet another bastard offspring of the "War on Terror" and its true significance can only been understood when studied in the global context. Of course oppressive laws abounded even before, but 9-11 and the incidents that followed proved to be a boon for those believed that tough measures like POTA or CPSA are the solutions to issues of public security. The recent bomb blasts in Jaipur saw a great deal of noise about the need to act tough on terror. There were even calls for POTA to be brought back from the place it was rightly consigned to after the NDA was thrown out in 2004.
The most important temptation to be resisted is this-the belief that a hastily-crafted law without any of the proper safeguards necessary can, on its own, solve all those issues that give rise to terrorism. Statistical evidence aside, common sense alone is enough to tell one that centralization in law-making is not the strategy to combat terror structures that are getting increasing de-centralized. Centralized(those that effectively end up concentrating power in fewer hands), coercive laws invariably end up affecting those at the margins, alienating them further and stretching the fabric of the state to its breaking point. However this is something that happens over a longer period of time and the myopic comfort provided by harsh and effective sounding laws often trumps considerations about the society of the future.
A cautionary note must be sounded here in the context of liberal voices associating a preference for these kinds of laws with "communal forces". While it's true that the Sangh Parivar has been in the forefront of advocating such laws, it is also to be remembered that there is as great a mass of the populace, which while distancing itself from the Parivar's agenda, firmly believes that the nation must take a "strong" stand against terror. This group is the "swing group", the one which must be engaged if we are ever to be saved from the indignity of our Democratic state transforming into a complete Police State.
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