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Monday, April 18, 2011

Dr. Binayak Sen Out on Bail

The Supreme Court has granted bail to Dr. Binayak Sen and veteran writer and blogger Dilip D'souza has a valid comment to make on the whole episode on it on his blog. Read it here.

It seems four Nobel Prize winners campaigned for Dr. Sen's release. The judge observed, ""Sympathising with Maoists is no ground for Sen's arrest [and] possession of literature is no proof of Maoist involvement."

My take: the laws of the land have been so misinterpreted by the high and mighty (for their own benefit) that they thought they could get away with a conviction in this case. Combating terror and violence is okay by any ordinary individual, but making hasty decisions in the name of security is inadmissible. It's a sign of our awareness that so many people have campaigned so actively. I know a FB friend and activist who mailed me regular updates of the case since I supported the cause. A vigilant public has come to Dr. Sen's rescue. It is Binayak Sen today, tomorrow it could be me or you, the reader. Simply finding a book by Marx in your home is no ground to brand you as a Naxalite.

Remember Lokmanya Tilak's famous words when he was convicted for sedition by the British, "There are higher powers than this tribunal that rule the destinies of beings and it may be the will of Providence that the cause I represent will prosper more by my remaining in jail than my remaining free." Remember this: the charge was the same: sedition.The case was also built on very flimsy grounds that Tilak demanded "Swaraj".

I think Dr. Binayak Sen stand for the personal freedoms that our democracy guarantees to all its citizens.

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