Dr. Binayak Sen recently completed one year in jail. His crime was that he stood with the villagers in the Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh in their struggle to regain their lost land. The government tricked villagers into giving away their lands to international companies that are building mines to extract bauxite and diamonds in the region. The displaced people were then forcibly relocated to camps that have no water or sanitation or facility for health care. Dr. Sen, a pediatrician who had helped the villagers build their own hospital where no one would be denied health care, was accused of being a "naxalite" and arrested in May last year.
Ms. Ilina Sen, wife of Binayak Sen, was recently in Boston where she delivered a lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the circumstance that led to her husband's arrest. A women's activist and teacher in her own right, Ilina had travelled to the United States to receive, on behalf of her husband, the Jonathan Mann Award. The award for health and human rights was given to Binayak Sen for his exceptional work in caring for the poor and the marginalized.
About 40 people attended Ilina Sen's lecture at MIT, including Dr.Sen's former classmates from the Christian Medical College, Vellore and alumni from CMC who are currently employed at Boston-area hospitals - as well as members of local organizations: "Secular and Democratic South Asia", "Association for India's Development" and "South Asians Stepping in Solidarity".
What is most amazing is that, even when no charges have been established against Dr. Sen and despite the worldwide demand for his release, there is no sign of freedom for him. In a country that prides itself in being "the world's largest democracy" and where people assume that they enjoy freedom and human rights, the authorities can put the tag "naxalite" on anyone - even on as eminent a person as Binayak Sen - and put them behind bars indefinitely.
Ilina Sen's lecture reminded us once again that the struggle to free people detained unjustly everywhere need to be pursed with renewed vigor. To sign a petition for Dr. Binayak Sen's release, please go to aidboston.org/FreeBinayakSen.
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Some Papers on Dalit Theology, Gospel and Culture, Public Theology and Social Analysis
- Witnessing Christ in a Pluralistic Society
- Gospel and Cultures: An Indian Perspective
- Gospel And Cultures: A Subaltern reading of the history of Christian Mission in India
- Relevant Patterns Of Christian Witness In Pluralsitic Societies: An Indian Perspective
- Identity And Mission: Towards A New Ecclesiology
- The Conversion Debate in India
- New Challenges for Dalit Theology
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1 comment:
Human Rights violation is gaining alarming heights every where. Though there are constitutional provisions to safeguard our rights, there are so many ways the authorities can deny the basic rights to us. We need yet to discover some ways to protect our rights. Even peaceful protesters are harassed and put into prison, like Binayak Sen. Thanks for enlightening us about Ms. Ilina Sen's efforts to get him out of prison and also for the url to sigh our petitions http://aidboston.org/FreeBinayakSen
tag: Binyak Sen
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