Fight for the repeal of the fascist Chhattisgarh Public Safety Act and other fascist laws!
Fight for dismantling Salwa Judum and the release of all prisoners of conscience!
Dr Binayak Sen, a well known medical doctor and paediatrician and human rights activist, will be completing two years in jail on May 14, after being arrested on false and trumped up charges under the draconian laws – Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (2005) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (2004). The continued incarceration of Dr Sen is a grim reminder of the manner in which the Indian state uses fascist laws and repression against those who raise their voices for justice in this country and the struggle which needs to be waged in order to secure human rights. It shows that the Indian state holds the right to conscience o
f the Indian people in utter contempt and is willing to torture, incarcerate and even murder people for merely having a different viewpoint from that of the ruling circles.
Dr Sen has been arrested under flimsy charges of acting as a so called courier for an imprisoned Maoist. The fact is that Dr Sen visited the jail in his capacity as a Doctor to treat a patient, with the full knowledge of the jail authorities and police and their permission. Over the past two years, the state has been able to prove nothing against Dr Sen, other than that he has firmly opposed the criminal activities of the state sponsored Salwa Judum, and that he has always fought for the poor and dispossessed.
Apart from Dr Sen, to date, about 180 people including peasants, tribals, journalists, teachers and cultural workers have also been arrested, detained and tortured using the fascist laws with which the Chhattisgarh government has armed itself. This is apart from the tens of thousands of tribal boys and girls, men and women, who have been brutally murdered in the state repression which is allegedly aimed at ending Maoist insurgency.
Freedom loving people all over the world have petitioned the Central and State governments to release Dr Sen and to repeal these fascist laws. Th
e fact that these laws under which Dr Sen and others have been incarcerated have been consistently upheld by the Supreme Court clearly shows that the judicial system is part of the system of repression, whose purpose is to keep the struggles of the toiling people in check. They are an urgent reminder of the need to dismantle the system of oppression and exploitation. It is only the unity of the workers and peasants and toiling people which can carry out this task.
Peoples Voice condemns the continued imprisonment of Dr Binayak Sen and others incarcerated under fascist laws and demands their immediate and unconditional release. The struggle to repeal the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (2005) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, as well as to dismantle the Salwa Judum must be stepped up by all those who uphold human and democratic rights.