14th of May 2009 was not only the last day in the long process of the LS Elections, it was also the second anniversary of the incarceration of Dr Binayak Sen. Dr Sen who languishes in Raipur jail is ailing with a heart condition for which urgent medical help is required. Despite the efforts and pleas of a number of NGOs, social activists and even nobel laureates, the Chattisgarh government continues its unjustified detention of Dr Sen. What is more appalling is the fact that even charges have not been framed against Dr Sen in the course of two years and he has been denied bail on more than a single occasion.
This is what our executive and judiciary can offer as reward to a person who gave everything up to continue on his mission to serve the poor and the underpriviledged masses of this great country. It's a shame that Dr Sen languishes in jail even when murderers and thugs can fight elections and get bail to vote out a government during a confidence motion. Even more atrocious is the total neglect on part of the Indian media towards this case. Both the print and the electronic media have made sure that the case does not catch the imagination of the people of India. On enquiry from a TV reporter of some repute, I was told that they don't support Dr Sen's case as he has charges of sedition against him. How rediculous could that be! In the first place, charges of any nature and gravity are yet to be framed and proven against Dr Sen. Secondly, if charges of murder against Arushi Talwar's father (yet to be proven), charges of sedition against Sanjay Dutt, charges of murder against Pappu Yadav can find place in our media than surely Dr Sen's case can find some support and space. Anyway this is what we can all expect from a media controlled by the corporate world. We all are well aware of how much the corporate world loves Dr Sen and his mission! Although the national media has conciously avoided covering Dr Sen's case, a number of International journals in medicine and surgery have carried editorials and news items asking for his early release. The New England Journal of Medicine and British Medical Journal are worthy of note in this respect.
It is a national disgrace that a soul like Dr Binayak Sen still languishes in prison due to the shear high handedness and draconian policies of a democratically elected government. It is high time that we, the people of India, channalise all efforts in our means to secure the early release of Dr Sen. We all should realise that such imperious and autocratic means to silence the voice of sanity must meet stubborn resistance from all quarters. If we don't speak for Dr Sen today, no one will speak for us tomorrow.
