Dr. Binayak Sen was at JSS yesterday, and Dolly and I had a chance to briefly meet him.
Dr. Sen is an ad visor to JSS, and has a long involvement with rural health care and rural issues. In 2007, due to his criticisms of the state government, he was arrested with bail or specific charges. Basically, the state is arming militias (Salwa Judum) who are killing innocent people, and Sr. spoke out about it. In present day Chattisgargh, that is enough to get you arrested. His arrest drew the attention of Amnesty International, and there were protests on both the first and second anniversary of his arrest. He was released on bail a few months ago after his case was appealed to the Supreme Court (more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binayak_Sen)
Dolly, a whirlwind of curiosity, did most of the talking, asking questions. Dr. Sen spoke in a thoughtful, quiet, and steady manner that reminded me of the way Noam Chomsky speaks - a man who has the command of a lot of facts and information, and is carefully deploying them in most effective manner.
Basically, there are areas of CG where the government has never really had control due to their remoteness and/or lack of interest. Now the government is interested in taking control in order to profit from the natural resources. This puts them into conflict with the people living in a delicate balance with the local ecosystems. So to use the Naxalites vs. The State narrative is inaccurate, and helps in justifying the State's response of deadly force and land clearance (the land clearance being what they're after anyway).
Dr. Sen has to be careful where he goes and who he talks to, because the people who come into contact with him are often harassed and questioned by the government, especially in villages and areas where government control is not strong.
Dr. Sen is hoping for peace, and would like to bring both sides into a conversation, using public pressure to bring them together. There was supposed to be a rally currently ongoing in one of the Naxalite districts, but the government didn't allow it. The organizer is currently on a hunger strike.
Dr. Sen is an ad visor to JSS, and has a long involvement with rural health care and rural issues. In 2007, due to his criticisms of the state government, he was arrested with bail or specific charges. Basically, the state is arming militias (Salwa Judum) who are killing innocent people, and Sr. spoke out about it. In present day Chattisgargh, that is enough to get you arrested. His arrest drew the attention of Amnesty International, and there were protests on both the first and second anniversary of his arrest. He was released on bail a few months ago after his case was appealed to the Supreme Court (more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binayak_Sen)
Dolly, a whirlwind of curiosity, did most of the talking, asking questions. Dr. Sen spoke in a thoughtful, quiet, and steady manner that reminded me of the way Noam Chomsky speaks - a man who has the command of a lot of facts and information, and is carefully deploying them in most effective manner.
Basically, there are areas of CG where the government has never really had control due to their remoteness and/or lack of interest. Now the government is interested in taking control in order to profit from the natural resources. This puts them into conflict with the people living in a delicate balance with the local ecosystems. So to use the Naxalites vs. The State narrative is inaccurate, and helps in justifying the State's response of deadly force and land clearance (the land clearance being what they're after anyway).
Dr. Sen has to be careful where he goes and who he talks to, because the people who come into contact with him are often harassed and questioned by the government, especially in villages and areas where government control is not strong.
Dr. Sen is hoping for peace, and would like to bring both sides into a conversation, using public pressure to bring them together. There was supposed to be a rally currently ongoing in one of the Naxalite districts, but the government didn't allow it. The organizer is currently on a hunger strike.
