Group also condemns state atrocities and criticizes filing of false charges against Dr. Ilina Sen
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Free Binayak Sen Campaign, Toronto Chapter
There has been world-wide condemnation of the sentence of life-imprisonment for sedition
handed out to noted human-rights activist and physician Dr. Binayak Sen, along with two other
accused, on Dec 24th, 2010, in the town of Raipur in central India. He was accused of
collaborating with “anti-state forces”.
Dr. Jonathan Fine, founder of Physicians for Human Rights in Cambridge (MA), was in the court
premises in India during the verdict. “I could not help crying when speaking with Binayak’s wife
before and after the verdict was declared,” he said. According to Nobel Laureate economist
Amartya Sen, “…the whole thing seems a ridiculous use of the laws of democratic India”.
Dr. Sen was awarded the 2008 Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights.
Internationally celebrated for his work on behalf of the poorest and for his defense of human
rights, Dr. Sen has been persecuted by the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh for speaking out
against the violence perpetrated by the security forces and by the state-backed militia, Salwa
Judum.
In the latest attack on Dr Sen and his family, on January 25, 2011, Dr. Ilina Sen, the wife of Dr.
Binayak Sen, and a well-known Professor of Women’s Studies at Mahatma Gandhi International
Hindi University, was also charged by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) that she did not inform
the local police about non-Indian scholars that were participating in a women’s convention at the
University.
On Friday, February 5, 2011, the Free Binayak Sen Coalition – Toronto Chapter presented the
Consul General of India Ms. Preeti Saran with a petition signed by over 200 local Indians and
Canadians condemning Indian state action against Dr. Binayak Sen. However no official at the
Consulate was present to take the petition. The group waited for 3 hours and in end left the
petition at the reception. This shows the lack of Consulate engagement with the
community. These signatures had been collected in just one week. Over thirty University faculty
from across Canada (from the University of Toronto, York University, Ryerson University,
University of Manitoba, Queen’s University, and the University of Ottawa) signed the petition.
The petition promised that the Toronto Chapter would continue to publicize the issue. The
Toronto Chapter informs the Consul General that Indians and Canadians are deeply concerned
about Indian state atrocities. The Consul General could not make time to meet with the Coalition
and discuss their concerns. The Toronto Chapter will not sit idle.
Contact: Nishant Upadhyay Monday, February 7, 2011
Email: [email protected]
Cell: (647 884 5065)
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