Binayak Sen: The hero's walk

Binayak Sen is finally home, thanks to thousands of supporters and well-wishers, and his family. He tells Neha Bhatt about his suffering while in prison and his plans for Chhattisgarh.

His gentle smile is in place — now visible sans the beard. And the feeling of being free is just about sinking in. Dr Binayak Sen, 59-year-old paediatrician, public health specialist, civil rights activist and a hero to many, is back home.

It’s been 10 days since Sen walked out, on bail, from a Raipur jail — having spent two years in captivity — and his supporters and well-wishers are overwhelmed at having him back. But while “peace in Chhattisgarh” remains a top priority for Sen, for the moment he is recuperating and coming to terms with all that has changed in the time since his life paused… Visiting his mother in Kolkata, with wife Ilina, is an important moment. But even as he catches up with his family — something he had promised himself last year, while still in jail — his zeal remains uncorroded: “I would like to rejoin the movement against the violation of civil rights, along with my colleagues, very soon as it’s an urgent necessity,” he says.

 

For now, Sen’s health needs urgent attention. The time in jail has worsened his coronary artery condition and he says that he will be leaving for Christian Medical College, Vellore, his alma mater, for treatment in the coming weeks. Alongside health issues, there are legal ones too: “Court sessions will continue, on fast-track,” he points out. But despite such hurdles, he is set to take up his agenda of reinforcing the movement he started against Salwa Judum, the state-funded anti-Naxalite movement in Chattisgarh. The attempt will be, he says, to push all the parties to a negotiating table.

Taking stock of the turn of events in his absence, Sen explains that work has been carrying on as usual at Rupantar — the community-based NGO founded by his wife and him — and also at his clinics, where Sen treated thousands of poor tribals, working tirelessly for the last 30 years. Clearly, the jail term has not dimmed his belief in his work. Or his convictions.

For the uninitiated, Sen, national vice-president of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), investigated and criticised the Salwa Judum that allegedly had led to countless “encounters” and civilian deaths in the state — his logic being that a “militia” like the Judum would only further insurgency and create a greater divide.

His movement found many takers, but not in the government. Instead, he found himself incredulously linked to a jailed naxalite, Narayan Sanyal, to whom he was, at that time, providing medical treatment. The irony was blinding. But none in authority listened to reason. Sen was jailed for allegedly passing information between Sanyal and his brother. There were faint murmurings of these accusations against him in the press, but Sen says his arrest came with virtually no warning. “I was on my way back from Kolkata and got off the train at Bilaspur because I got a message saying that I was required to report at the thana there. I went there with my lawyer, and was pretty sure that all I would be required to do would be to file a statement. They made me wait for an hour, and after that I was told I was under arrest. I was shocked, but I assumed it was a minor misunderstanding. I told them I needed to be let off soon because my patients would be waiting for me at my clinic, for they would have travelled from very far to reach there. I realised only a while later that it was not just a question of me not being able to return to my clinic in time to treat my patients,” recalls Sen.

In the confines of the Raipur jail, at first, visitors from around the world streamed in, eminent scholars and groups, keeping him upbeat. However, jail authorities soon stepped in to curb these visits. “They kept changing rules at will. One day, I was suddenly told that only family could visit, that too, once a week. This change had a huge impact on me. I turned to reading. I did not have access to anything other than a local Hindi paper which hardly had any news related to my work in the state. So I kept myself abreast with current affairs thanks to books and papers that my wife brought me,” he shares.

Is he bitter about his time in prison? “I was treated like any other prisoner. But I was never singled out for ill treatment. I was not beaten up. My suffering was shared with other convicts in my ward. But that’s not to discount the kind of treatment meted out to anyone in prison. It’s absolutely terrible. But the worst, to my mind, is how we were treated with absolute contempt, without any human dignity. And there was never any reason assigned to any decision made concerning us. Like the time I was moved into isolation for a month. In the same manner, I was moved back to the ordinary ward. I am aware my being moved into isolation also led to protests outside,” he mentions.

In the last two years, Sen found strength in the public outcry against his arrest, and he is aware of the many rallies, protests and petitions organised to push for his release. “I received more than 3,000 letters from all over the world. But I wasn’t able to write back freely. I was aware on some level of what was going on outside. My wife would tell me about the campaigns. I know of the widespread protests that took place on May 14 this year — the second anniversary of my arrest, and in this effort, many countries and states were together. I see this as a measure of a deep disquiet. It means that people have a desire to break the cycle of violence.” And Dr Sen will, once again, lead the way.