We are deeply shocked by the judgment of a Chhattisgarh court holding the human rights activist Dr. Binayak Sen to be guilty of sedition, and sentencing him to life imprisonment.
Dr. Binayak Sen never resorted to violence against any other person, never incited anyone else to resort to violence, never entered into any conspiracy against the Constitutional order of the country, and never entered into regular service of any organisation that was involved in any such conspiracy, for furthering its cause. On the contrary, as a doctor he served the people with devotion and helped to save many lives; as a human rights activist he stood up in defence of the rights of the downtrodden. And yet he has been handed down this sentence whose savagery is unbelievable.
Such an action on the part of the State in the name of preserving the Constitutional order will only serve to undermine that Constitutional order itself. It will inevitably raise the thought in the minds of many that an order within which the activities of a person like Dr. Sen can be held to be “seditious†is not worth defending.
Such an impression must be avoided. The damage done by this shocking verdict to our Constitutional order must be undone. The higher judiciary of the country must hear his appeal expeditiously, must grant him immediate bail till the end of the appeal process, and must judge his case with enlightened reason.
- Professor Prabhat Patnaik, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Professor Noam Chomsky, MIT, Cambridge, Mass, USA
- Professor Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata
- Dr. Ashok Mitra, former Finance Minister, Govt of West Bengal
- Professor Akeel Bilgrami, Columbia University, New York, USA
- Professor Romila Thapar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Dr Vina Mazumdar, National Research Professor, New Delhi
- Professor Jasodhara Bagchi, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
- Professor Utsa Patnaik, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Professor Muchkund Dubey, former Secretary and Ambassador, Government of India
- Professor Partha Chatterjee, CSSS Kolkata
- Dr S.P. Shukla, former Member, Planning Commission, Government of India
- Professor C. P. Chandrasekhar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Professor T. Jayaraman, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
- Professor Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Mr Sashi Kumar, Journalist and Educationist, Chennai
- Dr B. K. Chandrashekhar, former Minister, Karnataka, Bangalore
- Dr Vinod Raina, Educationist, New Delhi
- Ms Indira Chandrasekhar, Tulika Publishers, New Delhi
- Dr Mushirul Hasan, Director, National Archives of India
- Professor Mohan Rao, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Professor Alok Rai, University of Delhi
- Dr. Praveen Jha, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Professor Zoya Hasan, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Dr Anita Raina, University of Delhi
- Dr. Vikas Rawal, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Professor Malini Bhattacharya, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
- Ms Smita Gupta, Institute of Human Development, New Delhi
- Ms Githa Hariharan, Writer, New Delhi
- Professor Anuradha Chenoy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Professor Mihir Bhattacharya, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
- Professor Kamal Chenoy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Professor Aijaz Ahmad, New Delhi
- Professor Nivedita Menon, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Dr. G. Arunima, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Professor Neeladri Bhattacharya, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Dr. Aditya Nigam, Centre for Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi
- Dr Chitra Joshi, University of Delhi
- Rahul Roy, Film maker
- Professor Vijay Prashad, University of Connecticut, USA
- Prof. Rajeev Bhargava, Centre for Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi
- Seema Mustafa, Journalist, New Delhi
- Prof. Achin Vanaik, University of Delhi
- Pamela Philippose, Journalist, New Delhi
- Fr Cedric Prakash, Director, PRASHANT, Ahmedabad
- Dr Partho Datta, University of Delhi
- Mr Prashant Bhushan, Lawyer, Delhi
- Professor Sumit Sarkar, formerly University of Delhi
- Professor Tanika Sarkar, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Dr Himanshu, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Dr Avinash Jha, University of Delhi
- Ms Teesta Setalvad, Mumbai
- Dr Badri Raina, University of Delhi
- Professor Sumangala Damodaran, Amedkar University, New Delhi
- Professor Nandini Sundar, University of Delhi
- Dr AJC Bose, University of Delhi
- Dr Parthapratim Pal, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata
- Dr Saumyajit Bhattacharya, University of Delhi
- Mr Harsh Mander, Member National Advisory Council, Delhi
60. Dr Rahul Roy, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi - Professor Venkatesh Athreya, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai
- Professor Sushil Khanna, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata
- Ms Dipa Sinha, Right to Food Campaign, New Delhi
- Dr Dilip Simeon, University of Delhi
- Ms Rajarshi Dasgupta, Kolkata
- Professor Surajit Mazumdar, ISID, New Delhi
- Mr Ankur Khanna, actor, Kolkata
- Mr Praful Bidwai, Journalist, New Delhi
- Dr Ayesha Kidwai, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Mr Pradeep Magazine, Journalist, New Delhi
- Mr Indrajit Hazra, Journalist, Delhi
- Professor Tulsi Ram, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Mr Vinod Sharma, Journalist, New Delhi
- Ms Radhika Menon, Tulika Books, Chennai
- Dr Neeraj Javed, University of Delhi
- Mr Asad Zaidi, Publisher, New Delhi
- Dr K. R. Nayar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
- Mr Nasir Khan, New Delhi
- Dr Smitha Francis, Economic Research Foundation, New Delhi
- Dr Murali Kallummal, Centre for WTO Studies, New Delhi
- Ms Kamla Bhasin, Jagori, New Delhi
- Prabir Purkayastha, Delhi Science Forum, New Delhi