Binayak Sen's conviction a ridiculous use of laws: Amartya

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) Nobel laureate Amartya Sen
Tuesday threw his weight behind the campaign for release of
rights activist Binayak Sen noting that his conviction on
sedition charges was a "ridiculous" use of laws.
Expressing the hope that the Supreme Court would give
relief to the activist, an "outraged and upset" Sen said "deep
miscarriage of justice" in this case should be aired and be
known to the people as well as the court.
"That is the reason for my willingness to make a
statement in a case where I am outraged, upset and feel
unjustly treated," Sen told The Telegraph newspaper.
He said the Chhattisgarh court judgement was a "huge
perversion of our system of justice, and particularly of the
laws concerning sedition.
"It is not at all clear, to start with, that the thing
he has been exactly accused of — of passing letters — has been
really proved beyond doubt," he said.
The eminent economist said even if he had passed on
the letters, he had not incited anyone to rise in violent
protest or rebellion.
"In fact, we know that in his writings he has written
against the use of violence in political struggle, arguing
that this is neither correct, nor is it ultimately
successful," Sen said adding that one also has to take into
account the character of the person.
Describing the activist as a "very dedicated social
worker", Sen said, "to turn the dedicated service of someone
who drops everything to serve the cause of neglected people
into a story of the seditious use of something...the whole
thing seems a ridiculous use of the laws of democratic India."
He said in spite of the similarities of our names,
Binayak is no relation of his. "But then he is also a relation
of mine as an Indian citizen, and he is a relation of yours
too as an Indian citizen.
He is a relation of a lot of people as a global
citizen, particularly a relation of those who, like him, fight
against injustice in the world, right across the globe," Sen
said.
The Nobel laureate said one has to bear in mind that
this is only the first step in a state which has been
extraordinarily keen in keeping Binayak behind bars.
"If the high court in Chhattisgarh has its thinking
straight and unbiased, it will overturn the decision.
"But if it turns out that — as it happened in Gujarat
— justice is difficult to get in the state, which is under the
control of a political regime that is keen on justifying its
policies, some of which are very deeply problematic, rather
than bringing justice to people living in Chhattisgarh, then
the issue will have to be dealt at Supreme Court," he said.
PTI
PBL



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