The state is targeting easy-to-catch activists while Naxals roam freeThree vans full of armed policemen got down at the sessions court in Raipur on the morning of December 29 and took positions. The person they were guarding was not a hardcore criminal but a doctor who has lived in the countryside almost all his life treating the poor.The person they were presenting before the court was Dr Binayak Sen secretary of the People Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and the Court was to frame charges against him that day.Sen has been in jail for the last eight months and denied bail by both the High Court and the Supreme Court. The police has not been bringing him to Court making do with video conferencing only.Sen waves at the doctors and public health workers of the Medicos Friends Circle who have gathered in a small group and say "Happy New Year" to my friends of Medicos Friends Circle.In the Court, the session lasts a whole day and the only solace he derives in the tiny Court room is the presence of his friends and his wife Ilina and daughter Kritika by his side. Two more accused Narayan Sanyal and Piyush Guha stand by his side.The public prosecutor reads out letters which were addressed allegedly to Sen. These were found with Guha, a young trader in Tendu leaves. The prosecutor then alleged that the doctor had found a house for Narayan Sanyal, a 75-year old man, who has faced allegations of being a naxalite in the past.Sen had been visiting Sanyal in jail on behalf of PUCL. But months later he was arrested on charges of carrying letters from Sanyal.The only problem with this allegation is that the letters meant for Sen were found on Piyush Guha and not Sen. The prosecution accuses Sen of conspiracy against the state. The ground for this is that he wrote against Salwa Judum and his name has been mentioned in Naxal journals.Is Sen a Naxalite?If Sen was conspiring against the state, what exactly is the conspiracy? asks Anjana Prakash, Sen's defence lawyer.His supporters in Medicos Friends Circle criticise the continuing detention of the doctor. "The health minister, Ramadoss, should be asked if this is how the government rewards doctors who work in rural areas," says Sabu George a public health and civil rights activist.The government can't catch Naxals. So it finds soft targets like Sen or someone easier to catch, he adds.Subhash Mukhopadhyay a civil rights activist in Raipur who was also held behind bars briefly for associating with Naxals says: "For the police every one is a suspect. It helps them cover their own inefficiency."The police, meanwhile, is on the defensive.Says DGP Chattisgarh Vishwa Ranjan: "We have evidence against Sen. He was not just sympathetic to Naxals but was providing them logistic support. He got Sanyal a house. We have evidence."But after eight months, there was no evidence of a conspiracy. As for finding a house, is finding a house for someone enough to make one a Naxal? asks his wife Ilina Sen.If you call someone a Naxal for eight months, the world believes it, she adds. Infact, she herself has been called a Naxal supporter and has been accused of helping open bank accounts for two alleged Naxals.NGO Rupantar, the organisation run by the Sen's, which drafted women's policy for the state and was instrumental in drafting the maintainance policy of health workers in the state is now being trashed by the public prosecutor as a criminal outfit that exists only on paper.The public prosecutor goes one step ahead. It brands the PUCL itself as a Naxal sympathising outfit even as the defence lawyers argue that Sen was only doing his work as a doctor for PUCL in enquiring after a jailed person.Ilina says he was responsible for getting Narayan Sanyal's hand operated, which was injured by a bullet.What angers activists and civil society most in the state is the fact that Sen has been arrested under the Special Police Security Act (SPSA) which, they say, is a draconian law and used to harass anyone who is perceived as anti-government."Recently, the jailor of the Dantewada jail was arrested after letters written by Narayan Sanyal were found in his house. But he was arrested under a regular police act and not the SPSA. Why the double standards?" asks Pravin Patel, an activist.Says Dr Sesha Reddy, director of Ramachandra memorial people's polyclinic in Nelloor and a friend of Sen: "Sen was working for the poor man's health and quite naturally he got involved in their other problems. And once he took up civil liberties, he had to go into cases of police atrocities. And once you fight police, then you are soft prey as Naxal sympathiser."Reddy mentions cases of doctors working in Andhra Pradesh who have been killed in encounters or arrested. But such long periods in jail for a doctor is unheard of even in our state, he adds.A fruitseller outside the sessions court knows that three dreaded Naxals have been inside the court all day. He is surprised to hear that the 'naxal' was a doctor working in villages.Meanwhile the Chattisgarh police is unmoved. Says the DGP:" We will not let him go at any cost. We have evidence against him. Let the charges be framed and you will see."
