Natural resources are curse for Chhattisgarh: Bhushan

The rich natural resource of Chhattisgarh has become curse for its people as corporate sectors and the government have being trying hard to acquire those resources by forcing tribals to move out from the area. Had Dr Binayak Sen’s campaign not been launched, tribal would have been uprooted by now. Senior Supreme Court advocate, Prashant Bhushan observed while releasing the Tamil version of the most-talked about book, 'A Doctor to Defend - The Binayak Sen Story', at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi on January 20 at about 6 PM.

He reminded the gathering that though things have improved in Chhattisgarh since the Dr Sen’s campaign three years ago, a lot needs to be done yet. "Even today it is the state where there is no authority and law. Dr Sen is a heroic man", he said.

Also, he pointed out that despite all claims about independent media in India, the local media is not free to report the excesses of police. "The Judiciary too doesn’t virtually exist in the state like a black hole. In such circumstance, the only hope is participation from more and more people", he added.

Presiding over the function Professor K Nachimuthu, Chairperson, Centre of Indian Languages-JNU, praised the work done by Dr Sen in Chhattisgarh which have attracted international attention. He praised him for exposing the atrocities of Salwa Judum and Green Hunt operation in which hundreds of tribal got uprooted and lost their lives in the battle against. The professor highlighted Dr Sen and his wife Dr. Illina Sen's link with JNU.

The book translated by a former JNU research scholar, K.Thirunavukkarasu and published by Kalachuvadu publications, was termed a job well done by the English author of the book Minnie Vaid. Talking about her journey while writing the book, she said, "Doing research on the book was easy as Dr Sen was popular and I didn’t have any difficulties in getting feedback from the locals."

It is not a biography of Dr Sen as it deals with other important issues in Chhattisgarh, she claimed. Dr Sen too was caught up in the low-intensity conflict in Chhattisgarh and the district court had convicted him of life sentence on alleged sedition and conspiracy charges. He was released after international community and social activists intervened into the matter. Since then he has been in the headlines for highlighting the plights of the tribal.

Professor Nandini Sundar of Delhi School of Economics, who has played an important role in exposing the excesses of Salwa Judum and fighting a case against it, also talked about the police over-indulgence and illegal detention of tribal youth in the state. She said things have improved a bit as most newspapers have their reporters within the state. "The mass killing has stopped that used to happen between 2005 and 2009. And now people who have fled the state out of fear have now started returning back. But a huge amount of works need to be done in the state", she asserted.

Talking about Dr Sen, she said his great contributions have been that many people joined him in the campaign to fight for their rights.

About the Book:

A Doctor to Defend: The Binayak Sen Story
English author: Minnie Vaid
Translator: K. Thirunavukkarasu
Publisher: Kalachuvadu
Pages: 287
Price: Rs 225 Paper pack