The Road Not Taken

Book: A Doctor to Defend - The Binayak Sen Story
Author: Minne Vaid
Publisher: Rajpal
Rs. 350.
ISBN: 978 81 7028 927 2
Pages: 242
Hardback

“Not to be rich, not to be famous, not to be mighty, not even to be happy, but to be civilized–that was the dream of his life.”
                                                       -Philip Roth in When She Was Good

“It shows how dangerous it is to be too good,” said Bernard Shaw in his tribute to Mahatma Gandhi when he was assassinated.  Dr. Binayak Sen is our contemporary case in point. Dr. Sen is one of those rarest of rare men who epitomizes the beginning sentence of Philip Roth's novel When She Was Good that describes the character of the progenitor of the novel, Willard Carroll. He went a step further and found happiness in being civilized. Except to people who actively participate in human rights issues and organization like Medico Friend Circle (a nation-wide platform of secular, pluralist, and pro–people, pro-poor health practitioners, scientists and social activists) he was almost an unknown person to the outside world until he was arrested by the Chhattisgarh police on 14th May 2007 at Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. Now he has been metamorphosed into an iconic figure in the eyes of public.

However, you cannot find even an iota of difference in his personality before 2007 and now. Because for him, as he said to the author of the book under review, “There is no question of being hero, we are at a particular historical juncture and large populations are involved in that – individuals do not make history. We have to work our way through the problems and the idea of a hero or an icon wouldn’t really be helpful in deciding what path to take.” 

If there is one positive thing that the Chhattisgarh government has achieved in this case is this: One of the finest human beings and who deserves to be a role model for millions of people has been identified. But, as we know that has never been the intention of the Chhattisgarh government. If at all it could have predicted this outcome its approach would have been entirely "different".

The book under review A Doctor to Defend by Minnie Vaid is not a biography and it doesn't talk about Sen's childhood days but it gives a glimpse of his professional life and perception of life and she narrates the story through words of people who have been associated with him and share his vision and mission. The story starts from Raipur with the authour’s first meeting with Sen at his home. In the beginning, he looks stern and unapproachable but sometime after the conversation begins he asks her in his characteristic way, “Please don’t call me sir” He hates inequality. Then the author travels to Dalli Rajhara, Vellore, Bagrumnala and Dantewada and meet his colleagues, people from various walks of life. Through their personal experiences with Sen. the story moves on. Ms. Vaid is an admirer of Sen and quit her well paid job to make a documentary film and write a book on him. 
 
Dr. Sen would have got a lucrative job anywhere in the world after completing his graduation and post graduation studies at Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore. CMC is one of the best medical institutions in the world and he is one of the best students ever produced by it. While bestowing the Paul Harrison Award in 2004 on Dr. Sen for serving poor tribal people, the CMC citation reads thus: "Dr. Binayak Sen has been true to the spirit and vision of his alma mater and has carried his dedication to truth and service to the very frontline of the battle.  He has broken the mould, redefined the possible role of the doctor in a broken and unjust society, holding the cause much more precious than personal safety.  CMC is proud to be associated with Binayak and Illina Sen. He is a role model for the students and staff of CMC, someone who stands out for his literal pursuit of the founding values of CMC."

An extraordinarily brilliant student, Dr. Sen got through both the CMC and IIT entrance examinations in 1966, two toughest examinations in India. He chose to become a doctor following in the footsteps of his father who was an army doctor. When he needed to take decision about his life, he took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference. The values of CMC had a great impact on the trajectory of his life and strengthened and honed the humanistic ideals that were already deeply rooted in him. His concern for  his patients is overwhelming and amazing. Dr. Sara Bhattacharji, his colleague during CMC days, narrates an interesting story that shows Sen's commitment to his patients: "As a new intern, at the end of a gruelling day, Binayak realized that he had written a prescription for lasix (a diuretic) for a patient without including the required potassium supplement. The patient had gone home by this time. Binayak went to  the medical records department and looked up the patient's address, went to the pharmacy where he bought the potassium, then sallied forth, taking various village buses (he, a Bengali struggling without knowing the local language in rural Tamil Nadu) to the patient's village where he delivered the supplement."

After completing his post-graduation in paediatrics, he moved to the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University as a faculty member at the Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health. He taught there between 1976 and 78 but since his heart lay somewhere else, he left JNU and academics and joined a rural community health project in Madhya Pradesh. His meeting with Shankar Guha Niyogi in 1981 was an  important event in Sen's eventful life and made him a politically-oriented doctor. Niyogi was a fiercely honest and committed trade union leader who led Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM) and was assassinated by mining mafia in 1991. Inspired by Niyogi, Sen started working among Chhattisgarh mining workers and set up a modest hospital called Shaheed Hospital at Dalli in 1982. This hospital's achievements are beyond the imagination of many big multi speciality government hospitals.

Later, in 1994 Sen, along with his wife Illina set up a voluntary organization called 'Rupantar' in Raipur. Its aim was to provide medical services to the neediest communities and he started implementing community health programmes in Bagrumnala, a remote tribal village in Chhattisgarh. Expectedly, Binayak moved beyond rendering mere medical services  and started participating in the broader struggles for the basic rights for the alienated tribal people. As a brilliant doctor and social activist rolled into one, he knew very well how public health and  basic rights to food, health and education were inseparably intertwined.  


Since 1997 he has been associated with People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and in 2001 he was elected as its national Vice President. As one of the top office bearers of the organization, he formed a fact finding team and investigated various sorts of human rights violations of Chhattisgarh state machinery from hunger deaths to custodial deaths and fake encounter killings that have been taking place in those tribal areas and exposed them to the outside world.  This is where all troubles began for Binayak. His most "dreadful sin" was exposing the atrocities of Salwa Judum against the innocent tribal people.

What is Salwa Judum? A well-know human rights activist, Himanshu Kumar, defines it forthrightly. His definition deserves quotation in extenso: "Salwa Judum is a way for corporate industrialists, corporate-funded, corporate-guided big-shots to get land vacated for mining purposes. In this venture, police forces and government attacked villages, got them vacated. They (government) thought Bastar is a remote area, nobody will get to know of this but the way Binayak and his team came here, investigated, went into great detail and exposed the truth about the Salwa Judum in their report, the government's plans were thwarted. I remember a very senior police officer telling me at that time that they will not spare the PUCL people."
 
It is not surprising that the Indian State is fully committed to make a few hundred people super rich at the expense of one billion people by allocating vast tracks of land and resources to corporate houses in the name of Special Economic Zones and giving away mining contracts to MNCs at throwaway prices. The mineral wealth of Chhattisgarh is exploited by these corporate companies and many lakhs of tribal people were displaced and pauperised mercilessly. This plunder in the name of industrialization has been resisted by people's movements built by men like Binayak. The authour thinks that the case against Sen is Kafkaesque but in my opinion it is anything but Kafkaesque. It is a clear-cut case; nothing opaque or bizarre about it. The Chhattisgarh government operates on a simple mafia principle so that no one will dare to question it in future. The state government that ruthlessly crushing these people's movements wanted to teach a "lesson" to all those stand in the way of industrialization and picked up the most suitable person.

The case against Binayak is completely fabricated and the evidence are flimsiest. Had the trail been conducted justly, the case would have crumbled at the slightest scrutiny and would have been dismissed outrightly. But the Chhattisgarh judiciary worked hand in glove with the ruling party and Dr. Sen was sentenced to life by the  Raipur Sessions Court. The verdict was a shock for the nation as well as the international community. Dr. Sen had already spent two years in jail before getting bail from the Supreme Court. After this verdict, he was imprisoned again. Dr. Sen filed an appeal in the Chhattisgarh High Court seeking bail and suspension of the life term awarded to him. But it summarily dismissed his application for bail but continued to hear his appeal against life term. Now, he has been forced to approach the Supreme Court for bail. When murderers and scamsters are getting bail at the drop of a hat Dr. Sen is languishing in jail. If a man with the stature of  Dr. Sen had to approach the Apex Court of the land even for a bail in the flimsiest case no need to tell what will happen to common people.  Again he had to approach the Supreme Court. Let us hope he gets justice at least this time.

Sudha Bhardwaj, an extraordinary personality like Dr. Sen says, "A more compassionate person than him will be hard to find in this world. He hates inequality; he can't bear it. For instance he wouldn't be able to bear someone sitting on the floor if you are sitting on the chair, he finds it repulsive." Recently, renowned lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who appears for him in the court, said, “According to me he (Dr. Sen) should get the Bharat Ratna.” Yes, in my opinion that would mean honouring the award itself. Dr. Sen is a model citizen of the higher phase of the communist society envisioned by Karl Marx, a society that can inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. Dr. Sen could have earned in millions in his profession but he chose to serve the society according to his ability and take bare minimum from the society  for his survival.

For propagating science and rationality among laity, the jury sentenced the 14th century philosopher Giordano Bruno to death by fire. Bruno’s reply to the verdict was immortalized in the history:  "Perhaps you, my judges, pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it."  It is the Chhattisgarh state that is in fear not Dr. Sen.