Statement by Academics on Dr. Binayak Sen judgment

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.

 

1. Professor Prabhat Patnaik, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
2. Professor Noam Chomsky, MIT, Cambridge, Mass, USA
3. Professor Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata
4. Dr. Ashok Mitra, former Finance Minister, Govt of West Bengal
5. Professor Akeel Bilgrami, Columbia University, New York, USA
6. Professor Romila Thapar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
7. Dr Vina Mazumdar, National Research Professor, New Delhi
8. Professor Jasodhara Bagchi, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
9. Professor Utsa Patnaik, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
10. Professor Muchkund Dubey, former Secretary and Ambassador, Government of India
11. Professor Partha Chatterjee, CSSS Kolkata
12. Dr S.P. Shukla, former Member, Planning Commission, Government of India
13. Professor C. P. Chandrasekhar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
14. Professor T. Jayaraman, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
15. Professor Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
16. Mr Sashi Kumar, Journalist and Educationist, Chennai
17. Dr B. K. Chandrashekhar, former Minister, Karnataka, Bangalore
18. Dr Vinod Raina, Educationist, New Delhi
19. Ms Indira Chandrasekhar, Tulika Publishers, New Delhi
20. Dr Mushirul Hasan, Director, National Archives of India
21. Professor Mohan Rao, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
22. Professor Alok Rai, University of Delhi
23. Dr. Praveen Jha, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
24. Professor Zoya Hasan, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
25. Dr Anita Raina, University of Delhi
26. Dr. Vikas Rawal, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
27. Professor Malini Bhattacharya, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
28. Ms Smita Gupta, Institute of Human Development, New Delhi
29. Ms Githa Hariharan, Writer, New Delhi
30. Professor Anuradha Chenoy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
31. Professor Mihir Bhattacharya, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
32. Professor Kamal Chenoy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
33. Professor Aijaz Ahmad, New Delhi
34. Professor Nivedita Menon, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
35. Dr. G. Arunima, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
36. Professor Neeladri Bhattacharya, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
37. Dr. Aditya Nigam, Centre for Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi
38. Dr Chitra Joshi, University of Delhi
39. Rahul Roy, Film maker
40. Professor Vijay Prashad, University of Connecticut, USA
41. Prof. Rajeev Bhargava, Centre for Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi
42. Seema Mustafa, Journalist, New Delhi
43. Prof. Achin Vanaik, University of Delhi
44. Pamela Philippose, Journalist, New Delhi
45. Fr Cedric Prakash, Director, PRASHANT, Ahmedabad
46. Dr Partho Datta, University of Delhi
47. Mr Prashant Bhushan, Lawyer, Delhi
48. Professor Sumit Sarkar, formerly University of Delhi
49. Professor Tanika Sarkar, Jawaharlal Nehru University
50. Dr Himanshu, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
51. Dr Avinash Jha, University of Delhi
52. Ms Teesta Setalvad, Mumbai
53. Dr Badri Raina, University of Delhi
54. Professor Sumangala Damodaran, Amedkar University, New Delhi
55. Professor Nandini Sundar, University of Delhi
56. Dr AJC Bose, University of Delhi
57. Dr Parthapratim Pal, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata
58. Dr Saumyajit Bhattacharya, University of Delhi
59. Mr Harsh Mander, Member National Advisory Council, Delhi
60. Dr Rahul Roy, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi
61. Professor Venkatesh Athreya, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai
62. Professor Sushil Khanna, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata
63. Ms Dipa Sinha, Right to Food Campaign, New Delhi
64. Dr Dilip Simeon, University of Delhi
65. Ms Rajarshi Dasgupta, Kolkata
66. Professor Surajit Mazumdar, ISID, New Delhi
67. Mr Ankur Khanna, actor, Kolkata
68. Mr Praful Bidwai, Journalist, New Delhi
69. Dr Ayesha Kidwai, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
70. Mr Pradeep Magazine, Journalist, New Delhi
71. Mr Indrajit Hazra, Journalist, Delhi
72. Professor Tulsi Ram, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
73. Mr Vinod Sharma, Journalist, New Delhi
74. Ms Radhika Menon, Tulika Books, Chennai
75. Dr Neeraj Javed, University of Delhi
76. Mr Asad Zaidi, Publisher, New Delhi
77. Dr K. R. Nayar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
78. Mr Nasir Khan, New Delhi
79. Dr Smitha Francis, Economic Research Foundation, New Delhi
80.  Dr Murali Kallummal, Centre for WTO Studies, New Delhi
81. Ms Kamla Bhasin, Jagori, New Delhi
82. Prabir Purkayastha, Delhi Science Forum, New Delhi