Dr. Binayak Sen in Kolkata

pic: Samudra Saikat Mukherjee

If you can’t recognize him now, it’s because his trademark beard is gone, and he’s a thinner person now. Two years in jail have taken a toll of his physique. But his spirit is intact and undiminished. He says the same things in his soft and elegant manner just as he did before his incarceration days.

Dr Sen is not your average icon. He studied medicine with care, equipped himself with skill, and had visions for the suffering humanity. In stead of letting people come to him, he decided to reach out to them for their treatment. He was deeply influenced by Sankar GuhaNeogi, the legendary political worker who was then making waves in Chhattishgarh by revolutionizing the bottom line of workers and poor people of the state. At one point, he was part of Neogi’s hospital that catered to the poorest of the poor.

One thing leads to another, and he was eventually drawn to basic human rights of people. When he was arrested two years ago, he was PUCL’s vice-chairman, and secretary of its Chhattisgarh unit.

Dr. Sen was targeted when he criticized Salwa Judum – government’s new policy of supplying arms to selected civilians to counter the Naxalites - and encounter deaths. Incidentally, Chhattisgarh had become the hot centre of Maoist activities due to the state’s repressive economic policies. To please the industrialists, the state government had usurped a lot of land from the tribals, in many cases muzzling their protests brutally and even killing when necessary.

The charge the Chhattisgarh government brought against Dr. Sen was a ludicrous one: that he had links with the Maoists. There was however no evidence that could prove this charge. Here’s the rub of much-touted Indian democracy: the state can implicate any person under its draconian law,( most Indian states have their own laws) and throw him down in jail with impunity.

But for the ever increasing pitch of protests not from various quarters from India alone, but from across the world, Dr Sen would still be probably languishing in jail. Among those who demanded his release were Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, and several Nobel Laureates including Amartya Sen.

So, what did the good doctor say at the media meet at Kolkata, his first interaction with Kolkata media after his release from the prison? “There was no question of stopping our opposition of Salwa Judum”.

And he would of course return to his countless patients who are waiting for his healing touch.

Dr Binayak Sen Released at last!

A happy news for all of those who were worried about Dr. Binayak Sen, the well-known civil rights activist and humanitarian physician: he was released from jail after a little more than two years by the Supreme Court of India despite strong opposition from the government.

Welcome, Dr. Sen!

Mamata Wave in Bengal

There's an unprecedented Mamata wave here in Bengal right now. While the media is all agog with Mamata Banerjee's new Raliway portfolio and its benifis for the state, her fans have gone really crazy celebrating their Didi's success in a big, but restrained, way.

I'm no Mamata fan, but to be fair, she has mellowed and matured in a wonderful way now. She no longer shrieks, and has learnt to speak sensibly and with decency. Her talks, though not as sophisticated and polished, seem natural and sincere.

She is now talking against SEZ(Special Economic Zones)in the fashion of a real Leftist. I wonder where she musters this courage from. Has she really changed, or, is this a transitional attitude?

During Singur-Nandigram rising, Mamata had to keep company and interact with some hard-core Maoists. I strongly suspect the latter might have something to do to change her attitude and viewpoint about an anti-people programme like SEZ.

These days she frequently says that she's not against Leftism as such.

I like to watch the way Mamata seems to be changing.

Election India 2009: Congress is India

Prices of daily commodities may have soared, the story of contained inflation may be something ridiculous, the farmers may have died in hordes due to the country's new neo-liberal economic policies, but the people have voted the Congress to power. Reason? I've yet to find out. The one thing I suspect is that the people hate L.K.Advani and his party BJP, who have shredded the secular fabric of the country.
So you have no other choice but to see Manmohon Singh, Sonia's most obedient man, as the king for next five years.

I'm happy Advani's dream of being PM has been dashed for ever. Did you notice that he had inserted "Advani as PM" ads pervasively all across the net? Another upside of the election result is that Sharad Powar, another asshole who aspired to become PM, has also been screwed.

But the debacle of the fake Marxists' party CPM in Bengal has really given me a high. It has got only 15 seats while TMC and ally have bagged 26 seats. It's very likely the so-called Marxists would be totally wiped out in coming Bidhan Sabha election.

I had a very good impression of Prakash Karat. But he's a renegade, and is devoid of any principles. He's going to pay a heavy price for his misdeeds.

Election India 2009: Last Round of Polling

Woke up in the morning to a soft music being played out somewhere in the vicinity. It was as serene as a Mahalaya morning. I was a voter today.

Our booth was at Promodamoyee school. A govt primary school-now-turning-into a -community-hall on its final morph into an apartment.

My wife stood in the short line of females. My line was way long. Some innocent looking personnel was around. But no CRPF men. No part goons to bully the voters. I found a very sick and handicapped woman entering the booth with a crutch, and an attendant. The polling was peaceful.

What really marred my enthusiasm was a lady in my adjacent line. I saw her after about thirty years, but I spotted her without any mistake. But she did not seem to recognize me. What an ugly woman she had turned into after all these years! I was relieved when she went inside for voting, and exited without so much as casting a glance around.

Finally, I pressed my vote button. This is the first time in my life that I gave my vote for a non-left candidate. I don’t claim I’ve much rationale for this action. The non-left candidate, though educated, soft-spoken and logical compared to his counterpart,is, sure, not going to deliver a plethora of goodies if elected. It's very likely that he would perform as badly as the Left, if not in a worse way. But I can no longer put up with the Buddha-Biman propagated lies. I want an end to it.

Voter turnout in this phase is more that 71%. Little violence. Now, wait for the result.

Election India 2009: Crucial Phase 2

Crucial Phase 2 in Bengal (Phase 4 all India) was bloody too. 3 deaths, widespread violence, arson, bombs, firing, booth capturing, even proxy votes. Anisur Rahaman, a minister of the Bengal Government, was personally involved in bullying the voters, and he was seen - thanks to TV footage - running away in his car when the people chased him and his associates. Interestingly, Maoists kept on a low profile during this phase, and probably watched the polling without any intervention.

Impressive turnout: more than 75 per cent way ahead of the rest of the country, which was only 57%. The opposition should have an edge.

Lakshman Seth, three-time-siitting-MP of Tamluk, looked haggard and dejected in all TV footages. Seems he's read the writing on the wall and is all set to lose in a big way. It would be a big triumph for the strongman takes a beating.