I simply cannot understand why Binayak Sen is back behind the brutal bars again. Yesterday afternoon a session court at Raipur found him guilty of sedition and treason and sentenced him to life in prison. Those who love and admire Binayak were shocked to know that such a distinguished ethicist, pediatrician, human right activist and a public health worker was described by the court as a Maoist and a traitor. A month back, speaking at the Convocation of the Class of 2010 in Asian College of Journalism, Binayak said, “In Chhattisgarh, the term ‘Maoist’ has become a catch-all attribution that includes anyone whose activities the state finds inimical to its current interests.” It is indeed a sad day for the Indian democracy that the Raipur court sided with the government and delivered a judgment that has evoked strong protests, worldwide.

Binayak indulging in sedition and treason? Unbelievable. Binayak trying to wage a war against his nation? Unthinkable. Binayak joining hands with anti-social elements of the society to indulge in unlawful activities. Fragments of imagination. Those who know Binayak Sen- and I have a privilege of knowing him personally for 20 years- were shocked to know that the Raipur session judge believed in these allegations. For, there are few doctors who are as tender, as compassionate, as affable, as committed and as much moved by social injustice as Binayak Sen. And unlike most of us who are just arm chair critics of the violence and inequality, Binayak has spent his productive life –living with the poor, and caring for them.

MGIMS alumni from 1989 batch would recollect their association with Shaheed Hospital in Chhattisgarh, where they worked as young doctor trainees during their two-year pre-PG rural posting. Binayak helped this hospital grow and acquire a pro-poor image. Over the past 15 years, he actively worked with marginalized and indigenous communities in Chhattisgarh to develop models of affordable and pragmatic primary health care, defended the liberties of the disadvantaged, and fought against human rights violations. Binayak and his wife, Ilina, founded Rupantar, a community-based NGO that trained, deployed and monitored the work of community health workers. Deeply moved by the plight of poor and vulnerable, Binayak spoke openly against the oppressive tactics of the anti-naxal private army, Salwa Judum and said that violence in any form is not acceptable to him.

A member of Medico Friend Circle (MFC) – a group of secular,pro–people, pro-poor health workers, scientists and social activists- Binayak has been regularly visiting Sevagram since more than three decades to take part in the MFC annual meets. He would almost always arrive unannounced in the Yaatri Niwas, would sit serenely in the far corner of the room, and for most of the time would speak no word. But when he spoke, he spoke with passion. The group would listen to him with apt attention- trying to catch every word that emerged from the quivering lips of a practicing doctor who saw his activism as intrinsic to his work as a health professional. Binayak knew what poverty was all about, how people travel miles to seek healthcare, why women die in labour, why children perish to infections, what it takes to treat TB and malnutrition in resource-poor settings and how people endure and silently suffer torture and victimization. As C. Sathyamala wrote about three years ago, “…while Binayak’s training at CMC (Vellore) gave him excellent clinical skills and reinforced an already present empathy with the patient, it was his close association with MFC that contributed to his understanding and growth as a public health professional with a difference.”

In 2007, the concluding paragraph of an editorial in the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics read, “By arresting Binayak, the government is sending a clear message: in today’s globalized world, the government functions as a law and order keeping machinery in the interests of the corporate sector. No one who poses a threat to such interests or comes in the way of “growth”-driven development will be tolerated. “Waging war against the state”, and “unlawful activities”, sections under which Binayak is being held, then get interpreted to mean any activity that opposes the immoral and unjust activities of the government and the capitalists who are under the protection of the benevolent eye of the law.

In December 2010, our worst fears turned true. If activists like Binayak are sent to prison in a democratic country, who would work for the marginalized and socially disadvantaged? As the Lancet editorial (2009) told us, Binayak deserves a right to a fair trial and a right to life. Time to strengthen the campaign for the dropping of all charges against Binayak.