Why is India afraid of Dr Binayak Sen

A child molester is sentenced to a year and a half in jail twenty years after his victim killed herself, and gets out on bail within four months.
A convicted terrorist is fed biriyani, while the hangman finishes up his backlog.
A man, who is responsible for the continuing suffering of millions of victims 26 years after a gas tragedy, is allowed to lead a cosy life in the United States of America.
A man who cost the government lakhs of crores is raided by the CBI after ample notice that would’ve given him time to get rid of incriminating evidence.
Yet, in this very same nation, a human rights activist is almost summarily sentenced to life imprisonment – the maximum penalty for most rapists and murderers.
Dr Binayak Sen, it must be remembered, has been hailed across the world and in his own nation for his stellar work in the rural healthcare field.
Here is a man who has clearly stated that he doesn’t condone Naxalites or approve of their violent methods. Yet, after being initially jailed for more than a year without trial, he has now been convicted, on the basis of an unsigned letter, of waging war against the government.
So, what makes this 60-year-old an enemy of the nation?
The fact that one of his patients was a Maoist ideologue? Or the efforts of his fact-finding team in exposing the atrocities committed by the Salwa Judum?
Each one of Dr Sen’s 33 visits to Narayan Sanyal in Raipur Jail was carried out with prior police permission. The postcard penned by Sanyal, which was used as evidence to arrest Dr Sen in May 2007, was signed and sealed by the jail authorities.
But where were the lawyer and the impartial witness when the state authorities were rifling through Binayak Sen’s computer?
As one of India’s most high-profile criminal lawyers, Ram Jethmalani, ‘embarrasses’ his party by offering to represent Dr Sen (incidentally, for the second time, after securing his bail in 2009), and the global chorus protesting against the sentence gets louder, the Indian government is beginning to bear an uncanny resemblance to its Eastern neighbour.
Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo was in prison, unable to receive news of his winning the Nobel Prize this year. Startlingly reminiscent of Dr Sen’s Jonathan Mann Award in 2008, eh?
Why is India so scared of people who talk?
Take the sedition charge against Arundhati Roy. Frankly, there isn’t much she says that I agree with, mostly because her speeches are poorly-researched, vituperative, ambiguous and, sometimes, funny. But that doesn’t mean I believe she ought to be arrested and tried, simply for mouthing off the government.
What makes an Indian who questions the running of the country less of an Indian citizen than the Prime Minister? Chances are that the ‘activist’ – oh yes, the word is always within quotes – in question has been a citizen of this country far longer than the Chairperson of the UPA coalition.
But in India, there seems to be a rule that one cannot speak against any action of the government unless one is a part of the state machinery. And, it seems, a state agent can get away with anything, including the molestation of a child.
How far are we from turning into China or Iran or Sri Lanka, where most political prisoners are journalists and activists, held for criticising the government? How different are we from the Thought Police of George Orwell’s 1984?
The historical rebellions that took place in this country are considered landmarks in nation building, and their perpetrators eulogised as heroes. Has anyone read of the Revolt of 1857, or the Dandi Salt March, or the Indian National Army, or the Quit India movement, in unflattering terms? Would anyone condemn Mangal Pandey or the Rani of Jhansi or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or Subhash Chandra Bose as an enemy of the state?
Does the fact that India is now run by Indians make it illegal to speak out against the government? Worse, does daring to defy the government mean one could be sentenced to a life-term in jail, without possibility of bail?
If so, our nation is in a perpetual state of Emergency.

'Congrats you massive little legend!'

Indian batting maestro Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar on Sunday became the first batsman to score a monumental 50 centuries in the 133-year history of Test cricket. No other batsman has scored more than 39 Test centuries.The little master reached the coveted landmark when he completed his ton on the fourth day of the first Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park, Centurion.
It was a century that the entire nation was eagerly awaiting from Sachin Tendulkar.
The moment Sachin found a gap through the extra cover region to push a Dale Steyndelivery for a single, the entire stadium stood up to salute one of the true legends of the game. He played 197 deliveries and 258 minutes to reach the milestone. He hit 12 boundaries and a big six over long-off with left-arm spinner Paul Harris being the sufferer. This is his seventh century in the year 2010. If some of the Indian players like Sreesanth were seen saluting Sachin on his achievement, South African players like skipper Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla congratulated the maestro.The century should rank among one of the best considering the amount of pressure Indian team are in after being all out for a paltry 136 in the first innings.With established top-order players like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina and VVS Laxman back in the pavilion, Sachin found an able ally in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who not only showed positive intent but also let the maestro play his natural game.
This is Sachin’s fourth Test century on South African soil and indeed one he would cherish the most.Incidentally, it was the same opponents South Africa against whom he scored the first ever double hundred by a player in ODIs at Gwalior earlier this year.
The master batsman, enjoying a memorable year at age 37, has amassed more than 1,500 runs in thirteen Tests this year at an amazing average of more than 85 runs per innings.
Tendulkar has scored seven centuries and five fifties in the year 2010 with one more match to play against South Africa, starting on December 26.
With this innings, Tendulkar has extended his record for most hundreds (28) overseas.
During his glittering international career, Tendulkar achieved a quite a few records. Besides being the only cricketer in the planet to score 50 Test centuries, Tendulkar also holds the record for most number of ODI hundreds (46). In total he now has 96 international centuries, the most by any batsman.With 14506 runs at an average of 56.88 in 175 Tests (most appearances in the longer format of the game), Tendulkar also holds the record for most runs in Test cricket.In ODIs, he aggregates 17,598 in 442 matches at an average of 45.12.Tendulkar’s records overseas too speak volumes of his talents — he has scored the most number of runs away from home – 7959 at an average of 56.85 in 96 Tests, and also the most number of centuries (28).
Tendulkar, who has been playing international cricket for 21 years, has hit centuries against every other Test nation.His tally is made up of 11 hundreds against Australia, nine against Sri Lanka, seven against England, six against South Africa, five againstBangladesh, four against New Zealand, three each against West Indies and Zimbabwe and two against Pakistan.