Onward with the struggle against state terrorism and fascist laws!

On May 25, the Supreme Court granted bail to Dr. Binayak Sen, renowned doctor and human rights activist, after two years of incarceration. He had been arrested on May 14, 2007, under the Chhattisgarh Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act (2005), on the flimsy and trumped up charge of 'acting as a courier for a jailed Maoist'.

Dr. Sen's release follows two years of continuous struggle by human rights activists and freedom loving people all over India and all over the world, including many prominent personalities, who kept up the pressure through repeated petitions to the Central and State governments, to release Dr. Sen and repeal these fascist laws. The high court and the Supreme Court rejected his bail plea last year after the Chhattisgarh government opposed his release. A second bail petition asserted the fact that Dr Sen had visited the jail several times in his capacity as a doctor to treat a patient, with the full knowledge and permission of the jail authorities and police. Over the past two years, the state has not been able to prove any of its charges against Dr. Binayak Sen. Clearly Dr. Sen has been targeted because of his consistent opposition to the criminal activities of the state sponsored Salwa Judum and his staunch defence of the rights of the poor and dispossessed.

The continued incarceration of Dr Sen once again reveals how the Indian state uses fascist laws and repression against those who raise their voices for justice. It shows that the right to conscience of people is held in utter contempt by the Indian state, which will incarcerate and even murder people for merely holding views different from those of the rulers. In addition to Dr. Sen, hundreds of peasants, tribals, journalists, teachers and cultural workers have been arrested, detained and tortured under these fascist laws with which the Chhattisgarh government has armed itself, apart from tens of thousands who have been brutally murdered in the state repression unleashed allegedly to end maoist insurgency.

The fact that the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld these fascist laws is a pointer to the reality that the judicial system in our country is a part of the instrument of state terror and repression, to crush the struggle of people for justice and rights. It is a grim reminder of the urgent need to dismantle the system of state terror, the system of oppression and exploitation, in order to secure human rights, justice and dignity for the toiling people.

Peoples Voice congratulates all those who fought unflinchingly for the release of Dr. Binayak Sen. It calls upon all workers, peasants and toiling people, all those who uphold human and democratic rights, to unite and step up the struggle to repeal the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, as well as to dismantle the Salwa Judum.