Posted by: "Kavita Srivastava kavisriv@gmail.com" Kavita Srivastava kavisriv@gmail.com msgiri_bebl
Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:22 am (PDT)
posted by: "Kavita Srivastava" kavisriv@gmail. com
Jaipur,
5th July, 2008.
Dear friends,
I have been to Raipur twice in the last ten days. From the 24-26 June, I
was there to express solidarity with the ten day fast that Sandeep
Pandey and three others had undertaken, demanding the release of Binayak
Sen and Ajay TG and against the Chhattisgarh Public Security Act, 2005.
On the last two days of the fast a national seminar against State
Repression and Repressive laws was organised by the Chhattisgarh PUCL,
timing it with emergency day.
In this period I also met Ajay TG in Durg Jail and also spent some time
with his wife Shobha (also a film maker), there 20 month old son called
Aman and several cousins and friends of Ajay including a couple of
lawyers in Durg.
The second time I went was during the second phase of Binayak's trial on
2nd and 3rd of July, 2008. On this occasion too I met Shobha and his
lawyers.
Both the visits as usual were undertaken to stand in solidarity with
Chhattisgarh PUCL who is facing the ire of the State and support the
struggle for justice being undertaken by the families of those in jail.
25th June being Wednesday was the weekly day for visitors for Ajay so I
accompanied Shobha to Durg jail. Shobha who had expected a face to face
meeting with Ajay and had hoped that their son would get an opportunity
to hug the father was very disappointed when we were all told that we
could only talk to him through the window. Left with no choice all of
us, including Ajay's cousins living in Bhilai talked to him though the
grilled and wire meshed window. Ajay who had lost his younger brother
Anura only on the 19th of June in a tragic road accident in Kerala, was
visibly upset. He was very keen to talk to me separately so we took a
chance and I got the permission from the Jail authorities to meet him
inside the jail. They just would not allow Shobha but agreed to Aman
coming into the Jailer's room which was our meeting room. Those thirty
minutes spent together between father and son was memorable.
Ajay also spoke to me. He asked me to give a message to all. He said
that he was innocent and he felt that his arrest was part of the agenda
to finish the PUCL. He had been targeted for several reasons:
1. Since he had worked with Nandini Sundar and she had filed the
Salwa Judum case in the Supreme Court, it was one way of getting back at
her and him and all those who were opposed to the Salwa Judum.
1. Since he had made short films on some of the PUCL, Chhattisgarh
fact finding misions, like on Gola-Palli and Jiramtarai which had belied
the official version of naxalite attacks, he was being taught a lesson
for that. These two CDs along with another had been seized from
Binayak's house during the house search in May 2007.
1. Since he was one of the persons who had conducted the search on
the body of the policemen who had carried out the house search of the
residence of Binayak Sen as per rules, the particular policemen had told
him that he would be taught a lesson one day.
1. Since he had stood by Binayak and he was one of the few who was
regularly coming to the court in solidarity, he was made a target.
Incidentally his analysis is what most of the members in and outside
PUCL Chhattisgarh also state. He felt that Chhattisgarh PUCL was a
target and had to be supported with greater strength and that the people
within the PUCL need to sit and form a strategy as to how to fight this
onslaught of the State.
I also learnt that the family was coping with this crisis mostly on its
own. The support for the legal case they had organised on their own with
some inputs from a few friends in the PUCL and outside.
Ajay being denied access to a Magistrate:
It was shocking to learn from Ajay that although four remand hearings
had happened he had been produced only once, that was on the day he was
arrested, after that he was never taken on the date of the hearing under
the pretext that there was not enough security needed to take a Naxalite
prisoner out to a court and the times he was produced he was taken to
the Babu of the Magisterial Court and made to sign and brought back..
Incidentally, on the 27th June too (after Shobha and I had brought this
to the notice of all in the national convention) he was still taken to
the Babu of the remand court where he was made to sign and brought back.
After all these hearings are supposed not merely an extension of
judicial remand but also an opportunity to share any grievance that the
detainee may have, however, that right has been completely denied to
Ajay. This was also tried in the case of Binayak Sen when he was
prevented from reaching the Court on the grounds that sufficient force
was not available. But our protests and lodging written complaints with
the Court, DG and the IG gave a message to the authorities
It was definitely a case of the lack of support of a good local lawyer
who was neither present for all the hearings and if present did not see
that it was wrong, therefore Ajay has never represented his point to the
Court. Incidentally we have brought in another local lawyer who
hopefully will take on these issues.
Hand Cuffing of Ajay when taken to Court:
The worst part has been that whenever he was taken to Court he was
handcuffed and taken. Since he was never produced in front of the
Magistrate he was never able to present his point about handcuffing.
Here too the local lawyer was not of much help, infact when Shobha
raised this with him he felt that there was no escape from the
handcuffing.
The legal position is completely clear. Ordinarily the accused must not
be handcuffed. This is the settled law through various judgements of the
Supreme Court. Only when the Court is completely satisfied by the
argument of the prosecution of the likelihood of the accused escaping
from custody, the court will permit handcuffing.
In this case neither has Ajay got an opportunity to raise this issue,
nor has it been raised by his lawyer. This is the most disturbing thing
that unless we monitor what is happening in the court there will be a
denial of basic rights even of the most aware and educated of the lot.
We raised this issue with the Jail authorities and gave it in writing to
the DGP on the 2nd of July and on the 3rd July too when Shobha and I met
the DGP. He has assured that he will look into it and hopefully this
should not happen again, otherwise we really need to protest very loudly
on the 11 of July which is the next date of hearing.
Well we hope that now with the change of lawyer in Durg things will
improve and also our lobbying with the DGP and IG will help.
No legal advise was also made available to them when Ajay got the news
of his brother's death. No bail application was presented in Court.
Ajay also has no access to books. He did apply for it in court but he
was refused. Shobha has not been allowed to give books. This was another
request that we made to the Jail Authorities. He is only allowed to read
one of the local newspapers.
The Text of the Bail order
As you all are aware Ajay was denied bail in the lower court exactly a
month after his arrest on the 5th June, 2008. The sections under what he
has been booked are 124 (a) (Sedition) and sections 3,4, 8 (1) of the
Chhattisgarh Public Security Act, 2005.
Ms. Renu Divekar Special Addl Sessions Judge, Durg in the bail rejection
order passed by her presented the argument of both sides but went along
with the view of the prosecution, stating that,
" a letter written by the applicant / accused Ajay TG was found in the
house of K R C Reddy alias Gudsa Usendi during the house search on
22.01.2008 when a woman Naxalite leader Shanti Priya alias Malti the w/o
Vijay alias KRC Reddy was arrested from Raipur under various sections of
the arms act, telegraph act, CPSA and ULAC. It was in this
context that the handwriting of the applicant / accused Ajay TG was
found to have matched with the letter that was found during the search.
In the letter written by Ajay TG to Gudsa Husendi he has mentioned in
the letter that camera is in Gachanpalli. Gudsa Husendi alias Vijay
alias RC Reddy is a resident of Andhra Pradesh and is a member of the
Dandakarnya Special Zonal Committee and is also the spokes person. He is
a member of the CPI which is mainly a party with left ideology, which
has been banned in the State of Chhattisgarh. The applicant / accused
Ajay TG has mentioned village Gachanapalli which is very sensitive from
the point of view of Naxalite activities. Prima facie it appears that
the applicant / accused has had truck with an organisation which has
been banned by the State Government. And since the matter is under
investigation thus it has not been found appropriate that the applicant
/ accused be given the benefit of bail.
As such the first bail application of Ajay TG moved u/s 439 Cr PC by the
applicant / accused is rejected".
Although in the arguments presented by Mahendra Dubey the counsel for
Ajay TG it had been clearly stated by him which is also mentioned in the
order and I quote, " that Ajay is a film maker and a video-grapher and
had gone at the behest along with Delhi University professor Nandini
Sundar in 2004 in the Adivasi areas of Bastar district. Prof Nandini
Sundar has been researching on the life styles of Adivasis. When the
applicant / accused was returning from Bastar after having done
videography with Nandini Sundar then some villagers surrounded the two
and snatched the video camera from the applicant / accused. The
particular camera did not belong to the applicant / accused but belonged
to his friend. It was six months later that a young boy a stranger to
the applicant / accused came to his house in Supela (Durg) enquired
about the cost of the camera. On the 22nd of January itself the police
had raided the house of the applicant / accused and found no item or
document that was incriminating. The applicant / accused is a
videographer and works with different social organisations. The Maoists
were banned only in 2006 and the said act is of 2004. That the applicant
/ accused is innocent and has been falsely implicated as such should be
granted bail".
Well Dear friends, Every time I go to Chhattisgarh I feel like what many
others also feel that we must really stop what is happening there. Apart
from Binayak Sen, Piyush Guha, Ajay TG there are several others who are
languishing in the various Jails of the State. They are journalists like
Sai Reddy?? and several of the 53 who were booked under the CPSA, 2005,
a few lucky ones having got bail. We know our friends who are
threatened by the officials of the State that they too will be booked if
they expose the truth about Salwa Judum or if they support those who are
exposing it.
I also sometimes feel that in Raipur and this time I felt it in Durg
too, that every body knows that something terrible is happening but live
in fear that if they get involved then the ire of the State might strike
them. There is this constant fear that your phone might be tapped, your
emails hacked. People are trying to keep the right distance so as not to
appear a suspect.
I also feel that these arrests are throwing up issues that we
(organisations like the PUCL) are not always faced with. Like taking
care of the families of those of us who have been jailed, working on the
legal cases on a day to day basis in multiple courts, constantly
petitioning the police and the administration, running around meeting
political leaders, continuously mobilising for the public campaign,
writing to the NHRC although it has failed miserably in this context.
Members of the Chhattisgarh PUCL along with the support of many other
groups and the families and friends of those whose kin are in Jail are
trying hard. But the State is playing a decisive game. I know Mr
Kanabiran will tell us that this is what AP has been for years and years
and now it is spreading to other States, Maharashtra is not far behind.
Others who have suffered in Kashmir, Manipur, Assam will tell us how
they have lived with terror and death all along and how none of us
noticed it when everyone was a "suspect" for the State agencies.
Let us do something fast before it is too late and we are unable to live
the lives we wish to.........! !!
Kavita Srivastava
--
Kavita Srivastava
(General Secretary) PUCL Rajasthan
Address for correspondence :
76, Shanti Niketan Colony, Kisan Marg, Barkat Nagar, Jaipur-302015
Tel. 0141-2594131
mobile: 9351562965
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