May 14, 2015 Statement by Sanhati Collective We condemn the judgement of the Midnapore district and sessions court on 11th May, 2015, convicting Chatradhar Mahato, spokesperson of the Peoples Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) of Lalgarh, Sukhshanti Baske, treasurer of the PCPA, Sambhu Soren and Sagun Murmu, members of PCPA, and Raja (Tinku) Sarkhel and Prasun Chattopadhyay, members of Gana Pratirodh Manch, for sedition and waging war against the state.
The first four, Chatradhar Mahato, Sukhshanti Baske, Sambhu Soren and Sagun Murmu, have also been convicted under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the first convictions under UAPA in West Bengal. All have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
We consider this judgement to be a travesty of justice and an attempt by the state to send a clear message to peoples’ movements across West Bengal and India that any dissent against the state and the ruling classes will be answered in a ruthless manner.
The Lalgarh movement, of which these people were participants, was an uprising of the adivasi-moolvasi people of Jangalmahal against the police repression and exploitation which they have suffered for decades.
Because Chatradhar Mahato and his comrades stood up against it, and people like Raja Sarkhel and Prasun Chattopadhyay stood in solidarity with them, they are being made an example in front of us. They have been in jail since 2009 while the trial has dragged on for six long years, finally leading to this conviction.
Chatradhar Mahato was also charged with 38 other cases, linked to every possible incident in Jangalmahal during the Lalgarh movement, in each of which he has obtained bail. Seeing the unviability of these cases against him, the state has used these UAPA and sedition charges to keep him and his comrades imprisoned for this long time, and now have allowed them to be convicted under these charges.
It is a telling state of affairs that while famous film stars convicted of running over sleeping pavement dwellers get immediate bail after conviction and politicians known to have amassed hundreds of crores of rupees get acquitted, leaders and workers of peoples’ movements face possible death penalty or lifelong imprisonment.
We call upon all democracy-loving people to come out in protest against this conviction and demand the unconditional release of Chatradhar Mahato and his comrades and all others who have stood in solidarity with the peoples movement in Jangalamahal
Press Release from Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation (CDRO)
UAPA: An alibi for political vendetta
CDRO (Coordination of Democratic Rights Organizations)unequivocally condemns the judgement of the Midnapore (West Bengal) district and sessions court on 12th May, 2015, convicting Chatradhar Mahato, spokesperson of the Peoples Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) of Lalgarh, along with Sukhshanti Baske, treasurer of the PCPA, Sambhu Soren and Sagun Murmu, members of PCPA and Raja (Tinku) Sarkhel and Prasun Chattopadhyay, members of Gana Pratirodh Manch for sedition and waging war against the state.
The first four, namely Chatradhar Mahato, Sukhshanti Baske, Sambhu Soren and Sagun Murmu, have also been convicted under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the first convictions under UAPA in West Bengal.
They have all been sentenced to life imprisonment under charges of sedition. CDRO considers this judgement to be not only a travesty of justice but also a political attempt by the state to send a clear message to peoples’ movements across West Bengal and India that any dissent against the state and any democratic opposition to the ruling classes will be severely dealt with, including through adverse judicial pronouncements.
The Lalgarh movement, of which these people were participants, was an uprising of the adivasi-moolvasi people of Jangalmahal against the police repression and exploitation which they have suffered for decades. Because Chatradhar Mahato and his comrades stood up against the unrelenting exploitation of the adivasi and poor people, and people like Raja Sarkhel and Prasun Chattopadhyay stood in solidarity with them, they are being targeted.
They have been in jail since 2009 while the trial has dragged on for six long years without bail, finally leading to this conviction. Chatradhar Mahato was also falsely implicated in 38 other cases, linked to every possible incident in Jangalmahal during the Lalgarh movement, most of which have remained unsustainable by the persecution.
Seeing the un-tenability of these cases against him, the state has used these UAPA and sedition charges to keep him and his comrades imprisoned for this long time, and now have allowed them to be convicted under these charges.
It is a telling state of affairs that judiciary delivers what the government wishes and leaders and workers of peoples’ movements face lifelong imprisonment. CDRO calls upon all democracy-loving people to come out in protest against this conviction. CDRO also demands the unconditional release of Chatradhar Mahato and his comrades and all others political prisoners.
CDRO also demands the rubbishing of the grotesquely draconian UAPA forthwith. Coordinators of CDRO : C. Chandrasekhar (CLC, Andhra Pradesh), Paramjeet Singh (PUDR, Delhi), Parmindar Singh (AFDR, Punjab), Phulendro Konsam (COHR, Manipur) and Tapas Chakraborty (APDR, West Bengal)
Constituent Organisations: Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR, West Bengal); Bandi Mukti Morcha (West Bengal); Campaign for Peace & Democracy in Manipur (CPDM), Delhi; Civil Liberties Committee (CLC); Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR, Mumbai); Coordination for Human Rights (COHR, Manipur); Human Rights Forum (HRF, Andhra Pradesh); Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS), Assam; Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR); Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights (OPDR, Andhra Pradesh); Peoples’ Committee for Human Rights (PCHR, Jammu and Kashmir); Peoples Democratic Forum (PDF, Karnataka); Peoples Union For Democratic Rights (PUDR, Delhi); Peoples Union for Civil Rights (PUCR, Haryana) and Jharkhand Council For Democratic Rights (JCDR).
Speak Out Against the Verdict on Chhatradhar Mahato and Others
Radical Socialist 11 May, 2015
India is a country, where the rich alone have legal rights, where the rich alone are truly patriotic. The poor are good, only when they accept torture in silence, and remain quiet, without resisting exploitation though they die in the process.
Those who make India’s laws, i.e., Parliament, those who uphold the laws, i.e., the police, the army and the administrative machinery, and those who apply and interpret the law, i.e., the judiciary, all provide daily proofs of the foregoing assertion. Those who have huge property, or those who tread the corridors of power, get advantages at every step, even if they commit crimes. They easily get bail. Their cases are prolonged or rapidly disposed depending on their needs. If by chance a lower court convicts them they are assured of a reversal of the verdict at higher levels. When they have to stay in jails the very shape of the prison changes.
We do not want a single human being to be deprived of their legal rights. But the seeming equality of bourgeois democracy hides gross inequality. The rich get assistance, the poor do not get it. The bail is set so high the Salman Khans can pay it, but the common people cannot. Then there are special laws which are aimed at those who protest, or at particular groups of people.
This was acknowledged most clearly at one point of history, when Mrs. Indira Gandhi had targetted bourgeois oppositionists, applying Maintenance of Internal Security Act or MISA. At that time, Atal Behari Vajpayee had objected, saying, MISA was meant for Naxalites.
Today’s situation is absolutely clear. The Binayak Sens and the Soni Soris get bail after a very long time, across many agitations. A 90% physically disabled Prof. G. N. Saibaba has not been given bail despite a year in custody. One the other hand, our muscular film star Khan Sahib was out on bail the entire 13 years his trial for running over a pavement dweller went on.
Within hours of being found guilty and sentenced, he was again out on bail. J. Jayalalithaa is out, exonerated in the /Disproportionate Assets case. On the same day, in a different court in another part of the country, Chhatradhar Mahato was found guilty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other laws.
He and his comrades have since been given life terms. Sustained efforts are on, to make people forget why the Lalgarh movement took place.
After all, the duty of the adivasi is to bow their heads and accept it when their land and their forests are taken away from them. An added duty of adivasi women is to smilingly accept being raped. And if they protest, they are Maoists, terrorists, anti-nationals.
And presumably it is Maya Kodnani, found guilty of inciting the Naroda Patiya massacre, who is the ultimate patriot. From Buddhadev Bhattacharjee to Mamata Banerjee, all governmental parties and leaders – it is impossible to distinguish between their roles in such matters when they are in power.
In fact, Chhatradhar Mahato and his comrades had built mass organisations and had taken the path of mass movements. They had even (in our view wrongly) joined forces with Mamata Banerjee and the so-called “civil society” figures that worship at her doors. In that case, if the UAPA is being applied against Chhatradhar, why are they excluded?
Does this not demonstrate how the judicial sysem dispenses class justice? Repeal all Repressive Laws like UAPA, AFSPA Release Chhatradhar mahato and all others convicted in this case
Build up Solidarity with the Struggles of Adivasis for their Rights email facebook twitter -
See more at: http://sanhati.com/articles/13474/#sthash.3WFRdcgn.dpuf
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