Dr Sen, you are guilty……of selflessness!

Democracy in our country has been reduced to an impotent yes-man as has been evident in the Raipur Sessions Court in Chhattisgarh that penned the life sentence judgment for the human rights activist and doctor, Binayak Sen.
So what if the judiciary let go of the Bhopal gas tragedy culprits with a mockery of a sentence. They are the corporates and cannot be ruffled. So what if the country’s biggest scamsters are going scot-free after having consistently looted the public exchequer? So what if our political leaders are bending backwards to allow multinationals and local industrialists alike to rape our land and its natural resources and dig down deeper and deeper for precious minerals, displacing natives. So what if the country’s land sharks are consistently devouring rich agricultural land for industrial and real estate. So what if politicians indulge in big, fat weddings for their children. We know where they got the money for the diamonds and gold, the free flowing liquor and the endless course buffets even as more than 70 per cent of the population get to drink dirty, contaminated water and stay hungry for most time of the year. So what when heavy rains inundated Tamil Nadu, rendering thousands homeless, the DMK bosses, including chief minister Karunanidhi and his team, were enjoying Tamil film stars gyrating on stage at a glittering music release function. So what if a Suresh Kalmadi is enjoying his morning walk on the sprawling lawns of his bungalow a few minutes after an eye wash of a CBI raid in his residence. So what if our political leaders deliver provocative speeches, fuelling communal and parochial passions among masses. So what if these hate-speeches fan riots, taking the country back further. So what if the country’s most sacred democratic function, the elections, is rigged indirectly by candidates doling out money for votes. So what if the treadmills and other equipment for the commonwealth games were hired officially at obnoxious rates when they could have been bought. So what if our pillar of democracy, Parliament, went through an entire session without conducting business a single day, wasting crores of tax payers’ money. So what if the fourth estate turns into a corporate pimp, prostitutionising the profession.
But suddenly the country has to wake up to its judicial conscience to prosecute a human rights activists and doctor, whose only fault has been to spread health awareness among poor tribal villagers and raise his voice against those displaced.
Of course, that is not right, Dr Sen. You are a brilliant doctor who could have made millions. Why did you have to give up those green bucks and roam around the tribal hamlets in your quest for their betterment? This democratic nation of ours will never allow the downtrodden to rise. It is a democracy for the rich, the famous, the corporates and the multinationals. See, what this nation has given you in return: A life term. And look how it has treated the Bhopal culprits, or the Rajas and Kalmadis. We are aware, but cannot even scream about so many of our politicians whose personal assets have only multiplied with their years in office.
Dr Sen, now the court has simply said you are guilty. Yes, you should be guilty of your services, of your selflessness, of your activism. You could have been better off earning those millions.