Binayak Sen completed his MBBS from Christian Medical College in Vellore with distinction, and he chose to stay back in India to make a difference, despite his father’s wish to send him to the United Kingdom.

He completed an MD in Paediatrics from Vellore and then joined JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) as an Associate Fellow as he desired to study for a PhD in public health. He left his academic position and joined the TB Research Centre and Hospital run by the Friends’ Rural Centre at Hoshangabad (MP). Thereafter, he went to Chhattisgarh, where he joined Shankar Guha Niyogi, a trade unionist. Dr Sen worked with the mine workers and their families at the captive mines of the Bhilai Steel Plant at Dalli Rajhara and Nandini, and later in the 1990s with the daily wage labourers in factories at Bhilai and Raipur. He helped set up a health centre for the mine workers at Dalli Rajhara, which was run by the workers themselves. It grew into a 25-bed hospital and was called Shaheed Hospital. He then left Dalli Rajhara to join his wife, Dr Ilina Sen in Raipur to start an NGO called Rupantar.

On April 13, 2006, then-Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, stated in his speech at a meeting of Chief Ministers for tackling Naxalism, “I came here with the primary purpose of listening to your views and the strategies you are adopting to face the challenge of Naxalism. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the problem of Naxalism is the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country.” His speech also spoke of Naxalism having spread to over 160 districts of the country. He talked about the police response recommended by CMs, “We may need specialised force on the pattern of Andhra Pradesh’s Greyhounds. This investment is essential if we need to turn the tide in favour of the Government.”

Since then, every government has targeted the Naxals, also called Maoists (by government agencies). Among the first intellectuals to be arrested in this regard was Dr Sen, whom the authorities alleged to be a Naxal ideologue. The Chhattisgarh government arrested Dr Sen on May 14, 2007; he was charged with acting as a courier between jailed Naxalite leader Narayan Sanyal and businessman Piyush Guha and was accused of having Naxal links. In July 2007, the Chhattisgarh High Court rejected his bail application. Later in August 2007, the Supreme Court bench of Justices Ashok Bhan and VS Sirpurkar sought a response from the Chhattisgarh government after senior counsel Soli Sorabjee claimed that Sen had been illegally detained since May 14, 2007, on fabricated charges of supporting Naxals; they later rejected the plea.65 Finally, on May 25, 2009, Dr Sen was granted bail by a vacation bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Verma.

However, on December 24, 2010, the Additional Sessions and District Court Judge BP Varma of Raipur found Dr Sen, Narayan Sanyal, who was accused of being a Naxal ideologue, and Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha guilty of sedition for helping the Maoists in their fight against the state. Dr Sen was held under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Special Public Security Act (2005) and was tried under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (for sedition). He was taken back into custody.

The conviction was severely criticised both in India and abroad on the grounds of the reliability of the evidence and the interpretation of the sedition law. This was highlighted by B Raman, Additional Secretary (Retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt of India, in his article on October 26, 2010, and continued on February 3, 2022. Dr Sen applied to the Supreme Court for bail, and on April 15, 2011, the Supreme Court of India granted him bail after questioning the sedition charge against him.

Since May 2022, the Supreme Court has allowed the central government to reconsider the provisions of Section 124 IPC, Sedition. It is the first time since the Sedition Law came into effect that the operation of this section has been suspended. Reliefs granted to the accused by courts are continuing and the challenge is still pending before the Supreme Court. However, the IPC has been replaced by a new Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita Bill in the meantime, which in fact is more severe than the existing sedition section. Under the new Bill, Section 150 replaces the 124A of the old IPC. Legal experts say it is more stringent than the existing one.

Even though the relief continues for Dr Sen he is under immense pressure as he has not yet been cleared of the charges. He fears being re-arrested and, during our interview, he commented that if he is arrested again, he will not come out of prison alive.

How did the two jail terms affect you, both physically and psychologically?
One of the diagnoses detected in me was post-traumatic disorder, which was due to jail. Jail was not only a negative experience. People were really kind to me. People understood my condition and helped me to spend my days there. Except for the time I was kept in solitary confinement, a lot of the time was spent in the ward, and the people were very helpful. I must also say that the jail staff is distinct from the police. The jail staff was helpful and they hardly ever treated me badly. When I came to the jail, at that time the Director General of Police called for a meeting with the jail staff, which he had no business doing because he had no locus standi in the jail. He told them they should cooperate with the prosecution in securing a conviction against me, otherwise, they would face consequences. In spite of his insistence, the jail staff didn’t adhere to the orders of the DG Police, Chhattisgarh. Basically, they were asked to cook up some evidence for my conviction, which they didn’t. A lot of people didn’t have a good opinion of this DG and the police administration in general. Some of them even faced harassment and informal punishment (was) meted out to them; they were transferred suddenly.

Do you recollect the day you were arrested the first time?
Yes, I remember. I wasn’t expecting the arrest. I was in Calcutta, as I had gone to spend time with my family.

Pranhita Sen: Yes, we had come to spend time with our grandmothers. Baba left for Raipur before us, because he had to attend the village clinic, with which he was regular. Patients would come from as far as 100 kilometres, so he was always there for them. There were rumours that the police were going to arrest him. Even though he had a ticket for Raipur, he went to Bilaspur and met Sudha Aunty. (Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, who lived and worked in Bilaspur.) The police however were tracking Baba’s mobile phone, so they reached Sudha Aunty’s house. Baba was told that the thanedar wanted to meet him, so he should come to the police station. Baba and Sudha Aunty went together to the police station and the thanedar informed them that a team from Raipur were on their way and they would be arresting Baba.

BS: I had got up to fetch some tea, I wanted to have something and they stopped me. Initially, I didn’t suspect anything. At that time, their whole body language changed. All of them kept making me sit in the police station under some excuse. “Aap abhi kahin mat jayiye” (Now you please remain here, don’t go anywhere), the thanedar said to me. Once his body language changed it was clear that something was happening. Then they took me to the Hospital for my medical examination. The doctor told me during the examination that he can arrange for medical admission to the Hospital. I refused and made it clear I will go to jail. That is a bit I haven’t told my daughters till now.

(I turned around and asked the daughters for their comments.)

PS: We didn’t know of this! I don’t think Ma knew of this either. Yes, I am surprised, but I think he did the right thing. I was 22 years old at the time, when Baba got arrested.

Aparajita Sen: Oh. He shouldn’t have said no. He should have taken medical admission. I was 16 years old when he was arrested. At that time, I was with Ma in Wardha. While Didi was in Raipur, near Baba.

(I said, “There speaks the lawyer.”)

Then what happened, Dr Sen?
Sudha (Bharadwaj) was there throughout and was a big source of strength for me.

PS: We two sisters were with our Dadi, and Ma had promised her mother a trip to Murshidabad. My Nani had not seen the Murshidabad palace and the places around it, so Ma had planned this trip with her.

BS: Both Ilina and her mother had a passion for history, and it was a long-term promise Ilina had made to her mother. She was confronted with the dilemma, and she finally took her mother to Murshidabad. Then she rushed back. The events from the beginning to the end are not known to me. Apart from the facts that were told to me, even the stuff that I remember is uninformed compared to what these people have witnessed and recorded in their consciousness.

Where did they take you finally?
They took me from Bilaspur to Raipur, which is 125 kilometres away. There were several policemen in the jeep, and one had a big, fat belly. The police were angry with me because I had constantly pointed out the contradictions in their human rights reports. One of my proudest moments was when Pranhita came with me to record the Golapalli incident; she was just 14, and she did the videography. We travelled in the dark. Coming back to my arrest, I was lodged in the Raipur jail.

How was your entry into the jail? What did they do to you?
They took me to Raipur Central Jail. They did not strip me down, at least. I don’t remember the rest in detail. I was not alone; there were people around. Nobody interfered with me, and nobody even recognised me. (He said it as a matter of fact.) They found out about my reality much later. I was allowed to talk to people who were nice to me. Some of them were very kind to me.

PS: Initially, Baba was jailed in 2007 and released in 2009. The second time he was arrested in December 2010 and released in April 2011.

AS: There was one dedicated person who took care of Baba during that entire period. He was a young man who looked after him.

PS: That young man was serving a murder sentence. He had killed his own father because the latter had tried to strangle his mother.

BS: That young boy was good to me. He would cook food for me. By then, many prisoners had gotten to know of my situation – that I was jailed for being a “Naxal” as I was termed by the government. They didn’t judge me and, in fact, helped me in jail.

Excerpted with permission from The Feared: Conversations with 11 Political Prisoners, Neeta Kolhatkar, Simon and Schuster India and Yoda Press.