There has been a series of arrests of human rights activists across the country. It is plain now that there is a policy to arrest people, put people in jail. We must talk about peace,' Binayak Sen said quietly from the dock.
The judge adjourned the proceedings at the hot and steamy 11th Additional District and Sessions Court in Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh state in east-central India. Sen was not allowed to finish speaking. The first day of trial was over, his lawyer said, adding that it could last a year. Sen has been in custody, denied bail by three courts, since his arrest on May 14 last year. He was charged with sedition and waging war against the Indian government. He denies the charges. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
His case is far from unique. Human rights workers allege that increasing numbers of ordinary people, activists and journalists are being jailed and tortured for opposing the Chhattisgarh state government's policies.
The New Delhi-based Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP) has launched a national campaign to lobby the Indian government to recognise thousands of political prisoners as a separate category of detainees. The CRPP, which alleges detainees are routinely tortured, estimates that India has more than 10,000 political prisoners and the number is rising as state governments act increasingly to crush dissent.
Although law and order is vested with individual states in India, CRPP activists say reform at the central or federal level - including giving those held for their political views legal status - is crucial to protect them from abuse.
India ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1979. But CRPP campaigners claim that dissidents lack protection as Indian legislation has not been adapted to recognise political prisoners.
