Gujarat has light,but it also has shade,says Binayak Sen

Referring to sedition charge,under which Mahatma Gandhi was convicted under the British rule,Sen said that he felt it appropriate to say that he had been convicted to life imprisonment for sedition and that it was only because of the bail granted by the SC that he was able to address them now.

Pointing out that there are hundreds of people who face the same charge like him in India and are now behind bars,Sen said that what he did,hedid only as a human rights activist. “I helped bring the truth of Salva Judum before the people and our belief was upheld by the SC by upholding it as illegal,” Sen said.

Speaking against production of nuclear energy,Sen said that the recent developments in Fukushima warned us about the side-effects of nuclear radiation. “But in this country,a group of 3,000 people,who were peacefully opposing the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant on the basis of issues relating to environment and employment,have been slapped with sedition charge,” Sen said,encouraging students to raise their voices against vices of the present times. He posed questions before the students to ponder over: “Have we got rid of poverty and violence? What is the condition of a marginalised man?”

Sen,considered an expert on malnutrition,cited some figures to highlight that the number of malnourished children in the country was quite high and that the number of people dying of tuberculosis had increased five-fold in the past 10 years. Sen also referred to the malnutrition figures in Gujarat and indicated that its “rosy picture” was not as rosy as it was being portrayed. “(For Gujarat),I can say that it has light,but also has shade.”

A total of 837 students,including foreign students,were awarded degrees at the convocation ceremony. Gujarat Vidyapith Vice-Chancellor Sudarshan Iyengar and Chancellor Narayan Desai also spoke on the occasion.