Verdict not unexpected for Binayak,says mother

“He said there was a 50:50 chance,but later,I came to know that he had told his friends that he was not very hopeful,” Anasuya told The Indian Express from her home.

“I am pained,” she said. “Once he told me that the chapatis he was given in jail was not fit to eat. I don’t know what he is doing there.”

But she is ready to brave all the odds too. “I am also Binayak Sen’s mother. He always fought for the poor and never gave up. And like my son I also don’t give up.”

Binayak’s wife Elina said they will move Raipur High Court on January 3,when it re-opens after vacation. “We are consulting lawyers and studying the judgment thoroughly,” she told The Indian Express over phone from Raipur.

The only political succour which has come for Anasuya is not from the Marxists,but from Trinamool Congress,which had sent three members to meet her.

“They told me they had been sent by author Mahasweta Devi and told me not to worry about anything. I could not understand anything,” Anasuya said.

Mahasweta Devi was not available for comment.

Anasuya,who spent much of her life at various places in India along with her doctor husband who worked for the Army,lambasted the judgment,saying it was a travesty of justice. “I attended the court proceedings several times. Three judges were changed during the trial that started in 2007. This judge took over a few days ago. The verdict is beyond my understanding,” she said.

Rights activists,meanwhile,are planning rallies and demonstrations in the city demanding justice for Sen.

We are very much against Maoist activities. But branding anyone Maoist is not correct. We will oppose this… If it is not done,it will be dangerous to democracy

Kaushik Sen
,Theatre personality Sentencing Binayak to life imprisonment is an outright subversion of democracy and a downright fascist measure
Provash Ghosh,SUCI leader
Sen is the victim of a witch-hunt because his was one of the first and boldest voices of protest against the Salwa Judum
Anuradha Talwar
Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity