January 8th 2011 New Delhi: Rajpal & sons today launched the much awaited book "'A doctor to defend: The Binayak Sen Story''. The chief guest for the occasion, erudite professor Amartya Sen released the book. Professor Sen has been very closely associated with the cause of Binayek Sen and helping him to attain justice. Speaking about the book ,the publisher- Meera Johri said “ The idea of doing a book on Binayek Sen germinated when I met Minnie and she narrated the saga of Binayak and his great work. And she was also making the documentary on the same. I felt the story of Binayak Sen should reach out to people. It has to be heard…”

ABOUT THE BOOK

A chilling story of justice denied…
Binayak Sen graduated from one of India’s elite institutions, the Christian Medical College, Vellore, and chose to practice medicine amongst the tribals of Chattisgarh. Years of dedicated work led him to believe that sustainable health care cannot be achieved in the absence of human rights, and when the controversial Salwa Judum, the vigilante force perceived by some as State- backed terror, was created to counter the Naxal movement, Binayak was amongst the first to voice his concern. Binayak Sen’s outspokenness led to his arrest on May 14, 2007 on the alleged charges of being a “fake” doctor and supporting the Naxalite movement. He was denied bail on the grounds that he was a threat to state security and was even subject to a spell of solitary confinement. On December 24, 2010 Binayak Sen was held guilty of sedition and sentenced to life imprisonment by the District Sessions Court in Raipur. A Doctor to Defend opens a window on one of the most controversial and hotly debated cases of decade.

About the Author
The author is former print and television journalist and documentary film maker who is especially interested in rural India. This is her first book, what she calls an ‘outsider’s view’ of the ‘privileged’ world of Binayak Sen, ‘not a biography’. Yet it was a fascinating world, Peopled by extraordinary men and women of extraordinary courage and thinking, selflessness and sheer caring. In the end, it wasn’t the story of just one Binayak Sen but many more to come in the days and years ahead.

About the Publisher
Rajpal & Sons, based in New Delhi, is one of India’s leading publishing houses with a publishing history of 98 years. It has on its author list top litterateurs such as Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Amritlal Nagar, Mahadevi Verma, Kamleshwar, Vishnu Prabhakar, Dr. Radhakrishnan, R.K. Narayan, and Mulk Raj Anand – amongst several others. It is the exclusive Hindi publisher of the Nobel laureate Dr. Amartya Sen, and has prominent contemporary authors such as APJ Abdul Kalam, Benazir Bhutto, Khushwant Singh, Jaswant Singh, Atal Behari Vajpayee, J. Krishnamurthy, on its author list.

Madhushala, Awara Masiha, Manas ka Hans, Kitne Pakistan, Ashad ka ek Din, books published by Rajpal, are considered masterpieces in Indian literature. Many bestsellers of the last few years, like Indomitable Spirit, Adamya Sahas and Spirit of India (APJ Abdul Kalam), Jinnah (Jaswant Singh), Meri Aapbeeti (Benazir Bhutto) have been published by Rajpal.

Rajpal has one of the widest ranges of books published by an Indian publishing house, with literature, fiction, autobiographies, dictionaries and reference books, children books, books on self-help and self development, and books on philosophy and spirituality.