ISSUE
Friday, August 15, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 72
Waikato Department of Management communication and political science and public policy department jointly presented the screening of “A Doctor to Defend”, a documentary by Minnie Vaid, followed by a talk by the director, on 14th November.
Minnie Vaid is a writer, journalist, and film-maker. She started her career with the Times of India Group, moving on to video journalism, and later to documentary-making on issues of social justice and social change, from left of the spectrum. She has made films on whistle- blowers, women’s self-help groups, and indigenous forest conservation by Tribals. She has also written two books, one on Dr Binayak Sen and another on the human rights activist, Irom Sharmila, who has been on hunger strike from 2000. She is currently working on her third book on the people’s protest against the nuclear plant in Koodankulam, in southern India.
This is a documentary about Dr Binayak Sen – who led a life as a village doctor helping poor tribals in a truly backward state in India – Chhattisgarh – for almost 30 years till he crossed paths with the state by exposing human rights abuses in even more remote and dangerous areas.
It is also alleged that he was a sympathizer of the banned Maoist movement in India. He was in jail for 2 years under charges of sedition and being a ‘fake doctor.' Human rights activists in India and elsewhere, Amnesty International, Nobel Laureates, and thousands of supporters across the world protested against his incarceration. And the matter is still very much debatable in India and draws emotive response from both side of political spectrum.
The event was attended by around 40 people, including academics, and activists.
Waikato Department of Management communication and political science and public policy department jointly presented the screening of “A Doctor to Defend”, a documentary by Minnie Vaid, followed by a talk by the director, on 14th November. Minnie Vaid is a writer, journalist, and film-maker. She...
Waikato Department of Management communication and political science and public policy department jointly presented the screening of “A Doctor to Defend”, a documentary by Minnie Vaid, followed by a talk by the director, on 14th November.
Minnie Vaid is a writer, journalist, and film-maker. She started her career with the Times of India Group, moving on to video journalism, and later to documentary-making on issues of social justice and social change, from left of the spectrum. She has made films on whistle- blowers, women’s self-help groups, and indigenous forest conservation by Tribals. She has also written two books, one on Dr Binayak Sen and another on the human rights activist, Irom Sharmila, who has been on hunger strike from 2000. She is currently working on her third book on the people’s protest against the nuclear plant in Koodankulam, in southern India.
This is a documentary about Dr Binayak Sen – who led a life as a village doctor helping poor tribals in a truly backward state in India – Chhattisgarh – for almost 30 years till he crossed paths with the state by exposing human rights abuses in even more remote and dangerous areas.
It is also alleged that he was a sympathizer of the banned Maoist movement in India. He was in jail for 2 years under charges of sedition and being a ‘fake doctor.' Human rights activists in India and elsewhere, Amnesty International, Nobel Laureates, and thousands of supporters across the world protested against his incarceration. And the matter is still very much debatable in India and draws emotive response from both side of political spectrum.
The event was attended by around 40 people, including academics, and activists.
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