In Honour of Comrade Professor GN Saibaba
Statement from India Labour Solidarity (UK)
16 October 2024
THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT, UK
Alas, our unbound rejoice, and that of countless others worldwide, at Prof Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba’s unqualified acquittal and release from prison, after close to 10 years of incarceration in India’s Nagpur jail, was painfully short lived. He and his co-accused walked free on 7 March 2024. Only months later, GN Saibaba died in hospital in Hyderabad on 12 October 2024 following surgery to remove stones from his gallbladder.
GN Saibaba was labelled a ‘Maoist’ for voicing the oppression of the Adivasi (Indigenous/ tribal people), Dalits and other oppressed castes and religious minorities, who have been subjected to systematic corporate exploitation under all successive Indian governments.
GN Saibaba was a sharp critic of the policies of globalisation, privatisation and liberalisation adopted by India in the early 1990s, which also have continued to be implemented by all successive governments to this day. He vehemently defended the rights of India’s Adivasi indigenous peoples to preserve their lands, hills and environment from the destructive forces of the mining corporations — not just for themselves but for the greater good of us all. He also understood the need to adopt different forms of resistance by the indigenous people to defend their lands and way of life. Since over two decades, the various Indian governments and their crony capitalist partners have been unleashing fascistic programmes like ‘Salwa Judum’, and a series of military operations from ‘Operation Green Hunt’ and to Operation Samadan-Prahar and the current Operation Kagar in India’s mineral-rich belt. These include even aerial drone bombardment in the face of the sustained resistance of the people.
Prof GN Saibaba was returning home from his examination duties when he was abducted by the Maharashtra police on 9 May 2014. GN Saibaba, 90% disabled, became a victim of polio during childhood, which left him paralysed waist down and dependent on a wheelchair for mobility. The rough handling of GN Saibaba during the abduction caused lasting injury to his left arm, rendering him to the use of only one limb, which also started to weaken during the punishing jail term. He was convicted under the allegation of working for the CPI Maoist party, designated a banned organisation by the Indian state. GN Saibaba refuted the allegations but nonetheless the Indian State sentenced him to life in prison under the notorious Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He was confined to solitary confinement in the ‘Anda Cell’ (a small egg-shaped cell with only steel bars to the front). Such confinement is considered illegal under UN Convention against Torture. All due care and attention stipulated in the International Convention for disabled prisoners was disregarded. All essential medicines were given after prolonged delays or not given at all. There was no shade from the scorching hot summer sun belting down through the caging bars and no blankets were provided against the bitter cold in winter. Visiting times of his loved ones were restricted to only a few minutes, often cancelled for no good reason. Visiting restrictions during the Covid period were particularly painful to bear. His family was forced to talk to him in the language understood by the jail authorities rather than their own mother tongue of Telugu, in which they usually conversed. This treatment of Prof GN Saibaba can only be described as evil, done by the cruel Indian state and prison system and a punitive judicial system, all of which feared his ‘dangerous brain’. The systematic injustices were further amplified by the prison authorities refusing medicine and hospital treatment to GN Saibaba and refusing a visit by his mother, who subsequently died without seeing justice for her son. GN Saibaba was also refused leave to attend his mother’s last rites. It was a ‘miracle’ that he survived the prison term given that his co-accused 35-year-old Pandu Narote died of bird flu while in prison due to medical neglect, as did Father Stan Swamy, who was one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. They are all institutional murders.
After GN Saibaba was released, his immediate task was to undergo medical treatment for the numerous illnesses he suffered during incarceration, due to the serious wanton neglect of his health. His other priority task was to get reinstated as teaching professor at Delhi University. He rightly believed that the University unfairly dismissed him based on the fabricated charges brought against him by the state authorities. He was going to have to fight to get his job and back-dated pay. He was aware that this fight was not going to be easy and had started the process of taking the matter through the courts. His struggles will no doubt be doggedly pursued by his family and comrades. The People’s Union of Civil Liberties in India has demanded that Delhi University should offer recompensation to the family.
GN Saibaba’s wrongful imprisonment not only destroyed 10 of the prime years of his life, but also caused untold grief for his family. The Indian State and all its arms (government, judiciary, police and prison authorities) must be held to account for the deterioration of GN Saibaba’s health and untimely death, if the word ‘democracy’ is to have any meaning in India.
Lal Salaam Prof GN Saibaba!
Long Live Prof GN Saibaba!
Long live Prof GN Saibaba’s dreams of Justice for the People he so cared for.
