GN Saibaba Should Be Seen As Hero: Activist Harsh Mander

GN Saibaba, who died due to post-operative complications last week, seven months after he was acquitted in a case alleging his Maoist links, was a person with enormous love for his country and should be seen as a hero, activist Harsh Mander said on Monday.

At a memorial service held for the former Delhi University (DU) professor by the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), Mr Mander and other activists also alleged that Saibaba's death was an "institutional murder" and that his health had deteriorated due to poor conditions in jail.

Mr Mander, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, described Saibaba as a professor who was loved by his students and a person concerned about injustice and inhumanity.

"This became a reason for the establishment to accuse him of being a Maoist," he said.

"There was no evidence of him having participated in any kind of violent activity," he added.

Mr Mander said Saibaba spent 10 years in jail, including the entire COVID-19 pandemic period.

"None of this broke Saibaba's belief for a better future.... But it devastated his body. He was discharged of all crimes, but his body finally gave in," he said.

"We are living in times when people like Saibaba should be seen as heroes and role models for their courage.... Instead, the establishment is so afraid that it puts him behind prison walls," he added.

A video clip from a press conference addressed by Saibaba earlier in the year was played on the occasion. In the clip, Saibaba is heard saying that he did not have any ailments except his polio condition before he went to jail.

Saibaba recounted that he suffered an injury in his left arm when police arrested him as he was dragged by his hand and the swollen arm was not treated for long.

Retired DU professor Nandita Narain said Saibaba was "thrown around like a sack" when he was arrested.

"He was sentenced to 10 years. For a very short period of time, he was given medical bail with the intervention of the Supreme Court. And even at that time, in 2017, when he was undergoing medical treatment abroad, it was diagnosed that he had gallbladder stones and his pancreas was affected," she said.

"He had pancreatitis. A surgery was necessary. The surgery that had to be done in 2017 was done in 2024," Ms Narain said.

"I believe it was an institutional murder," she added.

Vikas Gupta, a visually-impaired history professor in the DU, said when Saibaba's harassment began, "nobody came to his support".

"Even before the raids, the DU decided to make Saibaba vacate his house. No help came from the office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD), partly because even though it has quasi-judicial powers, it is not autonomous of the Government of India.

"The university, which is autonomous, did not come to rescue its brightest teacher. The CCPD, which is supposed to protect the rights of the differently-abled, did not come to his rescue. The result was an institutional murder," Gupta said.

Saibaba died at a state-run hospital in Hyderabad on October 12 at the age of 54 due to post-operative complications. He was suffering from a gall bladder infection and was operated on, but developed complications subsequently.

In March, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court acquitted Saibaba and five others in the Maoist-links case, noting that the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations against him.

The court had also set aside his life sentence. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)