Modi regime responsible for death of Indian academic and human rights defender
GN Saibaba, a 57-year-old renowned academic and human rights defender in India, died of a heart attack on October 12. He passed away while being treated at the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital.
Various sectors in India blame the reactionary government for Saibaba’s death. They say this is a stain on the government of ultra-nationalist leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi. International activist Vijay Prashad called Saibaba’s death an “institutional murder–killed by a state that falsely accused him, despite acquittals by one court after the other.”
Saibaba was released from prison seven months prior to his death, after a decade of imprisonment on fabricated charges. In prison, Saibaba, who had a disability due to polio, was deliberately denied proper medical attention. He was repeatedly denied bail, and when he was once released from prison, he was rearrested after a few months.
Saibaba was first arrested in May 2014, along with five others, on charges of violating the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. He was granted bail after a year, but was rearrested on suspicion of his alleged links to the Communist Party of India-Maoist.
The International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS extended its highest tribute to Saibaba upon his passing.
“Saibaba, deeply influenced by Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology since his student days, was a lifelong advocate for a society free from exploitation and oppression,” according to the ILPS. “He stood resolutely against imperialism, exploitative neo-liberal developmentalism, repressive laws, and the State state-sponsored terrorism that perpetuated all these.”
Saibaba was one of the prominent intellectuals who criticized the Indian state’s Operation Green Hunt which was purportedly launched against the CPI-Maoist, but widely attacked the Adivasi people. Saibaba, and many others in India, knew that Operation Green Hunt was just a pretext to evict the Adivasi people from their communities and welcome foreign companies to plunder their ancestral lands’ natural resources.
Aside from his firm stance in support of the oppressed people in India, Saibaba was also known to many progressive international organizations. He was involved in the ILPS’ founding in 2001 and served on its International Coordinating Committee. He actively served in the league for a decade before being illegally arrested and placed in solitary confinement.
At the time of his arrest, Saibaba was teaching at Ram Lal Anand College, Delhi University. He had a PhD in English.
In October, he was convicted of “terrorism” charges, but the conviction was later overturned by a higher court. In March, the cases against Saibaba and his co-accused were finally dismissed.