Hyderabad: Former Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba has endured it all. Finally free after falsely being implicated in a Maoist-links case against him in 2014, he has spent a decade inside the dark ‘Anda Cell’ in jail for no crime committed by him other than trying to protect the rights of the marginalised.
After his release, Prof Saibaba shared with the media his experiences inside the small concrete enclosure, where he has spent the last decade in isolation. “The moment you enter a jail, the first thing you’d be asked is about your caste. Thereafter, that caste identity will decide how you’ll be treated. Who will prepare the food, who will serve it, and who does what depends on the caste identity of the inmate,” he told Siasat.com.
He pointed out that even as per the jail manual, prisoners belonging to various castes would have to be given work as per their caste occupations, but it is seldom practised. The caste system is followed officially there, asserted Prof Saibaba.
“Most of the prisoners belonged to the marginalised and backward communities. I wonder if those coming from privileged sections would not commit a crime. Most of the inmates have been languishing in jail for years with no fault of theirs. Instead of getting reformed, they get influenced by criminal elements. Jails have become the recruitment centres for criminals,” he observed.
Tried all ways to kill a person directly or indirectly: Saibaba
Recalling the most torturous years he spent in the cell, Prof Saibaba said that in jail humans are treated worse than animals and insects. It is as if “human life doesn’t have any value at all,” he opined. He recalled that he could neither turn his wheel-chair inside the ‘anda cell,’ nor could he perform his natural chores.
The retired Delhi University professor aid he couldn’t find a glass of water when he needed it badly and was not given the medicines brought for him by his family members. “Despite the Court’s directions to provide me healthcare and doctors willing to treat me, I was denied the same. They were like.. if I wanted to live I could, or else it didn’t matter to them. I suffered Covid-19 twice though I was staying in solitary confinement inside the ‘anda cell.’ But they didn’t admit me into the hospital. I wasn’t even given an oxygen cylinder. I used to faint frequently,” claimed Prof GN Saibaba.
Recalling how he was kidnapped and jailed during the last phase of Lok Sabha elections in 2014, he said that there was a need to think of why a person like him was arrested and subjected to such physical and mental torture.
Prof Saibaba wasn’t allowed to perform even his mother’s last rites.
“We are in a major crisis, where there are people who want to move forward to protect their rights and improve their lives. But there are some powers which want only certain sections to prosper. Naturally, there is a clash between these two different mindsets. Those who fight to protect the people’s rights are being targeted. The ten years of torture and harassment I went through, must be viewed in the backdrop of that struggle. We need to think why I was branded like I was a terrorist, a dangerous person,” Saibaba said.
On how he was still able to walk alive, he told Siasat.com that his strong resolve and the will to live for the people and society helped him survive, as he rejected death.
“If those who criticise the government policies and who speak facts are subjected to such torture, the society will be at a loss. It will be of no use to anybody. This struggle is all about protecting the democratic rights, resources and opportunities of the people. The society gets enlightened only because of people’s movements,” Prof Saibaba observed.
Talking about the rights of the Adivasis, he said that there was a dire need for the people to protect the rights of Adivasis in the Fifth and Sixth Schedule areas by making their voices heard. “The government should implement the agency area rights of fifth and sixth schedule areas by not letting any outsiders plunder the natural resources on which the tribals have the absolute rights,” he opined.
On the powers that have been targeting him, he had only one answer to them. “India is a diverse country with diverse cultures and beliefs. If some people think otherwise, it is not going to happen in our country,” Prof Saibaba asserted.
Though Prof Saibaba was released five months ago, he has been getting treatment for various ailments that were acquired inside the jail to the treatment meted out to him. His left arm can hardly perform any task, as its nerves have become weak. He has had a kidney-related ailment, stomach ailments, and has also been suffering from a heart ailment.
At 56 years of age and having lost a decade in his selfless life, Prof Saibaba hopes that the Delhi University where he used to teach before getting implicated in the false case, would follow the procedure and reinstate him as the professor.
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