New Delhi: Former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, who was acquitted on Thursday by the Bombay high court in a Moaist link case, said on Friday that he was yet to come to terms with his release after having spent seven years looking at “closed walls” in what he described as his agni pariksha (test by fire).
“I spent seven years inside a prison in inhumane conditions and still feel I am inside that notorious dark anda cell (high-security prison),” he said, terming his incarceration and subsequent release as “justice delayed”.
Saibaba was released from the Nagpur central prison on Thursday morning after being acquitted by the Bombay high court along with five others as the prosecution failed to prove their suspected links with Maoist rebels.
He was arrested in May 2014 and remained in prison till 2016 before being released on bail. After his conviction in 2017 by a sessions court, he was again lodged inside Nagpur central prison.
While overturning the 2017 judgement, Bombay high court’s Nagpur bench said on Tuesday that merely accessing content related to Communist or Maoist ideology, including violent videos, was not inherently illegal unless there was concrete evidence linking the accused to specific acts of violence or terrorism.
“I am unable to come to the terms that I am out of that anda cell, where I only looked at closed walls for seven years. I still feel I am inside there. It was like an ‘agni pariksha’ (test by fire) for me,” Saibaba said while addressing a press conference in Delhi.
Narrating his ordeal, Saibaba told reporter, “I had no medical conditions before I was arrested. Today, I am in front of you alive, but every organ of my body is failing me because I was denied medical treatment and medicines sent by my family were returned. Even the most dreaded gangsters are given priority in hospitals. But there are so many poor inmates from scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, minorities, who don’t get basic facilities.”
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The former professor said that the process (of trial) in the Indian system is more punishing, but there was “hope”.
Recalling the instance when he was denied parole for attending his mother’s funeral, Saibaba said, with his voice choking, “Being a disabled child, my mother took me to school in her arms every day so that I could get an education. Before she passed away in August 2020, she had one wish that she could see me, but I was not allowed to see her in her death. I was denied attending her funeral or rites after that”.
He asserted that he was denied justice by the government, prison authorities, police and even the court, which refused to grant her to attend his mother’s funeral rites.
“Who is treated like this in a democracy? The State is there to serve the people, not punish them or crush humanity,”
Saibaba thanked his lawyers, international human rights organisations and even Palestine for coming in support of his release.
He said a lawyer, Surendra Gadling, is still in jail for the past five years just for fighting his case “effectively”.
Speaking at the conference, Communist Part of India leader D Raja said, “I salute Saibaba for his courage. He is a great revolutionary who has been fighting for human rights and democracy.”
Raja said the law should be to protect the rights of citizens, not torture them for criticising its policies.
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Aisha Patel is a dedicated Indian correspondent with a deep understanding of the nation’s diverse affairs. With a background in Indian culture, politics, and current events, she provides in-depth analysis and timely reporting on domestic issues within India.
