Hyderabad District, October 12, 2024: Dr G.N. Saibaba, a former political prisoner and professor of English at Delhi University’s Ram lal Anand college, passed away late today following post-operative complications after undergoing surgery for gallbladder stones. He was 57.
The wheelchair-bound Saibaba, who was 90% disabled due to a childhood bout with polio, was undergoing treatment at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Telangana’s Hyderabad district, where he was admitted 10 days ago due to ill health. His aides said he suffered a heart attack around 8 pm and was declared dead by doctors at the hospital at 8:30 pm.
Dr Saibaba was acquitted by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on March 5 of this year, nearly 10 years after he was first arrested in an alleged Maoist links case. He was released from Nagpur Central Jail on March 7.
Speaking to the press, Deepak Kumar, a close family friend of Dr Saibaba who helped the family in taking care of him after his release from prison, and who is also a member of the Committee for the Defense and Release of Dr G N Saibaba, an organization that was campaigning for Dr Saibaba during his incarceration, said: “I dropped him at the airport in Delhi on September 18. Two days before this, he was suffering extreme pain in the gallbladder. We took him to a hospital in Vasant Kunj and also to AIIMS but we finally decided to admit him to NIMS in Hyderabad as we had family there and thought it would be a time taking procedure”.
Kumar had played an active role in campaigning for Dr Saibaba through his time in prison.
“We took care of him day and night. He always spoke about getting his health better and getting back to his work for human rights and he also wanted to teach. His gallbladder was removed earlier this month, this surgery was successful and he was recovering. When I last spoke to him on October 6, he sounded alright. He asked me all about a recent protest I had held, but his health started to derail around October 7,” Kumar said, adding that Saibaba had developed a high fever since Friday night.
Dr Saibaba was also actively fighting legally to get his job back at Delhi University, close aides told the press. The last hearing of the case was in September this year.
Nandita Narain, a former DU professor and a close family friend to Dr G.N Saibaba, said: “What is even more unfortunate is that as his family was fighting and still had hope through his legal battle, he had just come back home after being acquitted and things were getting back to normal but again this unfortunate incident has happened”.
“He was a brilliant man and it’s so sad to lose him. We need to keep his legacy and his courage alive” Narain said, adding that she had constantly been in touch with the family since Dr Saibaba was admitted to NIMS 10 days ago.
During an interview with the press after his acquittal, Dr Saibaba said: “I lost much more than 10 years I spent in jail”.
A Division Bench of justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes set aside the life imprisonment sentence imposed on Dr Saibaba, and also acquitted five others accused in the case. The bench said it was acquitting all the accused as the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt against them.
Dr Saibaba was accused of arranging a meeting of the other accused — JNU student Hem Mishra and Uttarakhand-based journalist Prashant Rahi — with members of the CPI (Maoist) and its alleged frontal organization, the Revolutionary Democratic Front.
He was arrested on May 9, 2014. In March 2017, a Maharashtra sessions court convicted Dr Saibaba and five others, including Mahesh Tirki, Pandu Narote, Hem Mishra, Prashant Rahi, and Vijay Tirki, for alleged ties to the Maoist party and involvement in activities deemed as waging war against the nation.
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