New Delhi, April 11, 2019: The ‘Committee for the Defence and Release of Dr. G.N. Saibaba’ came together on April 10 demanding the Delhi University Professor’s “immediate release on bail”.

Stating that Mr. Saibaba, who is currently lodged in Nagpur Central Jail, is suffering from severe health issues due to lack of medical care being provided to him, several activists, professors and his family appealed for his immediate release.

Mental torture

Speaking at the event, the Professor’s wife, Vasantha Kumari, said, “He is suffering from 19 ailments and the jail authorities are not even providing him with basic facilities. The wheelchair provided to him was a broken one and we had to send a new one. In prison, he is being subjected to mental torture. We had hoped we will get justice but even the last bail plea got rejected.”

Committee chairman G. Haragopal said, “The current situation is extremely frightening. Mr. Saibaba’s case is a blot on democratic society and democratic India. Inside the prison, he is living under inhumane circumstances. It is unfortunate that the executive is constantly misleading the judiciary. Can a person be convicted because of his conviction and belief?

Denied basic rights

Stating that there has been a “decline and fall of the judiciary”, human rights activist John Dayal said, “He is being denied basic medical care. What is the human dignity left in him? How can jail authorities and doctors who are attending to him stay silent and see the man wither away?”

Activists present said that in a recent letter written by Mr. Saibaba from the prison, the Professor has expressed concerns over “whether he will survive the third summer in the prison.”

Vikas Gupta, Professor of History Department at the Delhi University said, “Democratic states are a social contract where citizens come together. Here we are increasingly seeing a tendency where people are put behind bars before they can prove their innocence. Rather than expediting the judicial process, people are charged under draconian laws and put behind bars.”

Film-maker Sanjay Kak said, “The government’s target is now very clear. The State’s enemies are those who talk about issues which the government in power wishes to overlook. We have to unite and refuse to be scared. Saibaba through his writings and poetry from within the prison is converting “darr into samajh”.

(The Hindu)