GN Saibaba obituary: Voice that never stopped defending Dalit-Adivasi rights

With the death of Prof. Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba on Saturday (October 12), a vibrant chapter of resistance against the violence against Adivasis in the central Indian mineral-rich forests came to an end.

The 57-year-old former professor, despite his 90 per cent disability and wheelchair-bound life, never hesitated to defend in public the rights of the Dalits and Adivasis till his arrest on May 9, 2014.

Never gave up fight

Back in the 2000s, he used to wait patiently at New Delhi’s VP House for the arrival of reporters for his press conference. He would never get disappointed with thin attendance of the media and the least priority the national media accorded to his statements.

But the Home Ministry of the then Congress-led UPA government in 2013 found a steely determination in this wheelchair-bound man from Andhra Pradesh.

Opposition to mining

As the deputy secretary of the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), he used to travel a lot and talk regularly about the violence unleashed in central India to crush the opposition to the mining activities of corporate companies that threatened the existence of Adivasis.

At that time, Prof. Saibaba was teaching English literature at Ram Lal Anand College of Delhi University. In fact, it was during the UPA government that an all-out offensive by paramilitary forces was initiated to crush the Maoist rebels in Central India — first in the form of Salwa Judum, a militia raised with tribal youths to counter Maoist insurgency, and second, in the form of Operation Green Hunt. Both created unprecedented tension in the region.

Also read: Ex-DU professor G N Saibaba, acquitted after 10 years in jail, dies in Hyderabad

Champion of Adivasi rights

The elimination of individuals had begun in 2010 when Cherukuri Rajkumar, popularly known as Azad, was killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh. He was allegedly killed to stall the attempts to bring Maoists to the negotiating table by interlocutors such as Swami Aginvesh. Azad was actively coordinating with the government and Maoists. P Chidambaram was the Union home minister.

Later, what irked the UPA and the new NDA governments was the “audacity” of the physically challenged Saibaba to question the deployment of security forces against the movements of Adivasis and Dalits across the nation from the heart of the national capital.

Harassment and jail

The harassment began in September 2013 itself. The Delhi Police conducted many searches and interrogations, culminating in plainclothes policemen from Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli knocking at his door on May 9, 2014. They whisked him away to Maharashtra.

Saibaba was charged under several sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), including Sec 13 (unlawful activities), Sec 18 (conspiracy), Sec 20 (member of a terrorist gang or organization), Sec 38 (association with a terrorist organization) and Sec 39 (supporting a terrorist organization). He was sentenced to life along with a few friends.

Also read: Tireless advocate of oppressed: TN CM hails ex-DU professor Saibaba

Life and health ruined

Finally, all these charges were proven baseless. And, after 10 years of harrowing jail life, the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on March 5, 2024, found nothing worthy of a conviction, or even of a trial.

His legal battle to get bail and proper medical care was legendary. Professor Madabhushi Sridhar commented that the case would go down in the legal history as the most contested one by the State, which fielded some of the best pleaders in the country.

Recently, after his release from jail, talking to the media in Hyderabad, Saibaba said his social life and family life, as well as his health, were ruined by the very “rigorous jail term and brutal authorities” in the jail.

Torment ends in death

Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted, “Saibaba’s death was also partly a result of the UAPA that allows cops to keep you in prison for lengthy periods without any evidence.”

CPI National Council Member Dr K Narayana boycotted the Alay-Balya social gathering, organized by Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, in Hyderabad on Sunday. “I, know, you are a gentleman, but ultimately you represent the same government that was responsible for Saibaba’s death,” Narayana said in a letter to Dattatreya.

Also read: Ex-DU professor Saibaba's wife: Ten years of our lives wasted

Family and childhood

Saibaba hailed from a poor agrarian family in a village called Jallipalli in the verdant Konaseema in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. His sister Bhavani was killed in an encounter in Kanagal village in Nalgonda district in 2000.

In childhood, a muscular disorder affected his whole body, confining him to a wheelchair. After earning his degree from a college in Bhimavaram, he joined Hyderabad Central University to pursue MA in English in1989 when the pro-Mandal Commission agitation was rocking the campus.

He met his would-be wife Vasantha Kumari during his college days, when he used to coach students in his village. Saibaba’s daughter Manjeera is a student of Delhi University.

Final act of selflessness

He played an active role in the movement as a member of the Progressive Students’ Organization (PSO) even though he belonged to the Kapu upper caste. This movement brought him close to Naxal politics. His friends told The Federal that he joined Revolutionary Writers Association before moving to Delhi to take up a lectureship at Delhi University.

In Delhi, he was actively involved in the activities of the All India People’s Resistance forum (AIPRF) and the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF). He started mobilizing journalists, youths, and intellectuals against the repression in the tribal belt of central India.

Saibaba’s last rites will be performed for Monday (October 14). His body will be taken in a procession from the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) to his residence in Moulali and onwards to Gandhi Hospital. Following his wish, the body will be donated to the hospital.