A message of grief for Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, 57, who passed away last week because of post-operative complications at a Hyderabad hospital, from an unlikely place, appeared on Friday.
It came from Dr Philipp Ackermann, Germany’s ambassador to India. Ackermann’s message was put out on X (formerly Twitter) by lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan, among others.
Ackermann, who tied 'nimbu-mirchi' to his car and smashed a coconut before switching to an electric vehicle a few days ago and had the grace to admit, " an entire German mishap and has nothing to do with Indian protocol” when there was a protocol-related controversy last year during a German minister’s visit, had this to say to GN Saibaba’a daughter, Manjira:
“I met you and your father last April jointly with my French colleague. Even though our meeting was brief, it left me with a deep impression: Your father’s story, his long imprisonment and his unwavering commitment to civic rights in India commanded a tremendous amount of respect from me.”
Professor Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba, a polio survivor who taught English at Delhi’s Ram Lal Anand College, was imprisoned for about 10 years at Nagpur correctional home under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), often dubbed by rights activists as a draconian law.
The Mumbai police had arrested him in May, 2014. The cops alleged they recovered evidence from his home linking him to the Communist Party of India (Maoist). The CPI Maoist has been banned under the UAPA since 2009.
The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court acquitted Saibaba in March this year. In a 293-page verdict, the court said the prosecution had failed to establish the grounds on which Saibaba was arrested in the case, including the allegedly incriminating material found at his New Delhi residence.
“The inhuman treatment meted out to me during the imprisonment, which amounted to torture, put my life at risk,” Saibaba had said in an interview to Frontline magazine after his release. “I was denied medical care on several occasions. It has left me a physical wreck. Today, I am alive before you but my organs are failing me.”
Ackerman’s message stands out in stark contrast to topline Indian politicians who have shied away from talking about Saibaba’s death. The few rare messages condoling his death have come from the likes of Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin.
The Kerala unit of the Congress had posted a message on X, drawing parallels with Ram Rahim: “In this country a godman convicted for murder and rape, gets parole every other month and innocent citizens are put in jail and denied fundamental rights. Be it Fr. Stan Swamy who simply asked for a straw, or be it Saibaba our state, is there to crush the rights of the innocent people and let criminals and murderers walk away by writing an essay.”
Among those who alleged that the “system” had killed Saibaba was Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram, whose father, P. Chidambaram as Union home minister, gave the UAPA law more teeth.
