'They Don’t Know How to Kill Me'

Harsh Thakor

I still stubbornly refuse to die 
The sad thing is that
They don’t know how to kill me 
Because I love so much 
The sound of growing grass.
—G N Saibaba

Professor G N Saibaba is no more. It is a mortal loss to the Indian democratic movement.

Unquestionably he was one of the boldest voices, sharpest intellectuals and most courageous crusaders against the tyranny of proto-fascism of which he himself was a victim. Saibaba is manifestation of how those who represent or manifest the aspirations of the wretched of the earth are criminalised and subjected to brutal terror. Saibaba may have physically perished but his soul still lives in the oppressed masses of India, whether in the forests, plain areas or cities.

His very presence and guidance inspired oppressed sections of all categories to overcome clutches of adversity. Ironical, that Inspite of facing the adversity of polio and functioning within formally legal backgrounds, his exposing the oppressive social order at the very root, sent more shivers down the spine or was a greater thorn in the flesh to the ruling classes, than the armed squads of the Maoists.

Indirectly, he was killed within the prison bars itself, by the inhuman treatment he received at the hand of jail authorities, violating all norms of human rights.

The 57-year-old succumbed following post-operative complications after undergoing surgery for gallbladder stones. The wheelchair-bound Saibaba had been undergoing treatment at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad, 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 at 8:30 pm.

Saibaba was acquitted by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on March 5, nearly 10 years after he was first arrested in an alleged Maoist link case. He was arrested along with some others on May 9, 2014, by GadchiroliPolice in Maharashtra on allegations that they were members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its frontal organisation Revolutionary Democratic Front.

The death of former Delhi University professor G N Saibaba was to a considerable extent a result of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which allowed chargesto be confined in prison for lengthy periods.

In his political career Sai waged battles in diverse spheres, be it amongst the tribals, peasantry, students, Muslim minorities, Dalits, Kashmiri people etc. No voice in this country as boldly spoke out against the tyranny of Operation Greenhunt, where he linked the menace of globalisation with displacement and resistance of Maoist forces. Sai was also one of the most relentless fighters for the self determination of the Kashmiri people and for opposing capital punishment to Afzal Guru. He played a groundbreaking and pivotal role in defending all the mass movements against tribal displacement, be it in Orissa, Chattisgarh, or Jharkhand. Sai also played an instrumental role in shaping the resistance for civil liberties, most intensively combating the black laws. With relentless spirit, he stood by all the struggles waged by students from privatisation, fee hikes to freedom on the campuses. Saibaba was one of the strong advocates of caste annihilation, banging every nail in the wall to extricate dogmatism or mechanical approach towards caste question and integrating caste aspect with class struggle. Painstakingly, he dipped ink in analysing caste oppression.

Saibaba was one of the finest and most penetrative Marxist or Maoist scholars of India.

Even if he denied personal affiliation Saibaba was one of the most fervent admirers of the CPI (Maoist), and most logically, defended its formation in 2004 as a landmark in the history of liberation.In interviews he most lucidly and logically, with intensive depth, summed up the genesis of the Maoist movement from the days of Naxalbari, and how areas of resistance struggle or guerrilla zones sprouted and how people’s power was established in JanatanaSarkars.

Saibaba in talks and writings most acutely analysed why India was semi-feudal and why important aspects of Chinese path were still important for the Indian revolution. In a non-mechanical manner he gave Maoism a cutting edge.

He maintained fascism in India would take a different form from the classical forms, earlier in Italy and Germany, backing the thesis of Zhou en Lai in 1943.

As the editor of ‘People’s Resistance’ from 1996-2003, Saibaba with utmost consistency and resilience defended revolutionary resistance struggles encompassing India., amongst peasantry and the nationality struggles of the people of Kashmir.

Saibaba intensively worked on integration aspect of caste oppression with class struggle and gave due respect to writings of AnandTeltumbde on BR Ambedkar, challenging mechanical approach to Marxism and caste.

In months confined behind prison bars Saibaba battled with the relentless spirit of an iron man, resurrecting the resilience and courage of the bravest revolutionaries in history. His jail poems and writings manifested the spiritual and creative dimension of a revolutionary prisoner. In spite of being subjected to the most merciless repression under degrading conditions, his spirit was never quelled and he never yielded or bowed down to the authorities. His writings reveal the inner transformation which he underwent in jail, like a new man being born.

[Harsh Thakor is freelance journalist. Met Professor Saibaba numerous times in Delhi from 2012-2015.]

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Frontier
Vol 57, No. 20, Nov 10 - 16, 2024