As the extension of the Scholars At Risk Network, we stand in solidarity with the call for the immediate and unconditional release of Gokarakonda Naga Saibaba and all other defenders imprisoned for criticizing state violence against religious and marginalized communities. 

In pursuit of the protection of academic freedom, we stand in solidarity with and for the protection of human rights defenders and activists who continue to be detained arbitrarily for the sole purpose of exercising their right to freedom of expression and standing up for the marginalized in India. 

Petition description 

On the afternoon of 9th May 2014, a posse of policemen stopped a car in Delhi and pulled out a wheelchair-bound man on his way home from work. He was then flown to Nagpur, where he was arrested under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act), the draconian anti-terror law. His wheelchair was damaged as he was hauled up and thrown into the police vehicle and the nerves of his left hand were injured, an infection that later spread and rendered both his hands virtually useless. 

This man was G.N. Saibaba, a professor of English at Delhi University, scholar, writer, and human rights activist. In the eyes of the Indian government, he was a dangerous threat to the State, accused of 'waging war against the nation'. In March 2017, the Gadchiroli Sessions Court sentenced him to life imprisonment for alleged links with a banned organization, CPI-Maoist. 

What would cause government agencies to take such an action against a man paralyzed by polio from the age of five, suffering from 90 percent disability as well as a cardiac condition and chronic and severe spinal pain? Saibaba has denied the government’s charge and in the absence of evidence against his charge, the Bombay High Court acquitted Professor Saibaba with the release order. 

Saibaba’s plea for house arrest on medical grounds was also denied. A 90% physically disabled man who uses a wheelchair, Saibaba has been infected twice with COVID-19, once with swine flu, and diagnosed with severe ailments in his eight years of incarceration in Nagpur central jail.

Even as human rights organizations across the globe demand an end to his detention, Saibaba's health is quickly deteriorating which endangers his life. 

Call of action:

• Immediate release of Saibaba!
• Humane conditions of imprisonment with adequate medical facilities immediately
• Prioritize the legal proceedings of the case
• Review Saibaba’s case by the Chief Justice and reconsider the decision to suspend the Bombay High Court’s release order

Add your voice to the fight against the freedom of expression and academic freedom as a universal right and essential to quality education, teaching and research.

Join the call to protect academic freedom!