NEW DELHI: The wife along with members of the committee for defence and release of G N Saibaba, former Delhi University professor currently serving life imprisonment in Nagpur Central Jail for his alleged connections with Maoists, on Wednesday demanded his immediate release on a medical parole, citing his serious health conditions.
Saibaba, a wheelchair-bound, 90 per cent physically disabled scholar-activist, was sentenced to life for his alleged connections with Maoists in 2017 and has been in jail since. On February 13, he had tested positive for the Covid-19.
“If you were Babu Bajrangi, Pragya Thakur and Maya Kodnani, then all rules and human rights will be applied. You will be released and granted bail even on mild medical grounds. But my innocent husband, who is 90 per cent orthopedically challenged, wheelchair-bound and suffering from paralysis due to post-polio syndrome and developed cysts in the brain, is being punished in a cell without pròper care,” Vasantha, wife of Saibaba, said at a press conference.
“People like Saibaba, who is innocent, has fought for the rights of the most oppressed and marginalised sections of our society, are rotting in the egg cells of jail for years,” she added. “The last time I spoke to him, he had told me that his health condition was deteriorating rapidly. He had tested positive for Covid-19 and was assisted by another Covid patient.
As he is already 90 per cent physically disabled, the Coronavirus can pose severe health challenges to his heart,” she said, pleading with the authorities to release her husband at the earliest. Members of the committee — senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, CPI leader D Raja, social activist Arundhati Roy, DU teacher Nandita Narain, among others — also demanded immediate healthcare facilities for Saibaba.
“His immediate family should be allowed to access and provide assistance to him. He should be provided with healthy food. The jail authorities should be directed to provide his medical records to the family for better treatment at the earliest,” said Raja.