Austria: Prof. Saibaba was murdered by the Indian State!
We hereby publish an unofficial translation of a statement by Rote Fahne and ADRV:
Prof. Saibaba was murdered by the Indian state!
Joint statement by the editorial staff of Rote Fahne, Austria, and Action for Democratic Rights of the People (ADRV).
“This state believes that a person who has the courage to approach reality, to see it and to describe it, is a threat.” (GN Saibaba)
“Undoubtedly, he was one of the boldest voices, sharpest intellectuals and bravest fighters against tyranny… Saibaba is an expression of how those who represent or manifest the aspirations of the wretched of the earth are criminalized and subjected to brutal terror. Saibaba may have died physically, but his soul still lives in the oppressed masses of India, whether in the forests, plains or cities…
…behind bars, Saibaba fought with the relentless spirit of an iron man and revived the resilience and courage of history’s bravest revolutionaries.” (Harsh Takor, writer)
We are deeply shocked to hear the news that Prof. GN Saibaba, a prominent anti-imperialist, revolutionary and tireless fighter for the democratic rights of the people, especially the masses of India, has been assassinated. But Prof. Saibaba’s work has not died, could not be assassinated, but is alive and well in the struggles of the working class and masses all over the world.
GN Saibaba, professor of English literature, lived to the age of only 57. Since childhood he was tied to a wheelchair due to a serious illness and was 90% paralyzed. This did not prevent him from merging his life deeply with the interests of his people, for whose revolutionary aspirations and democratic rights he fought tirelessly. He became the most prominent voice of the struggle against the oppression of India by imperialism and his face also became the face of, for example, the struggle against the crimes of international mining and seed companies in India, the struggle for the rights of the indigenous people and the numerous political prisoners, the struggle to defend the Indian revolution and thus also the Communist Party of India (Maoist). GN Saibaba always understood the struggle in India as part of an international revolutionary development. He appeared in many countries around the world, reported on the situation in India, exchanged views with other anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces and always worked to create the broadest possible unity in this struggle, always uniting all those against imperialism and exploitation who could be united on certain issues. He never betrayed his principles, never became an opportunist in the struggle for unity against imperialism. This is also evidenced by his numerous statements and writings (for example against Hindu fascist terror, economic criticisms of imperialism, or defenses of the national independence struggles of the peoples), in which it became clear that Comrade GN Saibaba was also a well-versed theoretician of international anti-imperialism. His speeches and his behavior were also so energetic and clear, so convincing, that he quickly found political friends and comrades all over the world, and he became an important inspiration and great role model for many activists on every continent of the world.
His relentless struggle was a burning thorn in the side of India’s old rulers and their foreign imperialist masters. Their repression was repeatedly directed against GN Saibaba, and he was often arrested and imprisoned. In September 2013, the police raided his house, destroyed the furniture and took him, who was 90% paralyzed, away on the flimsy charge of having committed a robbery. In 2014, police officers pushed him out of his wheelchair and abducted him. He spent a total of more than ten years in prison. For GN Saibaba, the political struggle did not stop at the prison walls; on the contrary, despite the most difficult conditions, he organized and worked there, too, developing resistance against the old conditions with all his strength. During his imprisonment in a prison built for 1,500 prisoners, but in which more than 3,000 were locked up, his health deteriorated dramatically. Nevertheless, he was denied necessary medical care. When his doctors protested against these conditions, they too were imprisoned by the Indian state and accused of being “sympathizers of Maoism.”
In March 2024, GN Saibaba was released; a court surprisingly acquitted him of all charges. The background to this decision was perfidious, because the rulers of India and with them the imperialists simply wanted to prevent a possible death of Saibaba in prison from making him a martyr in the eyes of the masses. However, by the time of his release, his health was already so poor that death was foreseeable. This means that the old Indian state was killing comrade GN Saibaba slowly and in installments. And even if he died outside the prison walls, he died as a result of the prison conditions, as a result of the torture, as a result of the repression they directed against him – he was murdered!
GN Saibaba’s work lives on in the struggles and the people’s war in India, as in all the struggles and movements that are being waged every day around the world: in the struggle of the poor peasants of Latin America for land, in the struggle of the Palestinians against the Zionist terror regime, in the struggle of the working class against exploitation, in the struggle of the masses against imperialist wars… everywhere there is GN Saibaba, the former spokesperson of the Revolutionary Democratic Front of India. The imperialists and their servants committed the crime of physically assaulting GN Saibaba so that he died as a result. But they will never succeed in breaking his work and our memory of him. GN Saibaba’s life and his work will now serve as an even greater example for us, we will keep his memory alive and as we develop our work, our activities, his work will be a part of it.
Our deepest condolences go out to his wife, his daughter, all anti-imperialist, revolutionary and democratic forces in India and the Indian people.
– Editorial staff of the Rote Fahne
