RSF Demands the Immediate Release of Students who Honored Professor G.N. Saibaba in India
We hereby share a statement published by the Revolutionary Students’ Front (RSF) on the detention of several students who were detained due to their homage to Professor G.N. Saibaba.
Last Sunday, October 12, was the martyrdom anniversary of Professor G.N. Saibaba. On this occasion, students at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai organised a memorial program in his memory. As Sunday is a holiday, the campus officially remained closed. However, the next day, on Monday, the fascist Mumbai Police registered an FIR against the students under the charges of not having obtained pre-permission for the event, and went on to make arbitrary arrests of ten students. Upon hearing about the event, the TISS administration, rather than supporting the students, served show-cause notices to them.
On October 12, 2024, Professor Saibaba died – a death nothing short of a state-sponsored murder. For over a decade, he had been in jail on trumped-up charges of having “links with Maoists,” simply for speaking out against the anti-people and fascist policies of the Indian state. It has to be mentioned that he was 90 percent physically disabled and paralysed, but his multiple bail applications on medical grounds were turned down. At last, in March 2024, the Bombay High Court acquitted him of all the charges. The state, by keeping him unjustly behind bars on false cases, drove him to his death. And today, the state protests even against a memorial in his name.
Furthermore, Maharashtra’s RSS-backed Fadnavish government has been cutting the budget for education every year consistently. TISS has also experienced heavy cuts in funding from the government. However, whenever there have been student movements or voices of protest, the administration at TISS has been intensely hostile towards them. In 2024, a Dalit student pursuing a PhD was expelled as she was politically active. In the same year, it prohibited the Progressive Students’ Forum (PSF), a left-progressive student group, from functioning for being opposed to its authoritarian policies. Dissolution of the students’ union, arbitrary fee increases, and harassment of protesting teachers – TISS authorities have consistently adopted anti-student and repressive measures.
We, the Revolutionary Students’ Front, call for the immediate and unconditional release of TISS students arrested. All FIRs against them should be withdrawn. The Mumbai Police should apologise for this fascist and undemocratic act. The TISS administration should withdraw the show-cause notices given to the students. We appeal to the leftist and progressive forces from all over the country to rise in a democratic movement against this fascist attack on students in Mumbai.
