Tension prevailed at Telangana Martyrs’ Memorial Gun Park in front of the Assembly building here on Monday as the police did not allow the body of Delhi University professor and human rights activist G.N. Saibaba to be kept there.
Saibaba’s family members, civil rights activists and leaders of the Left parties wanted to keep the body of Saibab at the memorial for some time to enable people to pay their last respects.
Police officials told them that there was no permission for the same. When Saibaba’s friends requested that the ambulance carrying the mortal remains be allowed to be parked near the memorial for at least 15 minutes, the police refused the permission.
There was a heated argument between the activists and the police officers, leading to tension. The rights activists and civil society members expressed anguish over the denial of permission. They raised slogans of ‘Saibaba amar rahe’, ‘Lal salam’, and ‘Inquilab Zindabad’.
Later, Saibaba’s body was shifted to his residence in Moula Ali and kept there for people to pay their respects.
The former professor’s body will be handed over to Gandhi Medical College by the family members in the evening. The family has decided to donate the body to the medical college.
The 57-year-old died 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 (NIMS), where he was admitted 10 days ago due to ill health.
Saibaba, a former professor of English, 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 Gadchiroli Police in Maharashtra on allegations that they were members of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its frontal organisation Revolutionary Democratic Front.
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (CPI) National Council Secretary K. Narayana paid rich tributes to Saibaba. He said Saibaba had to spend 10 years in jail though he had not committed any crime. He said he would write a letter to the Supreme Court requesting it to declare who was the culprit.
Member of Legislative Council M. Kodandaram, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former minister T. Harish Rao and others paid tributes to Saibaba by laying wreaths.
Kodandaram blamed the Union government for Saibaba’s death. He alleged that the Centre was unjust in Saibaba’s case.
Harish Rao said Saibaba was a great man who strived to bring a change in society and fought for civil rights. He said it was unfortunate that Saibaba passed away only a few months after he was released from jail. Harish Rao lamented that false cases were booked against the person fighting for civil rights.