Delhi University’s Hindu College professor PK Vijayan has said that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) questioned him last Friday regarding his role in the Saibaba Defence Committee.
Prof Vijayan who teaches English in the institution said he is not at liberty to speak on what happened during the questioning, as he has been advised by his advocates not to do so but described the session ‘cordial’ and ‘civil’. “We (he and Prof. Rakesh Ranjan) were kept waiting for about 5-6 hours and questioned for the rest,” he said.
He said they were questioned about their role in the Committee for the Defence and Release of Dr. GN Saibaba and “things related to it” but did not elaborate further.
While Prof. Vijayan is a member of the committee, Prof Rakesh Ranjan is not. A committee member said though the latter was not a member on paper, he was involved.
On Aug 14, the two professors were in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) office in Delhi for around 10 hours between 10 AM to 8 PM. They had received a summons the previous day to be present the next morning at the agency’s office.
Prof. GN Saibaba, whose release the Committee is working for, is serving life term in the Nagpur central prison after a Gadchiroli sessions court in 2017 convicted him for Maoists links under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). He is 90 percent disabled and a vocal activist for the cause of Dalits and adivasis.
Prof. Saibaba’s brother G. Ramadevudu said the defence committee has held meetings in public and all the minutes of the meetings are recorded. “The committee has done nothing against the constitution or the law and have openly advocated for the release of Saibaba,” he said.
Speaking about the NIA’s questioning of Prof. Vijayan, he said that Vijayan is a purely academic person working in the sphere of human rights who the agency is trying to implicate and searching for ways to do so.
DU professor Hany Babu who was arrested by the central agency last month was also a member of the committee. The NIA had cited his involvement for the release of GN Saibaba while seeking his further custody before the court. Condemning his arrest then, the Committee’s chairperson had released a statement calling it “a continuation of the state’s efforts to intimidate and get rid of all dissenting voices, especially of those who are engaged in campaigns for social justice and equality”.
