ABVP hails life imprisonment verdict for G.N. Saibaba

RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Tuesday welcomed the life-imprisonment sentence awarded to DU professor G.N. Saibaba, saying the latter played a big role in spreading Maoism in urban areas.

"Saibaba was instrumental in spreading the ideology of Mao in urban areas. It has been proven by the court that he was in touch with the Maoists hiding in jungles and used to work for them from the city. He worked as a mediator for them on a national and international level both," ABVP said in a statement.

It alleged that Saibaba spread the ideology and aided recruitment of Maoists in many universities of the country, including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Delhi University (DU). His state of disability also worked in his favour to garner sympathy, it said.

"People who raised anti-national slogans in Ramjas College were the gang members of the very Saibaba. Even after his arrest many left-groups campaigned for his release, student associations like AISA, SFI, and DSU are these groups," the right-wing student party said.

It also mentioned that one of the convicts along with Saibaba, Hem Mishra, was a JNU student and a member of Democratic Students Union (DSU).

A Sessions Court in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra awarded life-imprisonment to the suspended Ram Lal Anand College, DU, professor Saibaba for having connections with banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its "front" Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF). He was convicted on Tuesday for, among other charges, hatching a "criminal conspiracy to wage war" against the nation.

Apart from him, a total of five other persons were convicted. Except one -- who got 10 years rigorous imprisonment -- everyone was given a life-sentence.

Saibaba was arrested in 2014 by Maharashtra Police and was later granted bail on health grounds.

--IANS

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