‘We need to speak out against injustice…even if it is a risk’: Released after 10 years, ex-JNU student ponders his future

“What next?” That, former JNU student Hem Mishra says, is the “million dollar question” after his acquittal and release from jail more than 10 years after he was first arrested.

“I can’t get those 10 years back,” said Mishra, who was arrested in Maharashtra in 2013, for alleged Maoist links. He, along with Delhi University teacher G N Saibaba and four others were accused of having Naxal links and convicted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Along with Saibaba and three of the other four, Mishra was sentenced to life imprisonment.

On March 5, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court acquitted Mishra, Saibaba, and the others. On March 7, Mishra walked out of Kolhapur central prison and went home to Vaishali in Ghaziabad.

“I might disagree with the government on some things, that’s all. It is because of this difference that we were punished and forced to lose more than a decade behind bars. We need to speak out against injustices… otherwise, our rights will be taken away from us… Even if it is a risk, we need to speak out,” he said.

Out of jail, Mishra says he wants to continue studies. “But I will have to decide what to study,” said Mishra, 43, who had completed his third year of a Chinese language course at JNU when he was arrested at the age of 32. Before that, he had done a postgraduate diploma in mass communication from Uttarakhand.

His family is originally from Kunj Bargal village in Uttarakhand’s Almora.

“When I finished class 12, the movement for a separate Uttarakhand state was going on…(and) there were discussions about what sort of state was envisioned,” he said. Later, when he moved to JNU, he said he saw a “vibrant campus where people would react to Adivasi issues, Dalit issues, issues of social justice… There would be debates and discussions, and I would also participate,” he said.

In August 2013, he was headed to Bhamragarh in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli to meet doctor and social worker Prakash Amte when he was arrested. “He worked with Adivasi people on issues of health, and I wanted to meet him about that,” Mishra said.

After his arrest, Mishra said he wasn’t told anything for three days. “I was asked repeated questions on the Naxalite movement and protests in Delhi,” he said.

He was then sent to Nagpur jail. “Three months after I got to the jail, we protested, raising several demands… (then), 15-16 of us were put in an anda cell, where I spent a large part of two years. It’s one prisoner to a cell, and you can’t see others in the cells across from you or next to you. We would call it a jail inside jail,” he said.

He got bail in 2015, but was convicted in 2017, after which he returned to Nagpur jail. He was then moved to other prisons in Amravati and Nashik, before being taken to Kolhapur jail.

“Newspapers and books were my companions,” he said. “I ended up learning Marathi, and even helped other prisoners learn Marathi, Hindi and some English. Chinese seekhne aaya tha, Marathi seekh ke wapas aa gaya (I had come to Delhi to learn Chinese, now I’m back after learning Marathi).”

Hem is the youngest child of retired school teacher K D Mishra and Madhavi Devi, and has three elder siblings.

Madhavi (70) said her son’s ordeal took a toll on the family. “Our lives were ruined. We went through this for 10-11 years, crying and hassled…”

She said he wasn’t arrested for doing anything wrong. “Gareebon ke liye kabhi dafli bajata tha, kabhi gaana gaata tha (All he did was raise issues of the poor with drums and song).”

For the latest news from across India, Political updates, Explainers, Sports News, Opinion, Entertainment Updates and more Top News, visit Indian Express. Subscribe to our award-winning Newsletter Download our App here Android & iOS