Jailed translator Satyam Verma reads, translates as Allahabad HC defers NSA bail plea
Five months after his arrest in connection with the Noida workers’ protest, Shakambhari says she last met her husband Satyam Verma, a 64-year-old freelance translator and former journalist, when he was taken into custody on April 17. He is lodged in Greater Noida district jail, booked in 11 cases and detained under the National Security Act (NSA).
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday deferred the hearing on Mr. Verma’s bail plea to September 23 after the State counsel sought time to file objections, citing parity with another NSA detainee, 25-year-old student Akriti Chaudhary. Earlier this month, the High Court had quashed Ms. Chaudhary’s detention over the same April agitation and criticised Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam, who had issued the detention order.
In her detention order invoking the NSA, Ms. Roopam stated that Mr. Verma had “engaged in criminal conspiracy to incite widespread violence and harm the state”. The order cited a police report accusing him of “indirectly instigating the workers... to commit violence” not only in Noida but “also in Nepal, leading to the ‘Gen Z’ revolution”. The report described him as an “ideological catalyst” and a Marxist who “inspires the new generation to join rebel organizations” and engages in “violent writing work hidden under a false cover”.
His wife, Shakambhari, told The Hindu that they had shared a close association for nearly four decades. During this period, he worked with reputed media organisations and later left his job to take up editing work. “I was with him when he was editing the [Rajkamal Prakashan’s] World Classics series. I was also with Satyam when he translated Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle into Hindi,” she said. “I could never have imagined that those in power could be afraid of people like Satyam.”
Speaking to The Hindu at the jail on a rainy afternoon, Mr. Verma said he had lost significant weight since his incarceration. He said initially he had difficulty in procuring medicines for ailments such as diabetes. “Things are better now. I am taking my medicines and keeping busy with reading and translation work. We also play volleyball sometimes with a ball made of discarded polythene. That’s just how we pass time here,” he said.
Mr. Verma was picked up from Janchetna bookstore in Lucknow on April 17, four days after the violence in Noida. “The police had been after us since he had put up a Facebook post in support of the workers’ movement,” said Katyayani Sinha, his colleague and relative. She added, “He was called to a police station on April 9 and forced to delete the post. On April 13, the police again came to the Janchetna office in Lucknow and, on the pretext of questioning, took me, Satyam and Sanjay, our colleague, to the Hasanganj police station and kept us there for the entire day.” Janchetna is a book distributor; Mr. Verma, a founding member, currently serves as its treasurer.
“On April 17, around 11.30 a.m., a large police contingent surrounded the office. They seized laptops, mobile phones, books and other items and took Satyam away. They also searched his home without a search warrant. They seized his personal belongings and took him to Noida without an arrest warrant,” said Ms. Sinha. His lawyers have disputed the legality of the arrest and alleged that due process had not been followed.
The NSA against him was invoked on May 12 while he was in jail. On May 26, he was produced before the NSA Advisory Board where the police submitted additional grounds for his arrest, which his counsel Manik Gupta claimed was done in contravention of the law. According to his counsel, Mr. Verma was unaware of the complete grounds of his arrest when he appeared before the board. The case will next be heard on September 23.
