HRF Condoles Death Of Civil Rights Activist Seshaiah

The Human Rights Forum (HRF) condoles the passing away of civil rights activist and convener of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Coordination Committee of the Civil Liberties Committee (CLC) Prof S Seshaiah on the night of October 10. Seshaiah was afflicted with COVID 19 recently and after initial treatment at Anantapur, where he resided, he was rushed to Hyderabad last week but succumbed at about 8.30 pm on Saturday.

For over 4 decades, Seshaiah was actively involved in progressive politics – as a left social activist and then in the arena of civil liberties as functionary of the AP Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), which renamed itself post-bifurcation of AP as Civil Liberties Committee. He taught Law for many decades at the Sri Krishnadevaraya University in Anantapur. Seshaiah took on responsibilities as State general secretary of the APCLC in 1998 during very turbulent times. Leading activists of the APCLC T Purushottam and Azam Ali were targeted and killed by members of counter-insurgent criminal gangs going by names like Green Tigers on 23 November, 2000 and 18 February, 2001 in Hyderabad and Nalgonda respectively. Both were brutal daylight murders carried out in full public view.

Seshaiah was also subjected to intimidation that included an attack on his house and the burning of his car on the night of November 11, 2005 by unknown persons calling themselves members of Rayalseema Tigers. There is very little doubt that all these criminal outfits were aided, abetted and encouraged by the State.

A man of soft and quiet disposition, Seshaiah is known personally to many of us in the HRF. We convey our condolences to his family.

11.10.2020
Visakhapatnam