The Wire / By Rohit Kumar

Intellectuals are imperative to a democracy and are connected closely with our right to think freely – which is why they figure high on an authoritarian regime’s list of targets.
The Assamese Sahitya Akademi awardee, Hiren Gohain has been charged with sedition, and Dalit scholar Anil Teltumbde is facing a prison sentence on charges of being part of an ‘urban Maoist’ plot to incite violence at Bhima Koregaon. Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves – some of the most respected voices in the field of tribal rights activism – were arrested last year on similar charges.
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