‘Whither Human Rights in India’ is a comprehensive exploration of how the devastation of human rights over the parts decade symbolise a crucial departure or rupture, manifesting a new fascist paradigm
‘Whither Human Rights in India,’ edited by Anand Teltumbde, is a critical and outstanding collection of essays navigating India’s human rights landscape, exploring diverse arenas Ike majoritarianism, state violence, systemic inequality (Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims), judicial issues, hate speech, and threats to vulnerable groups.
Resurrecting the outlook of Father Stan Swamy and Prof. G. N. Saibaba, Whither Human Rights in India is both a chronicle of resistance and a call to reshape the future of democracy and human dignity. Read more
▪ Whither Human Rights in India
Critical Essays on Democracy, State Power, Civil Liberties & the Lived Realities of Dalits, Adivasis, Minorities & More
Whither Human Rights in India, edited by Anand Teltumbde, one of India’s prominent human rights activists, is a searing and indispensable anthology that brings together some of the most important thinkers, activists and human rights defenders of our time. The essays trace the historical and ideological roots of India’s human rights discourse—from colonial legacies and constitutional guarantees to the challenges posed by majoritarian politics, state violence and systemic inequality.
PUDR / by People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)
PUDR condemns the arrest of Kranthi Chaitanya, Vice-President of the Civil Liberties Committee (Andhra Pradesh unit), and fellow activist Mohan Krishna on 9 January 2026, and their subsequent remand to judicial custody on 10 January. The FIR, based on a complaint filed by the President of the Sanatana Dharma Protection Committee, a resident of Tirupati, accuses them of erecting “provocative banners.”
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The sections invoked in this case are non-bailable and carry a minimum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. The arrests, coupled with the FIR’s expansive use of criminal conspiracy provisions, signal yet another attack on activists and civil liberties organisations, many of which are already under sustained pressure following the Bhima Koregaon arrests. Read full statement
India’s civic space is still rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. The authorities persist in targeting activists, journalists, students and civil society through the misuse of draconian laws, arbitrary detention, censorship and the criminalisation of dissent. Over the past year, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), counterterrorism provisions and public order regulations have been consistently deployed to silence government critics, restrict civil society, and deter peaceful protests. Read more
Scholar Anand Teltumbde examines a country driven to a dead end, where the opposition is silent and citizens have been terrorised into normalcy
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In an interview with Lounge, he discusses the writing of his prison memoir, why class trumps caste within the confines of prison, and the pitfalls of a caste census. Read more
▪ The Feared – Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners Author: Neeta Kolhatkar Publishing Date: Dec 2024 Publisher: S&S India Pages: 272 Read more/order
▪ From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada Author: Sudha Bhardwaj Publishing Date: Oct 2023 Publisher: Juggernaut Pages: 216 Read more/order
▪ How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? Voices of Indian Political Prisoners Authors: Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia Publishing Date: Aug 2023 Publisher: Pluto Press Pages: 247 Read more / order
Members of Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry visit ‘Jaystambh’ with Elgaar Parishad activist
Members of Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry visit ‘Jaystambh’ with Elgaar Parishad activist
10/01/2026
The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde
Activist Potdar is among the organisers of the Elgaar Parishad—a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of battle of Koregaon Bhima.
Members of the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry, along with activist Harshali Potdar and lawyers representing different parties, visited the ‘Jaystambh’ at Perne village in Pune district on Friday. Read more
If Sharad Pawar wrote any letter seeking SIT probe into Koregaon Bhima riot, it must be with CMO: Uddhav
09/01/2026
Times of India /by Vishwas Kothari
Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray filed an affidavit with the Koregaon Bhima inquiry commission in Pune stating that NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s letter, if any, written to him in his capacity as the CM in Jan 2020, and demanding an SIT probe into the Jan 1, 2018, riot at Koregaon Bhima, has to be with the CMO now. Read more
CMO should have Sharad Pawar’s letter blaming Fadnavis govt for Koregaon Bhima violence: Uddhav Thackeray
09/01/2026
The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde
Ambedkar’s lawyer Kiran Kadam said he would be soon filing a fresh application requesting the commission to issue a notice to the CMO for producing the said letter.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray submitted an affidavit before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry through his lawyer Asim Sarode on Thursday, in connection with an application filed by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar. Read more
Bhima Koregaon violence probe: Sharad Pawar’s letters should be with CMO, Uddhav Thackeray tells inquiry panel
08/01/2026
Midday / by mid-day online correspondent
The commission had issued a notice to Thackeray in October 2025, asking him to produce documents and letters allegedly submitted by Sharad Pawar during Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure as Maharashtra Chief Minister
Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray has informed the inquiry commission probing the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence that certain letters written by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar should still be available with the current Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), reported the PTI. Read more
Shadows of Judicial Indiscipline: On the Supreme Court’s bail denial to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam
07/01/2026
The Leaflet / by Indira Jaising
In both the Bhima Koregaon and Delhi riots cases, a wrongful invoking of UAPA and obdurate refusal to follow precedent on delay in trial, raise legitimate questions on the independence of the judiciary.
At the heart of the controversy relating to the denial of bail to Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid is a simple question: what is the crime that they have committed? What if they have committed no crime at all under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967? Would bail still have been denied to them? Read more
From Protest to Persecution: The Supreme Court’s defining Moment in Delhi Riot Case
07/01/2026
PUDR / by PUDR
On 5 January 2026, the Supreme Court delivered its first substantive order in the so-called ‘Delhi riots conspiracy case’ of FIR 59/2020 under UAPA, to grant bail to five (Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa ur Rehman, Meeran Haider, Md Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad) and reject the bail of two (Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam).
… the Supreme Court walks back on its own precedent in Vernon Gonsalves, which held that in determining the existence of a prima facie case to deny bail under UAPA, courts are empowered to look into the probative value or patent inadmissibility of prosecutorial materials. In the order of 5 January 2026, the Supreme Court states: “the inquiry is one of statutory plausibility, not evidentiary sufficiency”. Read full statement
When a Government Targets Its Citizens
07/01/2026
Countercurrents.org / by Hiren Gohain
Does anyone remember the Bhima Koregaon incident now? Certain well-known people active and well-regarded for their work in academic areas as well as in social action to bring justice to victims of state repression and social discrimination as well as human rights violations,had been detained following midnight arrests on hair-raising charges of conspiring to assassinate the Prime Minister and destroy the state. It had shaken the fragile world of the media, though not the workaday world. Read more
Justice Delayed, Selectively Denied
05/01/2026
Youth Ki Awaaz / by Geetika Kaur
The denial of bail to Umar Khalid this week is not an isolated legal decision. It sits within a larger and deeply disturbing pattern in India’s criminal justice system, one where activists, students, lawyers, and environmentalists languish in jail for years without conviction, while those convicted of rape, murder, or mass violence repeatedly find the doors of prison opening for them.
… Stan Swamy died in custody after repeated denial of bail despite his age and illness. Sudha Bharadwaj spent years in jail before being granted bail, not because she was acquitted, but because prolonged incarceration without trial became legally indefensible. Gautam Navlakha remained under incarceration and house arrest for years on allegations that rested largely on contested digital evidence. Read more
The spectacle of justice in the Delhi riots case is cover for polarisation and violence
06/01/2026
Scroll.in / by Akash Bhattacharya
In the six years since, a series of incidents in the national capital have intensified this schism while Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam remain incarcerated.
The capital of India, Delhi is no stranger to political violence. But the Delhi riots of 2020 set a new benchmark. The violence not only ended lives and livelihoods, it also transformed the city’s social and political landscape for the worse. Read more
Bhima Koregaon 2018. Graphic by Arun Ferreira & Vernon Gonsalves
In Photos: Lakhs Gather at ‘Jaystambh’ to Mark the Anniversary of Battle of Bhima Koregaon
02/01/2026
The Wire / by Atul Howale
On January 1, 2018, violence had broken out on the same anniversary, at Bhima Koregaon. Several writers, academics, lawyers and other intellectuals were arrested in connection with the case.
On Thursday, January 1, 2026, lakhs of followers gathered around the ‘Jaystambh’ in Pune, Maharashtra, to mark the 208th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. Every year, it is customary for Ambedkarite followers from Maharashtra and across different parts of the country to visit the site. Read more
Bhima Koregaon, Dalit Assertion, and the Politics of Public Memory
02/01/2026
The Mooknayak / by Dr. Vikrant Kishore
Bhima Koregaon is not about settling the past. It is about insisting on a present in which Dalit dignity, memory, and presence are taken seriously.
Bhima Koregaon occupies a distinctive place in contemporary Dalit public life, not because it offers a settled historical consensus, but because it allows Dalits to gather, remember, and assert themselves in public without mediation. Each year on 1 January, large numbers of Dalits travel to the village near Pune to commemorate the 1818 battle and to mark what has come to be known as Shaurya Diwas. For many observers, the scale and persistence of this gathering remain puzzling. Read more
Why 1818 Bhima Koregaon battle marks a flashpoint in 2026 Maharashtra civic polls
01/01/2026
The Indian Express / by Zeeshan Shaikh
Some parties are keen to be seen at this January 1 anniversary event during the election season, viewing it as a symbol of Dalit pride, constitutional values and social justice, while some others would stay away from it
As political parties in Maharashtra intensify their campaigns for the January 15 municipal corporation elections, a major public event is set to take place at Bhima Koregaon, a small village near Pune, on Thursday, which would be one of the state’s largest and most politically sensitive gatherings.
Every year on January 1, lakhs of Dalits assemble at Bhima Koregaon to mark the anniversary of the 1818 battle that they regard as a historic assertion against caste oppression. Read more
Lakhs Gather At Jaystambh To Commemorate Battle Of Bhima Koregaon
01/01/2026
Free Press Journal / by FPJ Web Deshk
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar and many other leaders paid tributes at the Jaystambh
As in previous years, lakhs of people gathered at the Jaystambh in Perne village at Bhima Koregaon in Pune district on Thursday to pay tribute on the 208th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon. Read more
How Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s 1927 Bhima Koregaon Visit Turned New Year’s Day into Shaurya Diwas for the Bahujan
31/12/2025
The Mooknayak / by Geeta Sunil Pillai
What was once a marginal British commemoration morphed into an annual Dalit-Bahujan ritual. Followers began gathering at the Vijay Stambh every January 1, honoring the fallen with floral tributes, “Jai Bhim” chants, and recitations of the Constitution’s Preamble.
As the clock strikes midnight tonight, millions across India will usher in 2026 not just with fireworks and celebrations, but with a profound act of remembrance and resistance. For the Bahujan community, encompassing Dalits, Adivasis, and other marginalized groups, January 1 is no ordinary New Year’s Day. It is Shaurya Diwas, or Valour Day, commemorating the 1818 Battle of Bhima Koregaon and the transformative legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Read more
Ambedkar, among others, at the Vijay Stambhain Bhima Koregaon, January 1, 1927. Pic credits: Wikipedia
Hany Babu entered Navi Mumbai’s Taloja prison in July 2020. Anand Teltumbde followed the same year. Babu spent five years inside before being released on bail; Teltumbde was released on bail; Teltumbde was released in 2022 after spending about two-and-a-half years in prison. Neither has faced trial.
According to the India Justice Report 2025, undertrials now account for around 75% of India’s prison population. Read more
Beating Brahminism The Way 500 Soldiers of Bhima Koregaon Did
29/12/2025
Velivada / by Velivada
For most of the world, January 1 represents the start of a new calendar year. But for the Dalit-Bahujan community in India, January 1 is Shaurya Din (Day of Valour). It marks the anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon (1818), where 500 soldiers of the Mahar community, fighting under the British East India Company, delivered a crushing blow to the 28,000-strong army of Peshwa Baji Rao II.
This was not merely a military skirmish between a colonial power and a local kingdom. It was a war of liberation – a historic reckoning where the oppressed took up arms against the very architects of their degradation. To understand the victory of the 500 is to understand the blueprint for beating Brahminism today. Read more
The Shaurya Saga: Pune Prepares for 20 Lakh Visitors at Bhima Koregaon!
28/12/2025
Pune Mirror / by Aashlesha Kakde
Pune is poised to experience an unprecedented influx of people this New Year’s Day. As the city readies itself for the 209th Bhima Koregaon Vijay Stambh Shaurya Day on January 1, 2026, the local administration is making every effort to ensure that the event at Perne village is truly remarkable.
With an astounding 20 lakh attendees anticipated to flock to the memorial, here’s your comprehensive guide to the happenings on the ground! Read more
Backlog of cases in country’s courts would take several hundred years to clear, experts say
The frustration and weariness crept into Sanjay Goel’s voice as he stared at the giant stack of handwritten court documents in front of him.
He was on one of his countless visits from Vancouver to Mumbai, India, to fight for justice in the brutal killing of his mother and was struggling to describe the excruciating delays in criminal court proceedings.
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Mumbai activist Sudhir Dhawale is familiar with the pain of waiting for a judgment.
He sat in jail for 6½ years, two of which were in solitary confinement, waiting for bail. Read more
