Background – free them all

Placard draws police action at Goa protest / Mumbai Event Highlighting Constitutional Values

24/07/2026 Asha

‘Free Umar Khalid’ placard draws police action at Goa protest

26/07/2026

The Indian Express / by Pavneet Singh Chadha

Goa police detain man for carrying a placard that said ‘Free Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Bhima Koregaon 16’. Came after BJP Yuva Morcha workers staged a protest demanding his arrest
Goa Police Saturday evening detained a man for allegedly carrying a “Free Umar Khalid” placard at a gathering organised to express solidarity with the protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and to mark the resignation of former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
According to the police, the incident took place around 7 pm, when people gathered at the Azad Maidan in Panaji were raising slogans. Police said one of the protesters was carrying a placard that read, “Free Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Bhima Koregaon 16”.
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‘Refuse to Lift Your Lathis’: 1800 Citizens Write Open Letter to Security Forces At Jantar Mantar

25/07/2026

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

“Next time an order like this comes to you to savagely attack innocent peaceful protesters you must stop and think, and you must refuse to lift your lathi,” the letter read.
A group of concerned citizens, with over 1800 signatories, have written an open letter to the police and security forces deployed at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, following visuals of a violent crackdown on student protesters on July 20, 2026. Appealing directly to the personnel’s conscience, the letter asks them to resist orders to attack peaceful demonstrators. The letter has been circulated in 15 Indian languages, apart from English: Bengali, Garhwali, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Khasi, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Tamizh, Telugu and Urdu.
Read the full letter

“Hum Bharat Ke Log”: Tushar Gandhi Leads Mumbai Event Highlighting Constitutional Values & Democratic Rights

24/07/2026

Free Press Journal / by Poonam Apraj

Around 200 activists, students, writers and citizens gathered in Mumbai for ‘Hum Bharat Ke Log – Voice of Resistance’, a cultural programme highlighting constitutional values. Presided over by Tushar Gandhi, the event saw the launch of the ‘Lawyers of Students’ app for legal aid to protesting students. Speakers discussed democracy, justice, equality and peaceful civic participation.
… Those present included Dhananjay Shinde, Aamir Kazi, Guddi Tiwari, Sudhir Dhawale, Suvarna Salve, Subodh More, Tejas, Huma Namal, actor Sushant Singh, Akshay from Raigad and Advocate Todkar.
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CJP protest row: Mumbai Police book Shivaji Park organisers for unlawful assembly

20/07/2026

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The organisers of the Shivaji Park protest are facing an FIR for ‘unlawful assembly’ as the Mumbai Police said, no permission was granted to carry out the demonstration.
… Earlier, the Mumbai Police had registered two FIRs in connection with the protests that were carried out in south Mumbai on Saturday in support of Sonam Wangchuk.The first FIR was registered at the Marine Drive police station against the NCP (Sharad Pawar) faction party workers for protesting near Mantralaya, and the second against left party organisations for protesting near the Press Club. The seven people booked include Sudhir Dhawale, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case who received bail last year.
Read more

Also read:
▪ The exam crisis that became a battle for accountability (SabrangIndia / Jul 2026)
▪ CJP protest: From Shillong to Mumbai, solidarity demonstrations held across India (Scroll.in / Jul 2026)
▪ How Maharashtra’s folk traditions fuel Sudhir Dhawale’s tireless cultural resistance against caste (Scroll.in / Apr 2026)
▪ As Maharashtra Govt Brings Bill Against ‘Urban Naxalism’, Activists Fear Criminalisation of Dissent (The Wire / Jul 2025)
▪ How Kabir Kala Manch, the anti-caste cultural troupe, challenges the hierarchical social order (Scroll.in / Jul 2024)
▪ Kabir Kala Manch: A History of Revolutionary Singing and State Repression (ritimo / April 2022)
▪ Singing on the beats of resistance: Relaa collective and the cultural activists of Maharashtra (ritimo.org / Apr 2022)
▪ Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)

Exam anger becomes a political reckoning / Why Should Protesters Seek Police Permission?

19/07/2026 Asha

Mumbai. Pic credits: Sayyed Sameer Abedi / Mid-Day

CJP protests | Exam anger becomes a political reckoning

24/07/2026

Deccan Herald / by Bharat Bhushan

Pan-India protests against the events of July 20 have marked a significant shift in Indian politics, moribund for 12 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What began as a narrow protest about examination leaks has become a generational statement about the lack of institutional accountability.
… A movement of such diversity resists easy categorisation. This is making it harder for the government to neutralise it by its usual strategy of labelling its critics as anti-national. Whereas it attempted to brand earlier protest movements as political extremists such as Punjab farmers as ‘Khalistani’; anti-CAA protestors as representing sectarian ‘Muslim unrest’; linking civil rights’ activists in the Bhima-Koregaon case to ‘Naxalite extremists’, and the infamous attempt to label JNU students as being sympathetic to Kashmiri militants.
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Why Should Protesters Seek Police Permission?

22/07/2026

The Wire / by Anand Teltumbde

The police response to the students’ march in Delhi raises a disturbing question. Had the police begun to resemble street goons, or had street goons been absorbed into the policing of democratic dissent?
On July 20, the long-running protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar took a dramatic turn. For nearly three weeks, an uneasy calm had prevailed around the indefinite fast of Sonam Wangchuk and three students demanding accountability for repeated examination leaks and the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The original permission to assemble had long since expired, yet, curiously, the police allowed the protest to continue, perhaps calculating that it would eventually lose momentum.
Instead, the opposite happened.
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The exam crisis that became a battle for accountability

21/07/2026

Sabrang India / by Sabrang India

From student grievances to Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike, the movement questioned accountability, democracy and the limits of State intervention
On July 20, 2026, the streets around Delhi’s Jantar Mantar became the centre of a rapidly escalating confrontation between a student-led movement demanding accountability over alleged failures in the education system and a State determined to prevent the protest from moving towards Parliament.
… In Mumbai, the state’s restrictive approach to public assembly has turned the city into a theater of confrontation.
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CJP protest row: Mumbai Police book Shivaji Park organisers for unlawful assembly

20/07/2026

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Mumbai Police Register Three FIRs Over Uddhav Thackeray-Led Protest Backing Sonam Wangchuk

20/07/2026

Lokmat Times / by Lokmat Times Desk

Mumbai Police have registered three FIRs in connection with the protest led by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday in support of activist Sonam Wangchuk. According to the police, the first FIR concerns the alleged organisation of the protest without prior permission. The second relates to appeals made to the public to gather at the venue despite the lack of official approval. The third FIR was filed after students reportedly continued demonstrations at various locations in Dadar even after the main protest ended, causing major traffic congestion. Police said no arrests have been made in any of the three cases so far.
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Elgar Parishad accused booked for protesting in support of Sonam Wangchuk

19/07/2026

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

Azad Maidan police said the protestors were booked for unlawful assembly and allowed to leave after being served notices to present themselves if required
MUMBAI: Activist and writer Sudhir Dhawale and a few others were booked by the police for protesting outside Azad Maidan on Saturday, in connection with the alleged forcible removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar in Delhi. Dhawale is one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad case and was released on bail from the Taloja Central Jail in January 2025.
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CJP protest in Mumbai: How Azad Maidan became the city’s site of agitations, with restrictions

19/07/2026

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

Azad Maidan as a site of protest can be traced back to a 1997 court case. Since then, several rules have been laid down on the manner of protests allowed, including weekend restrictions, a ban on hunger strikes, and the slogans that can be raised.
Mumbai-based activists and citizens have been gathering at the Azad Maidan since last week in solidarity with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest being held at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, over the NEET-UG 2026 entrance examination paper leak.
On Saturday (July 18), the Mumbai Police filed two FIRs against some of the protestors, citing the Public Meetings, Agitations and Processions Rules, 2025, which prohibit protests at the maidan on weekends.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Who Answers to Us?: The Jantar Mantar Protests and India’s Missing Idea of Accountability (The Wire | by Anand Teltumbde | Jul 2026)
▪ The exam crisis that became a battle for accountability (SabrangIndia / Jul 2026)
▪ CJP protest: From Shillong to Mumbai, solidarity demonstrations held across India (Scroll.in / Jul 2026)
▪ How Maharashtra’s folk traditions fuel Sudhir Dhawale’s tireless cultural resistance against caste (Scroll.in / Apr 2026)
▪ Elgar Parishad case accused at event that attacked Maharashtra Public Security Bill, cops to seek bail review (TOI / May 2026)
▪ Sudhir Dhawale: “This is a bigger prison” (The Caravan | by Sudhir Dhawale | Apr 2025)
▪ Interview | Sudhir Dhawale’s Work Will Go on (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ Sudhir Dhawale interview: ‘The law remains blind to injustice even with the blindfold gone’ (Scroll.in / Feb 2025)

Disabled inmates must be allowed to self-identify: plea

02/07/2026 Asha

Credits: Drawing by Arun Ferreira / The Polis Project

The Hindu / by Krishnadas Rajagopal

The submissions recommend that prison records must identify every person with disability individually to make reasonable adjustments for them, while respecting their confidentiality.
A Kerala-based activist, whose petition highlighting the traumatic prison days of the late Professor G.N. Saibaba and Stan Swamy led the Supreme Court to form a high-powered committee to free Indian jails from the colonial yoke, suggested bringing in a mechanism to allow disabled prisoners/detainees to self-identify and declare their disabilities.
Read more

Also read/watch:
▪ Lives Lost: How Prolonged Incarceration Failed Pandu Narote, Kanchan Nanaware, Stan Swamy (Frontline / Jan 2026)
▪ Video | Sudhir Dhawale Spoke With Outlook About Mental Health Crisis in Indian Prisons (Outlook / Oct 2025)
▪ An Imprisoned Mind | Mental Health Challenges Among India’s Political Prisoners (Outlook / Sep 2025)
▪ I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
▪ BK-16 Prison Diaries: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality (The Polis Project | by Sagar Gorkhe | Feb 2025)
▪ Some personal reflections on prison medical care (The Leaflet | by Vernon Gonsalves | Apr 2024)
▪ ‘It Is Only by Chance That I Came Out of Prison Alive’: G.N. Saibaba (The Wire / March 2024)

The ‘Natural Death’ Problem in Indian Jails / Our Criminal Justice System Overlooks Victims of Police Torture

26/06/2026 Asha

The ‘Natural Death’ Problem in Indian Jails

26/06/2026

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

When prisoners die after allegedly being denied timely medical care, are those deaths truly natural? And is it fair that the very people who are accused of not providing timely medical care get to decide this?
… According to the latest NCRB data (for the year 2024), 1,960 persons died in Indian jails. Of these, 1,737 deaths were attributed to “natural causes”. When reading these figures, one must keep in mind cases like those of Basha and Khadar. Unless a judicial magistrate diligently inquires into their deaths, they too will be categorised as ‘natural deaths’ in upcoming NCRB reports.
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Our Criminal Justice System Overlooks Victims of Police Torture

26/06/2026

The Wire / by Edgar Kaiser and Grace Anu

The Global Torture Index 2025 classifies India as a country with “high risk” of torture and ill treatment, and the signed UN Convention Against Torture is yet to be ratified.

Today, June 26 is observed as International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

Particularly for human rights defenders, targeted reprisal killed the lives of Fr. Stan Swamy in Bhima Koregaon (BK-16), due to refusal of medical treatment, and Prof. Saibaba, a 90% disabled activist had to face the same fate as his health started deteriorating when he was confined to an ‘anda cell’. These figures are just the tip of the iceberg of a staggering number of survivors and victim families who are systemically denied medical, psychological and social assistance.
Read more

Also read:
▪ ‘No one dies in prison, They die on the way to hospital’ (Times of India / Jan 2026)
▪ Read India report: INDIA – COUNTRY FACTSHEET 2025 (World Organization Against Torture / Jun 2025)

▪ I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
▪ BK-16 Prison Diaries: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality (The Polis Project | by Sagar Gorkhe | Feb 2025)
▪ Some personal reflections on prison medical care (The Leaflet | by Vernon Gonsalves | Apr 2024)
▪ 4,484 People Died in Police Custody Since 2020: Govt Data (The Swaddle / Jul 2022)

Activists arrested, abducted and tortured, journalists targeted and laws tightened to increase control

11/06/2026 Asha

CIVICUS / by CIVICUS

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.
… The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has renewed its pursuit of human rights defenders in the long-running Bhima Koregaon case, several of whom have already spent years in pre-trial detention before being released on bail. On 29th April 2026, NIA officials visited the Mumbai Press Club, seeking documents and questioning office-bearers about a gathering held on its premises on 19th January 2026 that was attended by accused in the case.
Read more

Also read:
▪ NIA Moves to Cancel Bails of Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Elgar Parishad Case (The Wire / Jun 2026)
▪ Mumbai Press Club Suspensions Over Elgar Parishad Accused Visit Spark Row; NIA Inquiry Raises Stakes (The Wire / May 2026)
▪ Civic freedoms remain at risk with crackdown on protests, internet restrictions and denial of bail to activists (CIVICUS / Jan 2026)
▪ Ongoing detention of activists without bail, criminalisation of dissent and ban on books (CIVICUS / Sep S025)
▪ Read India report: INDIA – COUNTRY FACTSHEET 2025 (World Organization Against Torture / Jun 2025)

▪ India: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on the deterioration of civic space (CIVICUS /Jul 2024)
▪ CIVIC FREEDOMS IN INDIA ‘REPRESSED’: GLOBAL MONITOR CIVICUS (The Wire / March 2023)
Read full report „People Power Under Attack 2022“ (CIVICUS)

Indira Jaising sounds alarm on democracy & dissent / India’s Anti-Terror Law and the Punishment of the Unconvicted

19/05/2026 Asha

Two judgments, no single standard: Why terror law UAPA’s bail threshold isn’t a straight line

21/05/2026

The Print / by Sahaj Sankaran

SC’s contradiction over bail in terror cases has revived questions over whether the stringent Watali test or the liberty-focused Najeeb ruling should guide UAPA jurisprudence.
When a two-judge Supreme Court bench Monday criticised a co-ordinate bench’s decision denying bail in January to Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, both accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in the Delhi riots case, the criticism raised a much broader issue: how should courts decide on bail under the anti-terror law?
… In the the 2022 Jyoti Jagtap vs NIA case, the court did not consider Najeeb at all, implicitly arguing that Najeeb had no applicability even though the defendant had been in prison for two years by that point. It took another three years for Jagtap, arrested for her alleged ties to the organisers of the 2017 Elgar Parishad event, to secure bail.
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Not defending civil society judiciary’s biggest failure Advocate Indira Jaising

19/05/2026

The Week / by pti

The judiciary’s inability to protect civil society from persecution is its “biggest failure”, writes senior advocate Indira Jaising in her new book “The Constitution Is My Home”, alleging that political opponents, activists and human rights defenders are being systematically targeted through criminal law.
… Referring to the prosecution of late Delhi University professor G N Saibaba under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), she criticised judicial observations that shifted the focus of criminal law from “overt acts to beliefs and ideas”.
She also criticised the use of the UAPA and the sedition provision under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code against activists and human rights defenders in cases linked to the 2020 Delhi riots and the Bhima Koregaon violence.
Read more

▪ Indira Jaising interview: Senior advocate sounds alarm on democracy & dissent in modern India

en | 19:16min | 2026
Interview by: Kanu Sarda
Camera: Sanjay Ahlawat
Editor: Syam Krishnan

In this exclusive interview with THE WEEK, Indira Jaising discusses her new memoir, The Constitution Is My Home, and shares her thoughts on the biggest constitutional and judicial challenges facing India today. From the Bhima Koregaon case and judicial accountability to women in the Supreme Court and the criminalisation of dissent, Jaising offers a candid and deeply personal reflection on law, democracy and power.
Watch video

India’s Anti-Terror Law and the Punishment of the Unconvicted

19/05/2026

Countercurrents.org / by Utkarsh Mishra

The statistics released by the government paint a troubling picture. From 2019 to 2023, India arrested 10,440 individuals using its strictest anti-terror law, but only 335 were convicted. This number didn’t come from a human rights organisation; it was shared by the Union Home Ministry itself during a session in Parliament in December 2025. The National Crime Records Bureau put together these figures, and it amounts to a mere 3.2% conviction rate.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Voices From Prison | A Legacy Of Detention: Weaponisation Of PDA, TADA, NSA And UAPA Laws Since Independence (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Unlawful: Editorial on the Bhima Koregaon case and denial of liberty under UAPA (The Telegraph / Feb 2026)
▪ Inside the NIA’s ‘Perfect’ Conviction Record: How Coercive Detentions Are Driving Guilty Pleas (The Wire / Dec 2025)
▪ Justice On Hold: How India’s Trial Courts Are Creating a New Class of Political Prisoners—Those Accused Of ‘Terrorism’ (article 14 / Dec 2025)
▪ Legal experts call for a repeal of UAPA over misuse and rights violations (Frontline / May 2024)

▪ Report: UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR (PUCL / Sep 2022)
Download report

Freedom, Education and Resistance: Revisiting Paulo Freire Through the Life of Stan Swamy

12/05/2026 Asha

Countercurrents / by Pon Chandran

By drawing together the life and ideas of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire and Indian human rights activist Stan Swamy, Pon. Chandran’s review of Cultural Action for Freedom revisits one of the most enduring questions in political education: can education become a tool of liberation rather than conformity?
… There is a striking similarity between Freire and Stan Swamy, whose work among Adivasi communities in Jharkhand reflected many principles of liberation pedagogy. Like Freire, Swamy viewed education as a means of empowering marginalised communities to understand and defend their rights. Through legal awareness and constitutional advocacy, he encouraged tribal communities to critically examine the structures responsible for displacement and land dispossession.
Read more

▪ I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

‘Why truth has become so bitter, dissent so intolerable, justice so out of reach?’ because truth has become very bitter to those in power and position, dissent, so unpalatable to the ruling elite, justice, so out of reach to the powerless, marginalised, deprived people. Yet, truth must be spoken, right to dissent must be upheld, and justice must reach the doorsteps of the poor. I am not a silent spectator. This booklet is not my autobiography. It is rather a collation of some glimpses/episodes from my life that somehow made a difference for me, and possibly for my confrères, colleagues and the people with whom I have shared my life.

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

▪ Framed to Die – The Case of Stan Swamy

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Peoples Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi
Language: English
Paperback: 45 pages

Stan Swamy, as this report documents, was framed, fettered, and finally forced towards a fatal illness under due process of law. The report argues that the naturalness of Stan’s death—a cardiac arrest driven by Covid complications—doesn’t exonerate the unnaturalness of the persecution that he suffered under the UAPA. Underlying Stan’s experiences of persecution lie the life-stories of many others, including the 15 accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Beyond chronicling Stan’s persecution under law, the report documents why Comrade Stan was a dissenter and a true patriot and why the state feared and criminalized his dissent under the UAPA.

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

▪ Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.

en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video

Wages of fury: Noida’s wake-up call

09/05/2026 Asha

Frontline / by Anand Teltumbde

The Noida worker protest is local in trigger but national in meaning. It asks an important question: why must every wage demand now be branded a conspiracy?
On April 13, 2026, the industrial township of Noida—a satellite city of Delhi with over 10,000 factories and service units—saw scenes long feared by the ruling establishment. Thousands of workers spilled onto the streets in a cascading uprising that had begun three days earlier and now spread across sector belts. Their demands were elemental: a living wage, an eight-hour workday, and the basic dignity of being treated as human beings rather than disposable inputs in a global supply chain.
Read more

Also read:
▪ How 5 Reliance Workers Fighting For A Better Deal Found Themselves In Jail On Terrorism Charges (Article 14 / July 2021)
▪ Bail After 3 Years for the Incarcerated Mumbai Electric Employees Union Workers (groundxero, June 2021)

Umar Khalid: A Prisoner of Conscience

02/05/2026 Asha

The Wire / by Clifton D’ Rozario

This is a speech by from a book discussion on ‘Umar Khalid and His World’ held on April 28, 2026 at BIC, Bengaluru.
…
Whether it is Bhima Koregaon, or the anti-CAA protests or Adivasi struggles, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has become the toolkit to imprison dissenters. The UAPA stands as one of the most enduring remnants of colonial rule. Under the British laws of this nature existed for one purpose alone: to criminalise resistance and imprison those who dared to speak against the coloniser. It is a matter of profound shame that more than 75 years after Independence, in a Republic that claims fidelity to liberty, constitutional morality and democratic dissent, the State continues to preserve and weaponise the very architecture of repression once used by our oppressors.
Read more

▪ UMAR KHALID AND HIS WORLD: an anthology

Editors: Anirban Bhattacharya, Banojyotsna Lahiri, Shuddhabrata Sengupta
Publisher: Three Essays Collective
Publication date: Feb 2026
Pages: 340

This is an anthology of writings on and by Umar Khalid, edited by his friends, highlighting his ideas and the events that have been defining moments in his journey since he was imprisoned. In the process it underscores the injustice where the trial itself is punishment, the widespread support and sympathy for Umar Khalid, and the perfidy of the State. In talking of his world rather than just him, it also brings to life the related dimensions of democracy and authoritarianism, and that he is one among many prisoners of conscience. The book has contributions from eminent intellectuals, among them scholars, mediapersons, lawyers and human rights activists, as well as other prisoners under UAPA, and is enriched with songs and poetry of the anti-CAA-NRC protests, and statements and tributes from friends and family members.

Mumbai Press Club Suspensions Over Elgar Parishad Accused Visit Spark Row; NIA Inquiry Raises Stakes

02/05/2026 Asha

Anand Patwardhan: The taming of the Mumbai Press Club

07/05/2026

Scroll.in / by Anand Patwardhan

The expulsion of the institution’s former president and two other veteran journalists is a sign of how spaces for democratic discussion are shrinking in India.
… The reasons advanced for Singh’s expulsion are instructive. Apparently, he was present at a discussion on prison conditions held on the terrace of the Press Club where several persons who are out on bail in the Bhima Koregaon case also attended.
Read more

Mumbai Press Club Suspensions Over Elgar Parishad Accused Visit Spark Row; NIA Inquiry Raises Stakes

03/05/2026

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Involvement in a legal case has never been a criterion for denying access to the club premises before. Guests, including political leaders with pending criminal cases, regularly visit the premises.
Days after the Mumbai Press Club suspended three senior members for six years for inviting human rights defenders and academics linked to the Elgar Parishad case to the club, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) has entered the controversy. In an email sent out to the members of the club, it was stated that the central agency visited the premises on Wednesday (April 29) and conducted an “inquiry”.
Read more

NIA seeks documents from Mumbai Press Club after gathering attended by Bhima Koregaon accused

02/05/2026

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The club claimed that the social gathering raised questions about a possible violation of the bail conditions of the persons accused in the case.
The National Investigation Agency on Friday sought documents from the Mumbai Press Club related to a social gathering that was attended by some of the persons accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case who are out on bail, the Mumbai Press Club said in a statement emailed to members.
Read more

NIA visits Mumbai Press Club after it suspends three members over Bhima Koregaon accused gathering

02/05/2026

The Indian Express / by Vallabh Ozarkar

The agency sought documents related to a January event attended by Bhima Koregaon accused out on bail, after the club suspended three members for allegedly facilitating it, a charge they deny, with former president Gurbir Singh calling it politically motivated ahead of club elections.
Two days after the Mumbai Press Club suspended three members over an event attended by accused persons out on bail in the Bhima Koregaon case, officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) visited the club seeking documents related to the gathering, according to a statement issued by the club Friday.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Artists, Educators, Publishers Speak Out Against ‘Rising Attempts’ to Stifle Their Voices (The Wire / Mar 2026)
▪ Mumbai Press Club Bars Elgar Parishad Defendants’ Entry, Issues Show-Cause Notice to Member (The Wire / Mar 2026)
▪ SNDT University cancels lecture by feminist historian Uma Chakravarti (Scroll.in / März 2026)
▪ ‘Controversy best avoided’: Kala Ghoda festival director after Anand Teltumbde book event cancelled (Scroll.in / Feb 2026)
▪ Stan Swamy Lecture Cancelled – A Case Study in India’s Shrinking Space for Dissent (The Print / Aug 2025)

‘Free Umar Khalid’ placard draws police action at Goa protest

‘Refuse to Lift Your Lathis’: 1800 Citizens Write Open Letter to Security Forces At Jantar Mantar

“Hum Bharat Ke Log”: Tushar Gandhi Leads Mumbai Event Highlighting Constitutional Values & Democratic Rights

CJP protest row: Mumbai Police book Shivaji Park organisers for unlawful assembly

CJP protests | Exam anger becomes a political reckoning

Why Should Protesters Seek Police Permission?

The exam crisis that became a battle for accountability

CJP protest row: Mumbai Police book Shivaji Park organisers for unlawful assembly

Mumbai Police Register Three FIRs Over Uddhav Thackeray-Led Protest Backing Sonam Wangchuk

Elgar Parishad accused booked for protesting in support of Sonam Wangchuk

CJP protest in Mumbai: How Azad Maidan became the city’s site of agitations, with restrictions

The ‘Natural Death’ Problem in Indian Jails

Our Criminal Justice System Overlooks Victims of Police Torture

Two judgments, no single standard: Why terror law UAPA’s bail threshold isn’t a straight line

Not defending civil society judiciary’s biggest failure Advocate Indira Jaising

India’s Anti-Terror Law and the Punishment of the Unconvicted

▪ I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection Edition: Aug 2021 Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore Language: English Paperback: 149 pages

▪ Framed to Die – The Case of Stan Swamy

▪ Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.

▪ UMAR KHALID AND HIS WORLD: an anthology

Anand Patwardhan: The taming of the Mumbai Press Club

Mumbai Press Club Suspensions Over Elgar Parishad Accused Visit Spark Row; NIA Inquiry Raises Stakes

NIA seeks documents from Mumbai Press Club after gathering attended by Bhima Koregaon accused

NIA visits Mumbai Press Club after it suspends three members over Bhima Koregaon accused gathering

▪ I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages