Browsed by
Category: Background

No trial, no bail; no justice

No trial, no bail; no justice

Madhyamam / by Editorial Desk

The government is delaying the trial without even starting it, as there is no evidence to establish fabricated charges against the accused, and for buying time to produce false witnesses and false evidence.
… Dr Hani Babu, a Keralite professor at Delhi University, has been facing this kind of ‘punishment’ for more than five years. Hani Babu’s crime is that he campaigned against caste-based injustices and social inequalities. He has been arrested and sent to a Maharashtra jail in the Bhima-Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, which has implicated leading rights activists in the country, from Stan Swami to Sudha Bharadwaj.
Read more

Also read:
▪ In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict (Frontline / Aug 2025)
▪ Who Is a ‘Political Prisoner’? Rona Wilson Says Caste and Religion Are Key to the Answer (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Surendra Gadling and Sagar Gorkhe (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ When Push Comes to Shove: Tracking Judicial Recusals and Transfers (The Wire / Apr 2023)
▪ Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)

Koregaon Bhima Probe: Spotlight on Uddhav Thackeray

Koregaon Bhima Probe: Spotlight on Uddhav Thackeray

Booklet: “Salaakhon Mein Qaid Avaazein” (Access PDF)

Pune Mirror / by Swapnil Hajare

Committee asks former CM to submit Sharad Pawar’s letter by Sept 22
The ongoing Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry has taken a decisive turn, putting former chief minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray into the spotlight. The commission has formally requested Thackeray to produce a letter allegedly written to him by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar in January 2020, which, according to claims, blamed the then BJP-led government of Devendra Fadnavis for orchestrating the January 1, 2018 Koregaon Bhima violence.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Bhima Koregaon commission gets 18th extension (Hindustan Times / Aug 2025)
▪ Alternative reading of Bhima Koregaon: A Maharashtra outfit is trying to advance Dalit cause from Hindutva orbit (The Indian Express / Apr 2025)
▪ Why caste Hindutva, not an Elgar conspiracy, is at the root of the Bhima Koregaon violence (The Polis Project / Feb 2025)
▪ Book Excerpt | How Bhima Koregaon Became a Trope for Dalit Pride and Assertion (The Wire │ by Ajaz Ashraf │ June 2024)

Civil society gears up to protest Public Security Bill / PSA a bid to criminalise organisations

Civil society gears up to protest Public Security Bill / PSA a bid to criminalise organisations

Drawing by Arun Fereirra

Civil society gears up to protest Public Security Bill

03/09/2025

Hindustan Times / by Mayura Janwalkar

Civil society in Maharashtra plans protests against the “draconian” Special Public Security Bill, claiming it suppresses dissent and violates rights.
Civil society groups in Maharashtra are preparing to launch protests against the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024, calling it “draconian” and an attempt to suppress dissent against the state.
Read more

PSA a bid to criminalise varied organisations: Sudha Bharadwaj

31/08/2025

Hindustan Times / by HT Correspondent

Bharadwaj was among the speakers at a webinar organised by All India Inquilabi Youth and Students Alliance (ALIYSA) and National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) along with senior advocate Mihir Desai and activist Ulka Mahajan
Human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj said on Saturday that it was a great thing that the civil society in Maharashtra had already begun protesting against the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, passed by the state’s legislative assembly in its recently concluded monsoon session.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, Pre-Emptive Criminalisation And Indefinite Surveillance (Outlook | by Anand Teltumbde | Aug 2025)
▪ New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It (Deccan Chronicle / Aug 2025)
▪ Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Jul 2025)

Who is a ‘Naxal’?

Who is a ‘Naxal’?


CPI(M) poster campaign 2020

The Leaflet / by Justice K. Chandru (Retd.)

The home minister’s accusation against vice-presidential candidate Justice Sudarshan Reddy should make us reflect deeply on how certain terms have been weaponised to invalidate the lifeworks of public intellectuals, and how the higher judiciary itself has enabled this.
…
Who is a Naxal?: The attack on public intellectuals and the judiciary’s silent complicity
Of late, supporters of the ruling regime have weaponised the label of ‘Naxal’ and ‘urban Naxal’ to name-call public intellectuals who have opposed them. We saw similar allegations being deployed against intellectuals and social activists who have been imprisoned under the notorious Unlawful Lawful Activities (Prevention) Act (‘UAPA’) in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Don’t Distort SC’s Salwa Judum Ruling or Resort to Name Calling, Former Judges Tell Amit Shah (The Wire / Aug 2025)
▪ Fall of Democracy’s Last Bastion: Election Commission as the BJP’s Strategic Shield (The Wire | by Anand Teltumbde | Aug 2025)
▪ The Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill Perpetuates India’s Banning Regime (The Wire / Aug 2025)
▪ Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Jul 2025)
▪ From ‘tukde tukde gang’ to ‘urban Naxal’: How media trials enable the government to stifle dissent (Scroll.in / Sep 2018)

The radical Hindutva links of the men arrested for lynching a Muslim man in Maharashtra

The radical Hindutva links of the men arrested for lynching a Muslim man in Maharashtra

Scroll.in / by Tabassum Barnagarwala

Social media accounts of four of the accused reveal they are members of an organisation founded by the hardliner Sambhaji Bhide.
On August 11, Suleman Rahim Khan Pathan was sitting with a Hindu woman in a cafe in Maharashtra’s Jamner town when a group of men forced him to go along with them.
The 21-year-old was driven around in a van and brutally assaulted before finally being dropped off at a bus stand in his village. Khan died of his injuries.
… Scroll’s analysis of their social media accounts showed that the four were active members of Shri Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, an organisation formed by the Hindutva hardliner Sambhaji Manohar Bhide, who was formerly associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
In December 2022, Dalit groups and political activists had accused Bhide of instigating violence in Bhima Koregaon village through provocative speeches.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Why caste Hindutva, not an Elgar conspiracy, is at the root of the Bhima Koregaon violence (The Polis Project / Feb 2025)
▪ Samabhji Bhide, Milind Ekbote instigated Bhima Koregaon riots: Accused event organiser tells Inquiry Commission (Bar & Bench / Sep 2021)
▪ India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
▪ Bhima Koregaon violence: Dalit group demands action against Sambhaji Bhide (The Indian Express / Jan 2021)
▪ Casting a Veil – What we miss by ignoring Maratha caste politics in the Bhima Koregaon case (The Caravan, Dec 2020)

Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, Pre-Emptive Criminalisation And Indefinite Surveillance

Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, Pre-Emptive Criminalisation And Indefinite Surveillance

Pic credits: MR online

Outlook / by Anand Teltumbde

The MSPSA gives the state-corporate nexus the legal means to suppress participatory democracy under the guise of public security.
On July 10, 2025, the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha passed a revised version of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Act (MSPSA), exactly one year after the original draft was introduced on July 11, 2024, by the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Initially framed as a response to the perceived threat of “urban Naxalism”, the Bill claimed to address the alleged infiltration of Maoist ideology into urban areas through affiliated organisations offering logistical support and shelter to underground cadres.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Fall of Democracy’s Last Bastion: Election Commission as the BJP’s Strategic Shield (The Wire | by Anand Teltumbde | Aug 2025)
▪ New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It (Deccan Chronicle / Aug 2025)
▪ The Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill Perpetuates India’s Banning Regime (The Wire / Aug 2025)
▪ Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Jul 2025)
▪ As Maharashtra Govt Brings Bill Against ‘Urban Naxalism’, Activists Fear Criminalisation of Dissent (The Wire / Jul 2025)

Stan Swamy Lecture Cancelled – A Case Study in India’s Shrinking Space for Dissent

Stan Swamy Lecture Cancelled – A Case Study in India’s Shrinking Space for Dissent

The Print / by Ranjan Solomon

St. Xavier’s bowed to ABVP pressure, cancelling a memorial for the late Jesuit activist, exposing the deepening crisis of free speech and academic courage in India.
The cancellation of the Stan Swamy Memorial lecture and the weaponisation of allegations, truth is obfuscated. 
Read more

Also read:
▪ “Sorry, Stan!” (Countercurrents / Aug 2025)
▪ Daring, Fearless and Kind, Father Stan Swamy Remains a Beacon of Resistance (The Wire | by Hany Babu, Jyoti Jagtap, Mahesh Raut, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe, Surendra Gadling | Jul 2025)

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


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

Over 30 Organisations Condemn Arrest of Dalit Activist Rajat Kalsan

Over 30 Organisations Condemn Arrest of Dalit Activist Rajat Kalsan

The Mooknayak / by The Mooknayak English

Over 30 organisations and prominent individuals denounce the arrest of Dalit lawyer Rajat Kalsan, allege unlawful detention, torture, and fabricated charges.
More than 30 student groups, civil society organisations, and prominent individuals have issued a joint statement condemning the arrest of Dalit activist and lawyer Adv. Rajat Kalsan, who was allegedly abducted by men in plain clothes from the Auto Market in Hisar on July 30 without being shown an arrest warrant or legal documents.
… Drawing parallels with the Bhima Koregaon arrests and detentions during anti-CAA protests, the statement alleges that Kalsan’s arrest reflects a broader pattern of silencing voices that challenge caste domination, communalism, and authoritarianism.
Read more

Full Statement

New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It

New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It

Pic credits: Amnesty International

New Maharashtra Security Law Open To Abuse, Threatens Rights; Say ‘No’ To It

18/08/2025

Deccan Chronicle / by Aakar Patel

The term “Urban Naxalism” has no legal definition in Indian law. With its vague language, discriminatory focus, absence of judicial oversight, and high potential for misuse, the bill risks criminalising of legitimate dissent in one of our largest states
We celebrated Independence Day earlier this month, to mark the culmination of our freedom struggle. Independence and freedom from what? From alien rule and from all oppressive laws — no matter who imposes them on us. The governor of Maharashtra is currently examining a law passed by the state Assembly called the “Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill”.
Read more

Open letter: Withhold assent to the Maharashtra special public security bill

15/08/2025

Amnesty International / by Aakar Patel

Your Excellency Shri. Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, Governor of Maharashtra.
I write to you with grave concern regarding the recently passed Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, which now awaits your assent. Though presented as a tool to combat “urban naxalism,” The Bill introduces vague, overboard, and ideologically biased provisions that pose an immediate threat to international and constitutionally protected rights and will criminalize dissent in the state.
The Honorable Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, has asserted that the law will not be used to suppress government critics. However, the term “urban naxalism” has no legal definition in Indian law. It is a rhetorical and politically charged phrase – popularized in media and political discourse, not jurisprudence. Its vagueness allows it to be weaponized against civil society, often conflating peaceful dissent with sedition or terrorism. There is a troubling precedent. The Bhima Koregaon case, in which 16 activists were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act UAPA, demonstrates how this label has been used to detain individuals for years without trial.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Opposition Did Not Deal Well Enough With Maharashtra Bill Against ‘Urban Naxalism’: Sharad Pawar (The Wire / Aug 2025)
▪ The Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill Perpetuates India’s Banning Regime (The Wire / Aug 2025)
▪ Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Jul 2025)

“Sorry, Stan!” / St Xavier’s College Cancels Stan Swamy Lecture After ABVP Protest

“Sorry, Stan!” / St Xavier’s College Cancels Stan Swamy Lecture After ABVP Protest

“Sorry, Stan!”

11/08/2025

Countercurrents.org / by Cedric Prakash

Dear Stan,
I write this to you with a heavy heart: shocked and saddened; upset and angry. This letter to you, is perhaps to ease the angst in me; I really don’t know what to say and how to say it!
…
On 9 August, St Xavier’s College(SXC) Mumbai, (through their Department of Inter-Religious Studies) was scheduled to hold ‘The Annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture’. The topic was ‘Migration for Livelihood: Hope Amidst Untold Miseries’. It was to be delivered virtually by Jesuit Fr. Prem Xalxo, currently Associate Professor of Moral Theology at the Gregorian University, Rome. The speaker was a renowned personality and the topic timely and relevant. On 4 August, representatives of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP) met the SXC authorities, and in a written letter ‘strongly condemned’ the organising of the lecture and demanded its cancellation. Very sadly, the Jesuit management and other officials caved in to this pressure and cancelled the lecture. For this, “Sorry, Stan!”
Read more

St Xavier’s College cancels Stan Swamy lecture after ABVP protests

09/08/2025

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

Organising a lecture in memory of an accused in the Elgar Parishad case ‘is an attempt to glorify urban Naxalism’, the Hindutva group told the institution.
St Xavier’s College in Mumbai has cancelled its annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture, which was to be held on Saturday, after protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, reported The Free Press Journal.
The ABVP is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Read more

St. Xavier’s Mumbai cancels Stan Swamy memorial lecture after protest

07/08/2025

Matters India / by Matters India Reporter

St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, has cancelled its annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture scheduled for August 9, following protests from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student organization affiliated with the RSS.
The lecture, titled “Migration for Livelihood: Hope amidst Miseries,” was to be delivered virtually by Father Prem Xalxo and organized by the college’s department of Inter-Religious Studies. It aimed to honor the legacy of the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who died in judicial custody in July 2021.
Read more

St Xavier’s College Cancels Stan Swamy Lecture After ABVP Protest

06/08/2025

Free Press Journal / by S Balakrishnan

The lecture, organised by the college’s department of inter-religious studies, was to have been delivered by Fr Prem Xalxo on “Migration for Livelihood: Hope amidst miseries.”
St Xavier’s College has cancelled its annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture scheduled for August 9 pm following protest from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sangh (ABVP), an RSS affiliated. …
The ABVP told the college principal in a strongly worded letter that Fr Stanley was a prime accused in the Bhima Koregaon criminal case and was arrested under UAPA, an anti-terrorist law. Prashant Mali, ABVP secretary, Mumbai, alleged in the letter that Fr Stanley was linked to the CPI (Maoist).
Read more

Also read:
▪ Daring, Fearless and Kind, Father Stan Swamy Remains a Beacon of Resistance (The Wire | by Hany Babu, Jyoti Jagtap, Mahesh Raut, Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe, Surendra Gadling | Jul 2025)

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


en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video
▪ Bhima Koregaon: The man who lodged FIR against Mevani and Khalid is distancing himself from ABVP (Scroll.in / Sep 2018)