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The Message Is Loud & Clear. New Book On 11 ‘Prisoners Of Conscience’ & The Costs Of Defiance

The Message Is Loud & Clear. New Book On 11 ‘Prisoners Of Conscience’ & The Costs Of Defiance

‘The Message Is Loud & Clear.’ Author Of New Book On 11 Indian ‘Prisoners Of Conscience’ & The Costs Of Defiance

07/03/2025

Article 14 / by Zeyad Masroor Khan

Political prisoners are among the most discriminated against of India’s prisoners, says Neeta Kolhatkar, author of ‘The Feared’, a book that explores the lives of 11 such prisoners and their families. They talked to her about their experiences while incarcerated and—for those on bail—after. Kolhatkar tells us how she got access to India’s ‘prisoners of conscience’, and why she thinks they were arrested; how they struggle for basic facilities, including medical tests; the impact on their physical and mental health, on their spouses and children; and their survival strategies.

“I will not come out alive if I am jailed again.”
That is what Binayak Sen, 75, says in “The Feared”, a new book by Mumbai-based journalist Neeta Kolhatkar, chronicling the experiences of 11 Indian political prisoner. A medical doctor arrested in 2007 while working in the Adivasi lands of Chhattisgarh, Sen was convicted of sedition in 2010 before being granted bail in 2011.
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The Feared: A wake-up call to the gross human rights violations inflicted on thousands of undertrials

05/06/2025

Sabrang India / by Harsh Thakor

The Feared is a collection of interviews conducted by Neeta Kolhatkar with 11 political prisoners and, in some cases, their loved ones. Through these conversations, she vividly portrays their everyday lives within multiple prisons across India. This landmark work is a path breaking contribution to resurrecting the spirit of dissent and resistance at a time when proto-fascism is reaching unprecedented heights.
The book serves as a wake-up call to the gross human rights violations inflicted on thousands of undertrials. Kolhatkar’s detailed discussions – some spanning multiple meetings – reveal personal anecdotes from the prisoners’ time behind bars. She brings to light not only their experiences but also the deplorable prison conditions, including issues related to space, hygiene, medical care, and food.
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‘If I’m A Hindu, It Does Not Mean I’ll Put Non-Hindu Behind Bars,’ Says Retired Justice BN Srikrishna At Book Launch

27/02/2025

Free Press Journal / FPJ News Service

If I’m a Hindu, it does not mean that I hate a person who’s a non-Hindu or put him behind the bars for their religion or political ideology, said retired justice BN Srikrishna, who headed the Srikrishna Commission to investigate the Bombay Riots of 1992-93.
… The book includes conversations with political prisoners including Sudha Bharadwaj, Nilofer Malik and Sameer Khan, Koel Sen, Prashant Rahi and Shikha Rahi, Sanjay Raut, Kishorechandra Wangkhem, Anand Teltumbde and Rama Ambedkar, Binayak Sen, Kobad Gandhy, Muralidharan K and P Hemlatha.
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Also read:
▪ The Feared – Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners

Author: Neeta Kolhatkar
Publishing Date: Dec 2024
Publisher: S&S India
Pages: 272
Read more /order

▪ Who Is a ‘Political Prisoner’? Rona Wilson Says Caste and Religion Are Key to the Answer (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ Journalist pens about the lives of political prisoners in India (Deccan Herald / Dec 2024)
▪ THE BK-16 PRISON DIARIES SERIES (THE POLIS PROJECT / 2024)
▪ Process as Punishment – Recent books that bear witness to the BK-16’s incarceration (The Caravan / Jul 2024)

In Taloja Central Jail, interviews with over 300 undertrial prisoners show denial of rights

In Taloja Central Jail, interviews with over 300 undertrial prisoners show denial of rights

The Leaflet / by Hany Babu and Surendra Gadling

The Supreme Court’s reassurance that video-conferencing improves access to courtrooms misses a crucial point. Through interviews with over 300 prisoners in the Taloja Central Jail, two of India’s foremost civil rights activists reveal how the producing of accused through video-conferencing, and the State’s continual excuse of insufficient police personnel, sustains an architecture of injustice, ripping apart the lives of India’s prisoners.
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Also read:
▪ Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Surendra Gadling and Sagar Gorkhe (The Wire / Feb 2025)

Who Is a ‘Political Prisoner’? Rona Wilson Says Caste and Religion Are Key to the Answer

Who Is a ‘Political Prisoner’? Rona Wilson Says Caste and Religion Are Key to the Answer

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Having spent six and a half years in jail, the Elgar Parishad accused also said that prisons in India are in a ‘state of emergency’.
Rona Wilson has long been an advocate for prisoners’ rights and a staunch proponent of the term “political prisoner”. However, during his prolonged incarceration in the Elgar Parishad case, Rona found himself grappling with a “moral quandary”.
With new firsthand experiences, observations from his six-and-a-half-year stay in two central prisons in Maharashtra – Yerwada in Pune and Taloja in Navi Mumbai – his activism while incarcerated, and research conducted within the confines of prison, 53-year-old Rona now views the term from a different perspective. He now approaches the subject with a deliberate focus on caste and religious dimensions.
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Also read:
▪ Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Surendra Gadling and Sagar Gorkhe (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ Punished without trial: How India’s political prisoners are being denied basic rights in jail (Scroll.in / Aug 2022)

▪ From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada
Author: Sudha Bhardwaj
Publishing Date: Oct 2023
Publisher: Juggernaut
Pages: 216
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▪ 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
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Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Surendra Gadling and Sagar Gorkhe

Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Surendra Gadling and Sagar Gorkhe

Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Jailed Activists

10/02/2025

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

Both Gadling and Gorkhe have moved the Bombay high court seeking direction to ensure regular court visits for those in judicial custody.
… Human rights activist Surendra Gadling and cultural activist Sagar Gorkhe, with the help of others arrested in the Elgar Parishad case have identified at least 300 such cases where incarcerated persons lodged at the Taloja central prison have not been produced before the court for years at end.
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2 Elgar accused move HC, seek regular production of undertrials in courts

12/02/2025

Hindustan Times / by Revu Suresh

The petition provided details of 305 undertrial prisoners lodged in Taloja jail who were not being produced before the trial courts on due dates
Advocate Surendra Gadling and Kabir Kala Manch activist Sagar Gorkhe, arrested in connection with the Ekgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case and lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai, have moved the Bombay high court, seeking directions to ensure the regular production of undertrial prisoners in the jail in respective trial courts.
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Two Elgar Parishad Accused Approach Bombay High Court to Ensure Regular Court Appearances for Undertrials

12/02/2025

Law Trend / by Law Trend

In a significant move, Advocate Surendra Gadling and Kabir Kala Manch activist Sagar Gorkhe, both accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case and currently incarcerated in Taloja jail, Navi Mumbai, have approached the Bombay High Court. They are seeking judicial directives to ensure that undertrial prisoners in the jail are regularly produced in their respective trial courts.
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Also read:
▪ With Guards Unavailable Due to Coldplay Concert, Elgar Parishad Undertrials Mull Hunger Strike (The Wire / Jan 2025)
▪ Elgar Parishad Prisoners’ Hunger Strike Marks a Momentous Victory for Prison Rights (The Wire / Nov 2024)

BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality

BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality

To mark six years of the arbitrary arrests and imprisonment of political dissidents in the Bhima Koregaon case, The Polis Project is publishing a series of writings by the BK-16, and their families, friends and partners. By describing various aspects of the past six years, the series offers a glimpse into the BK-16’s lives inside prison, as well as the struggles of their loved ones outside. Each piece in the series is complemented by Arun Ferreira’s striking and evocative artwork.

Drawing by Arun Ferreira / The Polis Project

Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality

11/02/2025

The Polis Project / by Sagar Gorke

Address: Taloja Central Prison, Navi Mumbai; Circle Number 2, Barrack Number 4. It’s seven in the evening. The smell of the rancid wet garbage scattered carelessly in the corner of the barrack is troubling me to no end. Over it lies a layer of half-eaten leftovers, bidi butts and green gobs coughed up and spat out by tobacco chewers. Looking at it, I feel like vomiting. The flies buzz around, sit on those spit gobs and, as if on purpose, zero in on me. “Hey, go … go … shoo … go away.” However much I yell to drive them away, they just don’t seem to listen at all. I don’t know what to do.
Read more

Also read:
▪ BK-16 Prison Diaries: Varavara Rao on prisons as institutions of corruption, sadism and dehumanisation (THE POLIS PROJECT / OCT 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: RAMESH GAICHOR ON THE ELAGAR PRISONER’ S DEFIANCE OF THE NEO-PESHWAI PRISON SYSTEM (THE POLIS PROJECT / OCT 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: SAGAR GORKHE’S PARENTS ARE STRUGGLING IN HIS ABSENCE (THE POLIS PROJECT / JULY 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: RAMESH GAICHOR’S PARENTS JUST WANT TO MEET HIM AGAIN BEFORE THEY DIE (THE POLIS PROJECT / JULY 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: MINAL GADLING ON THE MANY CRUELTIES, IRONIES AND INJUSTICES OF SURENDRA’S IMPRISONMENT (THE POLIS PROJECT / JULY 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: RUPALI JADHAV TRAVELS TEN HOURS FOR FLEETING EXCHANGES WITH JYOTI JAGTAP (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: JENNY ROWENA ON THE FEAR OF PRISONS AND THE BRAHMINICAL SYSTEM BEHIND IT (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: ANAND TELTUMBDE REFLECTS ON HIS ARREST AND INCARCERATION (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: STORIES OF LOVE, MURDER AND CHILD MARRIAGE FROM SHOMA SEN’S YEARS IN PRISONS (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: ARUN FERREIRA ON THE FARCE AND TRAGEDY OF THE PANDEMIC IN PRISON (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
▪ BK-16 PRISON DIARIES: VERNON GONSALVES ON THE STRUGGLE TO READ AND WRITE BEHIND BARS (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)
▪ INTRODUCING THE BK-16 PRISON DIARIES SERIES (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)

Court summons Taloja jail superintendent to explain why cot is not provided to accused Surendra Gadling

Court summons Taloja jail superintendent to explain why cot is not provided to accused Surendra Gadling

Surendra Gadling

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

The authorities said that getting a cot is difficult in the general barracks due to crowding, but mattress and pillows are purchasable from the jail canteen at one’s own expenses. They added that Surendra Gadling can be transferred to a high security prison to avail cots.
A special court designated under NIA Act has asked Taloja Central Prison superintendent to remain present before it to explain why the facility of cot cannot be provided to Elgaar Parishad accused Surendra Gadling, who had sought the same citing his physical condition and ailments.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Jailed Activists (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ SC adjourns bail pleas of Surendra Gadling, Jyoti Jagtap in Bhima Koregaon case (Scroll.in / Feb 2025)
▪ Better take complete bed rest if you are suffering: NIA court rejects Surendra Gadling’s plea for walks outside prison (Hindustan Times / Jan 2025)
▪ Elgar Parishad Prisoners’ Hunger Strike Marks a Momentous Victory for Prison Rights (The Wire / Nov 2024)
▪ Elgar Parishad case accused seeks contempt action against Navi Mumbai cop (India Today / Oct 2024)
▪ Arrested BK16 Poet Alleges Intimidation After Protesting Prison Corruption (Indiejournal.in / Jul 2024)

▪ Video: The Prison Song of Surendra Gadling (The Wire / lyrics by Ramesh Gaychor)

hindi | 11min | 2021
Gadling, a well-known criminal lawyer in Nagpur, was once a cultural activist, who sang songs of political resistance. The 11- minutes- long rendition tells you what it means to be incarcerated in Indian prisons. From food, water, to medical care, everything is a struggle, Gadling narrates. The song was recorded by one of Gadling’s colleagues and was made available to The Wire after obtaining his consent.
Watch video / Listen to the song

SC Adjourns Bail Pleas Of Surendra Gadling, Jyoti Jagtap & NIA Appeal Against Mahesh Raut’s Bail

SC Adjourns Bail Pleas Of Surendra Gadling, Jyoti Jagtap & NIA Appeal Against Mahesh Raut’s Bail

SC adjourns bail pleas of Surendra Gadling, Jyoti Jagtap in Bhima Koregaon case

06/02/2025

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The Supreme Court also deferred the National Investigation Agency’s appeal against the bail granted to their co-accused Mahesh Raut.
The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the bail petitions of lawyer Surendra Gadling and activist Jyoti Jagtap in the Bhima Koregaon case, Live Law reported.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal also deferred the National Investigation Agency’s appeal against the bail granted to their co-accused Mahesh Raut.
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Supreme Court Adjourns Bail Pleas Of Surendra Gadling, Jyoti Jagtap & NIA Appeal Against Mahesh Raut’s Bail

06/02/2025

Live Law / by LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK

The Supreme Court on Thursday (February 6) adjourned the petitions filed by lawyer Surendra Gadling and Jyoti Jagtap seeking bail in the Bhima Koregaon case over alleged links with banned Maoist groups.
A bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice Rajesh Bindal also adjourned the appeal filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging the bail granted to co-accused Mahesh Raut.
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Supreme Court Says Accused In Bhima Koregaon Case Are Not Allowing Trial To Proceed; Accused Seek Adjournment To Produce Documents

06/02/2025

Verdictum.in / by Riya Rathore

Counsel for Surendra Gadling in the Maoist link case sought an adjournment to produce documents to show that the accused are not delaying the trial in the Bhima Koregaon case.
The Supreme Court, today granted an adjournment in the bail applications of Surendra Gadling and Jyoti Jagtap in the Maoist link case after the Senior Advocate appearing for Gadling requested for an adjournment to produce documents. “Lordship may give me time to produce all the documents”, Senior Advocate Anand Grover appearing for Surendra Gadling submitted and the Court agreed.
Read more

Also read:
▪ SC gives Maha govt two weeks time to respond to lawyer Surendra Gadling’s bail plea (Daijiworld / Dec 2024)
▪ Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)
▪ SC adjourns hearing on bail plea of Bhima Koregaon case accused Jyoti Jagtap (Hindustan Times / Jul 2024)

Sudhir Dhawale interview: ‘The law remains blind to injustice even with the blindfold gone’

Sudhir Dhawale interview: ‘The law remains blind to injustice even with the blindfold gone’

Credits: Tabassum Barnagarwala/Scroll.in

Scroll.in / by Tabassum Barnagarwala

The writer spent six years and seven months in jail before receiving bail in the Bhima Koregaon case.
On January 24, when Sudhir Dhawale walked back into the narrow lane in the Mumbai neighbourhood of Govandi where he lived until he was arrested in June, 2018, young men welcomed him with the beat of the dhol.
His neighbours then marched in a celebratory procession to a statue of BR Ambedkar 100 metres away. Dhawale garlanded the statue and gave a short speech about the importance of safeguarding Dalit rights. And just like that, he said, his life returned to normal.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Interview | Sudhir Dhawale’s Work Will Go on (The Wire / Feb 2025)
▪ Rona Wilson interview: ‘My arrest was a warning to others who stand against the abuse of power’ (Scroll.in / Feb 2025)
▪ Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale released: Seven years of injustice by a state that punishes dissent [read order] (Sabrangindia / Jan 2025)
▪ Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati │ by Sudhir Dhawale │ March 2018)

Rona Wilson interview: ‘My arrest was a warning to others who stand against the abuse of power’

Rona Wilson interview: ‘My arrest was a warning to others who stand against the abuse of power’

Credits: Scroll.in / Tabassum Barnagarwala

Scroll.in / by Tabassum Barnagarwala

The activist and researcher was released on bail on January 8 after spending more than six years in jail without trial in the Bhima Koregaon case.
At 53, researcher Rona Wilson is trying to pick up the pieces of the life he was forced to leave behind when he was arrested in the contentious Bhima Koregaon case six years and seven months ago.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale released: Seven years of injustice by a state that punishes dissent [read order] (Sabrangindia / Jan 2025)
▪ Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale Get Bail After 6.5 Years of Jail in Elgar Parishad Case (The Wire / Jan 2025)
▪ Five Years of Incarceration – and the Audacity of Hope (The Wire | Rona Wilson | Jul 2023)

2016 Surjagarh Mine Arson Case: SC To Hear Bail Plea Of Surendra Gadling Next Week

2016 Surjagarh Mine Arson Case: SC To Hear Bail Plea Of Surendra Gadling Next Week

Outlook / by pti

On December 25, 2016, Maoist rebels allegedly set ablaze 76 vehicles being used for transporting iron ore from Surajgarh mines in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli.
The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned to next week the hearing on the bail plea of advocate Surendra Gadling in connection with the 2016 Surjagarh iron ore mine arson case.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal deferred the matter as additional solicitor general Raja Thakare, representing Maharashtra government, was unavailable.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Gadchiroli arson case: Supreme Court issues notice in bail plea of Surendra Gadling (The Leaflet / Oct 2023)
▪ Now, ED Wants to Probe Elgar Parishad Case, Accuses Surendra Gadling of ‘Money Laundering’ (The Wire / July 2022)
▪ Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)
▪ Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)
▪ Gadling in jail. Reason? As lawyer-activist he has been ‘unpleasant’ to India’s topcops (Counterview / Dec 2020)
▪ Now Gadchiroli Police takes custody of Surendra Gadling, P Varavara Rao, prompting senior lawyers to say this is ‘ever-greening of charges’ (The Leaflet / Jan 2019)

By Adv Surendra Gadling Defence Committee:
With due credit to anonymous artist and to the jailed, to be jailed lawyers