Solidarity – free them all

On Living the Legacy of Fr. Stan Swamy

09/10/2025 Asha

Countercurrents / by Cedric Prakash

Late evening of 8 October 2020, Fr Stan Swamy was summoned from ‘Bagaicha’ in Ranchi (the Social Centre he founded in 2006 and where he lived) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials, to their local headquarters in Ranchi city. He was immediately detained and kept in their custody the whole night. The next morning, he was flown to Bombay and unceremoniously thrown into Taloja Jail. His incarceration followed months of raids, interrogations, intimidation and harassment at the hands of the NIA. The treatment meted out to him in jail was even worse.
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Also read:
▪ Father Stan Swamy died of natural causes, Maharashtra government tells court (India Today / Oct 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)
▪ Will anti-Naxal drive pave way for mining giants? (The New Indian Express / May 2025)
▪ Jharkhand police to probe into Maoist links with Stan Swamy’s ‘Bagaicha’, 63 other frontal organisations (The New Indian Express / Sep 2023)

▪ 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 (Indian Social Institute | by Stan Swamy | Aug 2021)

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

Delhi University Vice Chancellor’s speech criticising ‘urban naxals’ draws ire

08/10/2025 Asha

PUCL condemns regressive and defamatory views of DU Vice Chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh: At odds with Constitutional values

09/10/2025

Countercurrents.org / by People’s Union For Civil Liberties

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) India, is shocked at the troubling views expressed by Dr Yogesh Singh, professor and Vice Chancellor Delhi University on 28th September, 2025 in a speech titled “Naxal Mukt Bharat: Ending Red Terror Under Modi’s Leadership, Why Campuses are Targets?’
…
In the over 20 minute speech, replete with unsubstantiated and defamatory statements about alleged “urban naxals” on campus, Prof Singh named Delhi university’s professors and student activists charged and imprisoned under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, including members of the feminist student group Pinjar Tod (Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal), charged in the Delhi riots case and Prof Hany Babu and professors Dr Shoma Sen and Dr Anand Teltumbde (mispronounced by Prof Singh as Teltumbedke), charged in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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Delhi University V-C’s speech criticising ‘urban naxals’, Pinjra Tod movement draws ire

08/10/2025

The Indian Express / by Express News Service

Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh’s speech alleging the presence of “Urban Naxals” in universities and criticising movements like ‘Pinjra Tod’ has triggered protests from students and faculty.
… Referring to the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, Singh named DU professor Hany Babu and academics Rona Wilson and Anand Teltumbde, saying, “And these are not isolated cases.”
Read more

Also read:
▪ As Maharashtra Govt Brings Bill Against ‘Urban Naxalism’, Activists Fear Criminalisation of Dissent (The Wire / Jul 2025)
▪ Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Jul 2025)
▪ McCarthyism in INDIA?: The Return of The Urban Naxal Bogey! (The Crossbill / Jul 2024)
▪ From ‘tukde tukde gang’ to ‘urban Naxal’: How media trials enable the government to stifle dissent (Scroll.in / Sep 2018)

Video | Gautam Navlakha on India’s Prisons: Punishment Precedes Trial

08/10/2025 Asha

en | 30:21 | 2025

OutlookIndia / by OutlookIndia

“Indian jails have turned into a prison for people who are merely accused. It is unfortunate that political prisoners, get bail from the High court, but it is stayed by the Supreme Court and their bail arguments continue for months, even years.”

Human rights activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha offers a stark account of life inside India’s prisons, describing a system defined by deliberate neglect, overcrowding, and institutional apathy. Arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, Navlakha spent years in judicial custody as an undertrial, reflecting the plight of thousands of undertrials who remain in detention for years without bail.
Watch video

Also read:
▪ HC seeks NIA’s response to Navlakha’s plea to reside in Delhi during pendency of Elgaar Parishad case (Indian Express / Oct 2025)
▪ Taloja Jail: Lives Fading in Silence Behind Iron Walls (Outlook | by Sudhir Dhawale | Sep 2025)

Gautam Navlakha has a tremendous archive of writings from the 1980s to the present, documented by The Friends of Gautam Navlakha.
To read some of his recent writings and a full list of his articles with NewsClick, Economic & Political Weekly and the platform Sanhati visit: Gautam Navlakha – Journalist, Human Rights Defender, Political Prisoner

Interim bail for Mahesh Raut is not justice

23/09/2025 Asha

The Indian Express / by Deeksha Dwivedi

Raut, the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, deserves bail, not a protracted legal battle
The Supreme Court of India’s September 16 order granting six weeks of interim bail to Mahesh Raut, one of the 16 arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, is a study in judicial contradiction. The interim bail on medical grounds, though an act of compassion, paradoxically highlights legal injustice. To understand this, we must look beyond the interim bail and focus on the well-reasoned bail order granted by the Bombay High Court on September 21, 2023.
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Also read:
▪ Supreme Court grants six-week interim medical bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Mahesh Raut (Sabrangindia / Sep 2025)
▪ Notes From Inside Taloja Prison (Outlook | by Mahesh Raut | Jun 2025)
▪ Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)
▪ ‘Ominous portents’: Why High Court staying its own bail orders in Bhima Koregaon case is troubling (Scroll.in / Dec 2023)
▪ Bhima Koregaon Case: Mahesh Raut, youngest accused, granted bail by the Bombay HC! (SabrangIndia / Sep 2023)

Supreme Court grants six-week interim medical bail to Mahesh Raut

16/09/2025 Asha

Supreme Court grants six-week interim medical bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Mahesh Raut

17/09/2025

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

Raut, in jail since 2018 under UAPA, secures interim relief for rheumatoid arthritis treatment; despite being granted regular bail by Bombay High Court in 2023, he remains in custody as the order has been under Supreme Court stay for two years
The Supreme Court on Monday, September 16, 2025, granted six weeks’ interim medical bail to Mahesh Raut, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad case, who has been in custody since his arrest in June 2018 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA).

Court proceedings
A Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma passed the order after Raut moved the Court citing serious health concerns.
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SC Grants Interim Bail To Mahesh Raut On Medical Grounds For Six Weeks, Jyoti Jagtap’s Bail Plea To Be Heard In October

16/09/2025

The Commune / by The Commune

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (16 September 2025) granted interim bail on medical grounds for a period of six weeks to Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad case accused Mahesh Raut, who has been under custody since June 2018 after being arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, over alleged Maoist links.
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Supreme Court Grants Interim Bail To Mahesh Raut On Medical Grounds For 6 Weeks

16/09/2025

Live Law / by Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

The Supreme Court today (September 16) granted interim bail on medical grounds for a period of 6 weeks to Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case accused Mahesh Raut, arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, over alleged Maoist links. He has been in custody since his arrest in June 2018.
Read more
Read order

Also read:
▪ Supreme Court To Hear Activist Mahesh Raut’s Bail Plea (Outlook / Sep 2025)
▪ Notes From Inside Taloja Prison (Outlook | by Mahesh Raut | Jun 2025)
▪ Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)
▪ ‘Ominous portents’: Why High Court staying its own bail orders in Bhima Koregaon case is troubling (Scroll.in / Dec 2023)
▪ Bhima Koregaon Case: Mahesh Raut, youngest accused, granted bail by the Bombay HC! (SabrangIndia / Sep 2023)

Video: Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture | Migration for Livelihood: Hope Amidst Miseries?

13/09/2025 Asha

Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture

Migration for Livelihood: Hope Amidst Miseries?

This year’s Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture reflected on migration, livelihood, and justice, continuing the legacy of Father Stan Swamy’s lifelong advocacy for the marginalized.
The program also emphasised the ongoing demand for the release of all Bhima Koregaon accused.
Date: Sat, 13 September 2025
Speaker: Father Prem Xalxo SJ
Chair: Advocate Indira Jaising

en / hindi | 1:51:29 | 2025
Watch recording

Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture: Speakers stress on struggles of tribal, migrant communities

14/09/2025

The Indian Express / by Naresh S

Senior advocate Mihir Desai, who has represented human rights cases in the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court, reflected on Stan Swamy’s legacy
Speakers at the Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture, held on Saturday at Nariman Point after being cancelled earlier by St Xavier’s College, stressed on the ongoing struggles of India’s tribal and migrant communities. Organised by over 55 civil society groups, the event drew both in-person and virtual audiences and paid tribute to the late Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy.
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Civil society pushes on, holds Stan Swamy lecture

14/09/2025

Hindustan Times / by Sabah Virani

Irfan Engineer condemned the suppression of free expression at the Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture, highlighting resistance against political intimidation and rights violations.
“This lecture is an act of resistance; resistance to suppression of freedom of expression, resistance to bulldozing our democracy and constitution, resistance to an attempt to intimidate marginalised sections of society and educational institutions, in what can be taught, what lectures are arranged, and what cannot, and their being dictated by Hindu nationalist organisations, which have a political agenda and muscle power to exercise it,” said Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS).
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Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture to be held tomorrow at Mumbai’s Nariman Point after cancellation at St Xavier’s College

12/09/2025

The Indian Express / by Naresh S

The original programme commemorating Father Stan Swamy, planned for August 9 at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, was cancelled following objections raised by ABVP activists.
The annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture, initially cancelled by St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, will now be held on Saturday in Nariman Point, which the attendees can join virtually.
The lecture is being organised by a coalition of civil society groups, including the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Samanvaya, People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), Karvaan-e-Mohabbat, and International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India).
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Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture | Migration for Livelihood: Hope Amidst Miseries? (Sep 13)

10/09/2025

Free Press Journal / by FPJ Desk

Swamy was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in 2019 after violence at the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon gathering. He was reportedly ailing when he passed away.
The Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture 2025 on ‘Migration for Livelihood: Hope Amidst Miseries’ by Fr Prem Xalxo, will be held online on September 13, after the programme organised by St Xavier’s College on August 9 was cancelled.
Read more

Also watch/read:
▪ Video: Mihir Desai Speaks – Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture

en | 50:18 | 2025
Senior advocate Mihir Desai shares his perspective. He fought Stan Swamy’s case in the Mumbai High Court. A champion of Adivasi rights, Stan Swamy was accused of conspiring against the state and taken into custody in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case. He passed away in Taloja Jail/Holy Family Hospital on 5 July 2025.
Watch video

▪ Stan Swamy Lecture Cancelled – A Case Study in India’s Shrinking Space for Dissent (The Print / Aug 2025)
▪ “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)

The Public Security Act is unconstitutional and anti-democratic – Protests across Maharashtra

10/09/2025 Asha

Protests across Maharashtra denounce the Public Security Act as unconstitutional and anti-democratic [picture galleries]

10/09/2025

Sabrangindia / by Sabrangindia

Opposition, rights groups, and people’s movements unite to call it an “anti-people, anti-democratic law”
A wave of protests swept across Maharashtra today as opposition parties, civil society organizations, and grassroots groups came together to denounce the recently passed Maharashtra Public Security Bill, branding it a “Public Oppression Bill.” Demonstrations took place in Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Solapur, Palghar, Beed, Hingoli, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondia, and several other districts, marking one of the largest coordinated state-wide agitations in recent years.
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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.
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Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, Pre-Emptive Criminalisation And Indefinite Surveillance

22/08/2025

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:
▪ Civil society gears up to protest Public Security Bill (Hindustan Times / Sep 2025)
▪ 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)
▪ Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)

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

03/09/2025 Asha

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

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)

In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict

23/08/2025 Asha

Frontline / by Saurav Das

In the shadow of Bhima Koregaon, the Supreme Court lets delay speak louder than justice.
Surendra Gadling’s bail application has become a Kafkaesque file in the Supreme Court. It appears on the cause list, only to vanish. It is mentioned, only to be deferred. It is scheduled, only to be adjourned. The judge presiding over it, Justice M.M. Sundresh, has turned the very act of not hearing into a form of adjudication.
The bail plea has been listed 17 times since it was first filed in August 2023.
Read more

Also read:
▪ SC to consider listing bail plea of Surendra Gadling (Hindustan Times / Aug 2025)
▪ How Long is Too Long? – On the Maximum Period that an Undertrial Prisoner can be Detained (Constitutional Law and Philosophy | by Hany Babu and Surendra Gadling | Oct 2024)
▪ Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)
▪ Gadling in jail. Reason? As lawyer-activist he has been ‘unpleasant’ to India’s topcops (Counterview / Dec 2020)

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

22/08/2025 Asha

Outlook / by Anand Teltumbde

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)