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
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
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
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
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
Hany Babu completes five years in prison without bail, trial
28/07/2025
Maktoobmedia / by Maktoob Staff
Delhi University professor and noted academic Dr. Hany Babu, who is one of the UAPA prisoners in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case, completed five years of incarceration on Monday, 28 July, 2025.
On 28 July, 2020, the National Investigation Agency arrested Babu, an anti-caste activist and a staunch proponent of social justice. Read more
Delhi University Professor Hany Babu Marks Five Years in Jail Without Trial in Bhima Koregaon Case
28/07/2025
FOEJ / by FOEJ Desk
Delhi University professor and noted academic Dr. Hany Babu completed five years in prison on Monday, 28 July 2025, in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case.
Babu, a prominent anti-caste activist and advocate for social justice, was arrested on 28 July 2020 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Babu is among several Dalit and Adivasi rights activists accused by authorities of inciting violence through speeches made on 31 December 2017 at the Elgar Parishad event in Pune. Read more
Maharashtra’s Urban Naxal Bill and its New War on Civil Society -Criminalizing Dissent
23/07/2025
Countercurrents / by Dr Ranjan Solomon
“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, not silent submission.”
(Inspired by Thomas Jefferson)
The Maharashtra government’s Special Public Security Bill, 2024, introduced to counter so-called “urban Naxal” activities is a perilous milestone in India’s accelerating slide into authoritarianism.
… Activists like Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, and the late Fr. Stan Swamy were imprisoned for years without trial under charges of sedition and conspiracy. The Bhima Koregaon case was a dress rehearsal for exactly the kind of repression this bill now makes routine at the state level. Read more
‘Urban Naxal’ To Maharashtra’s New Bill Rekindles Fears Of Criminalised Dissent
17/07/2025
Outlook / by Pritha Vashisth
The Bhima Koregaon case returns to focus as the Supreme Court allows bail plea revival—while Maharashtra’s sweeping Jan Suraksha Bill raises alarms over civil liberties, ambiguous terms, and the creeping criminalisation of protest.
A tiny pore of blood rinsed down the alley until one among the several injured was dead. Around seven years ago, on January 1, 2018, silence hovered over the annual celebration as a Hindu mob allegedly attacked a gathering assembled to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. Decorated with plays, speeches, and songs, the state soon strangled this small village in Pune. Read more
Maharashtra just passed a law that could jail you for peacefully protesting
16/07/2025
Frontline / by Amey Tirodkar
BJP-led government says it’s fighting “Urban Maoists”, but critics say the MSPS Bill is the biggest threat to free speech since the Emergency.
Days after the ruling BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra observed the 50th anniversary of the Emergency and the curtailment of freedoms it entailed, the Maha Yuti government, led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, passed the Maharashtra Special Public Security (MSPS) Bill, 2024, by voice vote in the Legislative Assembly on July 10. Read more
“Innocence, once lost to the gallows or a prison cell, can never be returned. Who pays for that injustice?”
Today, the Bombay High Court overturned what had once been touted as a major victory in India’s fight against terror: the conviction of 12 men in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, in which 189 people died. Five had been sentenced to death. The other seven, to life in prison. They had already spent over 18 years behind bars.
The High Court has ruled that the prosecution “utterly failed” to prove its case.
…
We must ask: What kind of justice system jails people without trial for 5, 10, 15 years—and then quietly lets them go when the truth catches up?
Do we even pause to think of the lives destroyed?
– Father Stan Swamy, 84 years old, arrested under UAPA, denied a straw for his Parkinson’s, died in custody without trial.
– Professor G.N. Saibaba, wheelchair-bound, imprisoned for years, only recently acquitted.
– The Bhima Koregaon 16—intellectuals and lawyers framed with tampered evidence, still awaiting justice. Read more
‘He was murdered by State’: Christian community, rights activists remember Father Stan Swamy on fourth death anniversary
16/07/2025
Maktoobmedia.com / by Aktarista Ansari
On the fourth death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, members of the Jesuit community, human rights activists, and concerned citizens gathered in Delhi to honour his life and legacy—a legacy rooted in his tireless pursuit of truth and justice. Read more
‘Clear his name!’ – Jesuit Missions hold vigil outside Indian High Commission for Fr Stan Swamy
14/07/2025
Credits: Jesuits in Britain
Jesuit Mission / by Jesuit Mission
The campaign to clear the name of the late Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy continued with a vigil outside the Indian High Commission in London.
Peaceful protestors gathered in front of India House, in Aldwych, on Friday (11 July), where they stood silently with placards calling for Fr Stan to be exonerated.
Fr Stan spent most of his life defending the rights of vulnerable communities in India, including Adivasi (indigenous tribal) and Dalit (low caste) people. Read more
Progressive Students’ Association – JNU / @Psa_jnu
4 Years since the institutional murder of Fr. Stan Swamy!
By Progressive Students’ Association – JNU / @Psa_jnu (Jul 5, 2025):
“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.”
▪ Free BK 15!
▪ Free All Political Prisoners!
▪ Repeal UAPA.
Four years on, India commemorates the death of a priest of the people, Fr Stan Swamy
05/07/2025
cjp / by Cedric Prakash SJ
On his fourth death anniversary, Jesuit activist Stan Swamy is remembered in for his integrity, sacrifice, and the institutional injustice he endured
When Fr Stan Swamy died on July 5, 2021, the world of truth and justice was shocked and saddened. Those who belonged to this group were convinced, that his death was not a natural one, but a pre-mediated institutional murder. Yes, he was killed – because the powerful and other vested interests had no doubt that he was a real nuisance to their nefarious deeds. So he needed to be done away with. Theirs was a meticulously crafted plan: to interrogate and harass him, to incarcerate him in Taloja jail under an extremely draconian law, the ‘Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), to continuously intimidate him through the National Investigation Agency (NIA) even whilst he was imprisoned, to deny him (an ailing 84-year-old frail, sickly Jesuit) a much –needed straw-sipper, proper food and adequate Medicare; all this and more! Read more
Video: A Documentary Film on Stan Swamy – A Caged Bird Can Still Sing
hindi / en | 21:40 | 2025
By Karwan e Mohabbat
This short documentary revisits the life and work of Father Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who spent decades standing with Adivasi communities in Jharkhand. Arrested under draconian anti-terror laws and denied timely medical care, Stan died in custody on 5 July 2021.
Through conversations with his friends and colleagues, and using Stan’s own archival footage and recordings, we reflect on his unwavering commitment to justice and begin to understand why he was targeted by the state. This is both a tribute and a reminder of the forces that criminalise dissent and silence those who speak for the most marginalised. Watch video
Video: The courage and death of Stan Swamy
hindi | 55:44 | 2025
Scroll.in / by Karwan e Mohabbat
In this episode of our discussion series, author and peace worker Harsh Mander is in conversation with filmmaker Meghnath, activist Aloka Kujur, and Father Tony, director of Bagaicha, the institute founded by Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi. The conversation reflects on the life, work, and legacy of Stan Swamy – a Jesuit priest, Adivasi rights activist, and a central figure in the fight for justice for India’s marginalized communities. The panel discusses his decades-long work with Adivasis and undertrials, his commitment to human rights, and the events that led to his arrest under the UAPA. They talk about his time in jail, the denial of basic medical care, and his death in custody. Watch video
Repeal UAPA, withdraw cases: DMK, allies remember Stan Swamy on death anniversary
05/07/2025
Times Of India / by TNN
Senior DMK leaders and their allies on Saturday squarely blamed the Modi govt for the death of 84-year-old tribal rights activist Stan Swamy in a Jharkhand prison in 2021, calling it an injustice that cannot be undone. Read more
Father Stan’s legacy: The dream of justice for the Adivasis continues in Ranchi
07/07/2025
Herald Malaysia / by Alessandra De Poli
Four years after the death of the Jesuit who dedicated his life to defending the land rights of India’s indigenous peoples, the Bagaicha centre, which he founded in the State of Jharkhand, continues to fight for the poor. Despite threats and continuous mining, Jesuits and activists continue their mission to accompany tribal communities in claiming their rights, in the name of Father Stan Swamy, a symbol of justice for new generations too. Read more
Leaders of INDIA bloc parties remember tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, slams UAPA
07/07/2025
The Telegraph / by M.R. Venkatesh
Unveiling a bust of Fr Stan at St Peter’s Higher Secondary School in Viragalur village near Tiruchirappalli, DMK MP K. Kanimozhi remembered how the octogenarian who had fought for the rights of tribals all his life was denied a straw and a sipper in jail
Leaders of INDIA bloc parties have called upon the Centre to repeal the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which they alleged was being used as a tool to crush dissent, as they paid homage to tribal rights activist Stan Swamy at his native village in Tamil Nadu on his fourth death anniversary on Saturday. Read more
‘Pilgrim of hope’ Fr Stan Swamy remembered on anniversary
07/07/2025
The Tablet / by Rita Joseph
Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said Fr Stan had been targeted for defending the rights of tribal peoples to forests, water and mineral-rich lands that the government wanted to exploit.
Memorial meetings across India commemorated the tribal rights activist Fr Stan Swamy SJ on the fourth anniversary of his death on Saturday. Read more
Activists call for legal protection, remembering Indian priest’s death
08/07/2025
UCA News / by UCA News reporter
84-year-old Jesuit Stan Swamy died in custody after being denied bail on medical grounds
A call to protect Indian activists from state repression was made on the death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who died as an undertrial five years ago.Political leaders from the ruling alliance in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Swamy’s home state, endorsed the call by Jesuits and rights activists for legal measures to protect activists working for the socially and financially disadvantaged. Read more
Father Stan Swamy was killed for standing up for the rights of Adivasis
10/07/2025
Countercurrents.org / by Dr Suresh Khairnar
Father Stan Swamy had never visited Bhima Koregaon in his life, in which he was arrested by the NIA in October 2020. And there is no reason for him to have any connection with Elgar Parishad. Because that Parishad was formed by more than two hundred social organizations of Maharashtra to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas (on 1 January 2018). In which I myself was a member in the capacity of President from Rashtra Seva Dal. And after celebrating Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas on 1 January 2018, that Parishad has no existence after that. It was formed purely for the program to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas in 2018. Read more
