For many Indian women jail sets them free. ‘Home had become a prison’
13/02/2026
The Print / by Sakhi Mehra
Seema Azad’s Unsilenced and From Phansi Yard by activist-lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj were the topic of discussion at Delhi’s Press Club last week. Both books were born of incarceration.
In prison, for all its cruelty, one can still breathe—unlike many other spaces in society. That was the unsettling truth that became the centre of a book discussion at the Press Club of India on 7 February. Writers, activists, and scholars gathered to talk about incarceration as a lived reality. Read more
Beyond Bars and Charges: What Women’s Jail Diaries Reveal About Society
09/02/2026
Outlook / by Mrinalini Dhyani
At a discussion on women’s prison writings, the conversation centred on memoirs by two women political prisoners, Unsilenced: The Jail Diary of an Activist by Seema Azad and Phansi Yard by Sudha Bharadwaj which brought together feminist historian Uma Chakravarti, activist-journalist Seema Azad, legal scholar Shailza Sharma, and researcher Mary, among others.
Incarceration in India is not an exception but a long-standing social reality, one that has shaped women’s lives across generations, from the years immediately after Independence to the present moment of prolonged undertrial detention. This was the central argument that emerged at a discussion on women’s prison writings held at the Press Club of India on Saturday evening. Read more
▪ From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada Author: Sudha Bhardwaj Publishing Date: Oct 2023 Publisher: Juggernaut Pages: 216 Read more/order
▪ The Cell and the Soul – A Prison Memoir
Author: Anand Teltumbde
Publishing Date: Sep 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Pages: 256 Read more/order
▪ The Feared – Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners Author: Neeta Kolhatkar Publishing Date: Dec 2024 Publisher: S&S India Pages: 272 Read more/order
▪ 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 Read more / order
Book Launch | ‘Never Imagined I’d Be Qualified For Arrest, Let Alone Write a Prison Memoir’: Anand Teltumbde
Anand Teltumbde’s Memoir ‘The Cell and the Soul’ is An Important Read to Understand Post-2014 India
03/11/2025
The Wire / by Apoorvanand
Prison mirrors society in its hierarchies. Its walls replicate the structures of caste, class, and privilege with cruel precision. This book joins a growing canon of India’s prison literature.
The history of the enterprise of language in Hindutva-dominated India after 2014 will surely reserve a significant, if dark, place for prison literature. By “prison literature,” we mean the books, essays, and poems written by those imprisoned – accounts born of the experience of incarceration. Read more
‘Never Imagined I’d Be Qualified For Arrest, Let Alone Write a Prison Memoir’: Anand Teltumbde
02/11/2025
The Wire / by The Wire Staff
Speaking at the launch of his new book ‘The Cell and the Soul’, Teltumbde said his incarceration “exposed the inversion of Ambedkar’s republic into one of repression”.
“I never imagined I would write a prison memoir,” scholar Anand Teltumbde said at the launch of his latest book The Cell and the Soul, adding: “I never thought I’d be qualified for arrest.”
Written during his 31-month stint of pre-trial imprisonment between April 2020 and November 2022, The Cell and the Soul is Teltumbde’s documentation of “a heartless state that criminalises dissent with political imprisonment, of the relentless grind of injustice and the profound cost of speaking truth to power”, per the website of its publisher Bloomsbury India. Read more
No mosquito nets, no medicine—Teltumbde recounts life in prison in ‘The Cell and the Soul’
02/11/2025
The Print / by Cauvery Bhalla
The Bombay High Court granted him bail in November 2022, finding insufficient evidence of Teltumbde’s involvement; the Supreme Court upheld this decision, and he was released on November 26, 2022.
Civil rights activist and author Anand Teltumbde never thought he would ever be writing a prison memoir. He also never thought he would ever see the inside of a prison.
On Thursday, as Teltumbde spoke about his book, ‘The Cell and the Soul’, in his book launch at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, he thanked the government for the opportunity, for the “unexpected reward”. Read more
I never thought I’d qualify for arrest, says Teltumbde
01/11/2025
Hindustan Times / by Prateem Rohanekar
On Thursday, ‘The Cell and the Soul’ was launched, a prison memoir by scholar and human rights activist Dr Anand Teltumbde, written during his incarceration in the Taloja Central Jail under the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case
The haunting strains of Hum Dekhenge, Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s timeless song of resistance, filled the auditorium at the Marathi Patrakar Sangh on Thursday evening, setting the tone for an evening of remembrance, reflection and resistance. Read more
“The people are naked before the government but the government is opaque to them”
31/10/2025
The Caravan / by Ajeet Mahale
Anand Teltumbde on the caste census and his prison memoir
… Ajeet Mahale, an assistant editor at The Caravan, spoke to Teltumbde about his recent writing, ideas of the caste census, recollections of time in prison and life afterwards, the criminalisation of dissent and more. Read more
Video | ‘Called a Terrorist, Denied COVID Treatment’: Anand Teltumbde Talks Jail Horrors
en | 48:23min | 2025
The Quint / Eshwar Gole in conversation with Anand Teltumbde
Anand Teltumbde, social activist accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, discusses imprisonment, Ambedkar, and caste.
On the landmark 50th episode of Badi Badi Baatein, Teltumbde revisits the years that tested his faith in the justice system, recalls the silences of prison nights, the impact on his family, the fleeting warmth of letters from home — and the unshakeable spirit of Father Stan Swamy, who became a symbol of moral courage. Read more Watch video
Video | Anand Teltumbde opens up about his years in prison
en | 42:12min | 2025 Video production team: Akhtarista Ansari, Saleem Ul Haq, Sonia Chand & Nidhi Jacob
Maktoob / Nikita Jain in conversation with Anand Teltumbde
Human rights defender and scholar Anand Teltumbde opens up about his years in prison, his new autobiography The Cell and the Soul, and what life has been like since his release with Maktoob’s Nikita Jain. Teltumbde, implicated in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case in 2018, spent 31 months in jail before being released on bail in November 2022. He reflects on the emotional toll of incarceration, the losses he faced, and the strength that kept him going. Watch as Teltumbde discusses survival, resistance, and reclaiming life after imprisonment, a powerful account of endurance and conviction. Watch video
Noted social activist Anand Teltumbde entered the Taloja Central Prison as accused number 10 in the Bhima Koregaon case and spent 31 months as an undertrial until he was released on bail. As an intellectual who was stripped of his freedom, he lays bares the chilling realities of India’s prisons in his gut-wrenching prison memoir. Part memoir, part diary, Cell and the Soul is a descent into the heart of India’s carceral state, ripping open the belly of the beast-the prison industrial complex-and exposing the brutal, pulsating injustice within.
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. 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 (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.
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. Read more
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). Read more
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). Read more
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
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. 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
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
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
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
Lawyers demand protection from harassment, sexism, and state repression as AILAJ finalizes draft Advocates’ Protection Bill after month-long campaign.
All India Lawyers Association of Justice (AILAJ) Delhi culminated its month-long campaign for the enactment of an Advocates’ Protection Act in a state-level consultation held on 12 April at the Press Club of India. …
Advocate Rohin Bhatt … urged that the Bill must have provisions that discourage the state from maliciously prosecuting lawyers, as it has done to lawyers like Sudha Bhardwaj and Surendra Gadling in the Bhima Koregaon case. Read more
▪ Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails
By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022
en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails. Watch video
How an unsophisticated malware attack became India’s biggest state-sponsored cybercrime / Online Conversation
Click to enlarge | Credits: Mouli Sharma / The Polis Project
The Polis Project / by Mouli Sharma and Prashant Rahi
This is the third report in a three-part investigative series on the Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon case. Read part one here and part two here.
In October 2014, five months after the arrest of the professor GN Saibaba, Stan Swamy’s computer was hacked. Unbeknown to the world, the nascent stages of investigation against the prime accused in the Elgar Parishad case, who came to be monikered the BK-16, had already begun in 2014 – four years before any of the arrests even took place.
The unknown attacker used a Remote Access Trojan – or RAT – sent through targeted phishing emails to compromise Swamy’s computer. Read more
Dispatches: A Conversation on unravelling the Elgar Parishad / Bhima Koregaon case
Conjuring the BK16 Myth: How the Elgar Parishad case rests on fiction and deception
21/03/2025
The Polis Project / by Prashant Rahi and Mouli Sharma
This is the second report in a three-part investigative series on the Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon case. Read part one here.
Three months after a Hindutva mob attacked a peaceful gathering of Dalit-Bahujan men, women, and children, a cabal from the Pune Urban Police mounted a bizarre prosecution, holding 16 eminent human rights defenders (HRDs) responsible for the Elgar Parishad, an anti-caste event held in the city, a day before. The infamous case has, however, come to draw its name less from the event, and more from the calamitous gathering that assembled on both sides of the river Bhima, on 1st January 2018, to pay homage to an obelisk-shaped martyrs’ column, at Perne Phata, opposite the village of Koregaon. In the months that followed, the HRDs were imprisoned in waves of arrests across the country, with no evidence so far linking them to the mob violence. Read more
