Statements – free them all

The death of the 84-year-old Catholic priest, Stan Swamy, marked the end of India’s secularism

08/04/2026 Asha

Christian Post / by Azeem Ibrahim

On July 5, 2021, Father Stanislaus Lourduswamy — an 83-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist — died in pre-trial custody in Mumbai, India.
Frail from Parkinson’s disease and a COVID-19 infection, he had spent nine months behind bars under India’s anti-terror laws, denied bail despite his deteriorating health. His alleged crime was implausible: authorities accused him of sedition and links to Maoist insurgents — charges widely derided as baseless. To many, his imprisonment and death became a symbol of a constitutional democracy being quietly hollowed out.
Read more

Also read:
▪ The Siege of Faith: A year-long analysis of the persecution and otherisation of Christians in India (SabrangIndia / March 2026)
▪ Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative (Countercurrents / Feb 2026)
▪ Report 2025: Hate Speech Events in India (Center for the Study of Organized Hate / Jan 2026)
▪ Indian Jesuits to continue fight to clear Father Stan Swamy’s name (UCA News / Dec 2025)
▪ INDIA | USCIRF–RECOMMENDED FOR COUNTRIES OF PARTICULAR CONCERN (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom / 2025)
▪ Father Stan Swamy died of natural causes, Maharashtra government tells court (India Today / Oct 2025)
▪ Modi government’s actions against the Christian minority reveal a deep malaise within our society (Scroll.in / Mar 2022)

Prashant Bose died in custody – was linked to an alleged ‘communication’ in the Bhima Koregaon case

04/04/2026 Asha

Prashant Bose. Pic credits: Countercurrents.org

Top Maoist dies in Ranchi, was linked to ‘plot to kill PM Modi’ in Pune case

04/04/2026

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Bose was one of the many accused named in the Elgaar Parishad- Koregaon Bhima case by the Pune city police in 2018. He was named in connection with an alleged “Maoist communication” that mentioned a plot to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A top Maoist leader Prashant Bose alias Kishan Da, aged around 80 years, died at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi on Friday. A native of West Bengal, Bose was arrested along with his wife Sheela Marandi in November 2021, and has been behind bars since then.
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CASR strongly condemns the custodial murder of political prisoner Prashant Bose

04/04/2026

Countercurrents.org / by Campaign Against State Repression

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) strongly condemns the custodial death of octogenarian political prisoner Prashant Bose, who passed away on 3rd April at RIMS Hospital, Ranchi, Jharkhand.
…
CASR demands:
▪ A high-level, independent judicial inquiry into the custodial death of Prashant Bose.
▪ Immediate and adequate medical treatment for all prisoners across jails.
▪ Urgent release of all prisoners suffering from severe and life-threatening medical conditions.
Read full statement

Also read:
▪ I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
▪ Was the trial judge who convicted G.N. Saibaba biased? We will never know, and that is part of the injustice (The Leaflet / March 2024)
▪ Elgar Parishad Case: CPI (Maoist) Leader Arrested in Jharkhand (The Wire / Nov 2021)
▪ The unravelling of a conspiracy: were the 16 charged with plotting to kill India’s prime minister framed? (The Guardian / Aug 2021)
▪ They were accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government. The evidence was planted, a new report says. (Washington Post / Feb 2021)

IAPL demands release of advocate Surendra Gadling from Maharashtra jail

31/03/2026 Asha

The Sisat Daily / by News Desk

Advocate Surendra Gadling is the only one to continue languishing in the jail in the Bhima Koregaon case, after 15 other accused have been released on bail, some with conditions.
Hyderabad: The Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) on Monday, March 30, demanded the immediate release of it’s general secretary and eminent advocate from Nagpur Surendra Gadling, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon and the Surajgarh mine arson cases in Maharashtra for the past eight years.
Gadling is the only one to continue languishing in jail in the Bhima Koregaon case after 15 others accused have been released on bail with some conditions. His discharge petition has been posted for hearing in the Supreme Court this week.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Public Meeting at Press Club of India Demands Release of People’s Lawyer Surendra Gadling (The Mooknayak / March 2026)
▪ NIA Conducts Coordinated Raids on Rights Activists Across 62 Locations in Andhra, Telangana (The Wire / Oct 2023)
▪ First, They Came For the Lawyers… (The Wire / Nov 2019)
▪ IAPL press note about arrest of Advocate Gadling & other people’s activists (Sanhati / June 2018)
▪ Encountering Resistance – State Policy for Development in Gadchiroli (PUDR / June 2018)

Public Meeting at Press Club of India Demands Release of People’s Lawyer Surendra Gadling

13/03/2026 Asha

Public Meeting at Press Club of India Demands Release of People’s Lawyer Surendra Gadling

13/03/2026

The Mooknayak English / by Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)

Activist Surendra Gadling is detained for his human rights and civil rights work for marginalized religious communities.

Press Release by Campaign Against State Repression
New Delhi, 12 March

Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) organised a public meeting at the Press Club of India on 12 March demanding the immediate release of people’s lawyer Surendra Gadling, who has been incarcerated in the Bhima Koregaon case. Lawyers, journalists, and academics addressed the gathering, highlighting the implications of the case for democratic rights, civil liberties, and the independence of the legal profession.
Read the full press release

By Manish Azad (March 2, 2026:)
Join Public Meeting in Solidarity with People’s Advocate Surendra Gadling
Release Surendra Gadling immediately !!
Release All Political Prisoners !!

Also read:
▪ CASR Condemns Abduction and Brutal Torture of Activists by Delhi Police Special Cell (Countercurrents.org / March 18, 2026)

▪ Surendra Gadling and the justice that must be seen to be denied (Frontline / Feb 2026)
▪ Explained: The 2016 Surjagarh arson case, the Elgaar link, and why the Supreme Court is intervening now (The Indian Express / Jan 2026)
▪ 6 yrs, no charges framed – Surendra Gadling stuck in trial limbo in 2016 Surajgarh arson case (The Print / Sep 2025)
▪ In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict (Frontline / 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)
▪ Gadling in jail. Reason? As lawyer-activist he has been ‘unpleasant’ to India’s topcops (Counterview / Dec 2020)

Artists, Educators, Publishers Speak Out Against ‘Rising Attempts’ to Stifle Their Voices

12/03/2026 Asha

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

“These attacks have taken place in various forms, but each follows a pattern of impunity enabled by a rising culture of intolerance and suppression.”
A collective of artists, authors, publishers and educators have issued a statement condemning “rising attempts” to curtail free speech and creative voices in India. Referring to incidents including Anand Teltumbde’s panel being cancelled at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival and water being thrown at historian S. Irfan Habib, the signatories say that “these disruptions set a dangerous precedent if left unaddressed in the current political climate”.
Read more / the full statement

Also read:
▪ Mumbai Press Club Bars Elgar Parishad Defendants’ Entry, Issues Show-Cause Notice to Member (The Wire / March 2026)
▪ ‘Controversy best avoided’: Kala Ghoda festival director after Anand Teltumbde book event cancelled (Scroll.in / Feb 2026)
▪ Stan Swamy Lecture Cancelled – A Case Study in India’s Shrinking Space for Dissent (The Print / Aug 2025)

CASR Condemns NIA Notice to Anti-Displacement Activist Damodar Turi

23/02/2026 Asha

Countercurrents.org / by Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) strongly condemns the recent actions of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Hyderabad, which has issued a notice to Damodar Turi, a long-time anti-displacement activist, in connection with FIR RC-04/2025/HYDERABAD. This case, initiated two months ago, is yet another example of the state’s ongoing harassment of individuals who challenge the exploitation and marginalization of indigenous communities, particularly those resisting displacement due to mining and industrialization.
Damodar Turi, a dedicated activist for over three decades, has been at the forefront of movements against the forced displacement of Adivasis and indigenous communities in Jharkhand and across India. As a founding member of the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan (VVJVA), a pan-India anti-displacement organization, Damodar Turi has worked alongside other prominent human rights advocates, including Stan Swamy and B.D. Sharma, to raise awareness about the systematic dispossession of tribal people from their land in the name of development.
Read full statement

Also read:
▪ Voices From Prison | Half-Freedom For Adivasis Jailed On Maoist Allegations (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Voices From Prison | From Forest To Prison, When Security Laws Criminalise Adivasi Resistance (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Will anti-Naxal drive pave way for mining giants? (The New Indian Express / May 2025)
▪ Top intellectual targeted for role as anti-displacement activist, opponent of ‘corporate loot’ (Sep 2024)
▪ Jharkhand police to probe into Maoist links with Stan Swamy’s ‘Bagaicha’, 63 other frontal organisations (The New Indian Express / Sep 2023)
▪ CASR: Release activists incarcerated in Bhima Koregaon Case (Countercurrents.org / June 2023)
▪ NIA Opposes Stan Swamy’s Bail; Calls PUCL, Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan ‘Maoist Fronts’ (The Wire / Jan 2021)

“Bhima Koregaon” prosecution: The punishment continues

22/02/2026 Asha

pudr.org / by People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Five years and five months after their arrest in the “Bhima Koregaon” case on 7 September 2020, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor were granted bail by the Bombay High Court on 23 January 2026 and released. The detailed order that was uploaded by the court recently grants bail on grounds of delay in trial and parity with co-accused already on bail. Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor are cultural activists. The bail order’s importance is in its application of the consistent jurisprudence of the Supreme Court on delay and infringement of fundamental rights of prisoners.
Read full statement

▪ Bhima Koregaon Poster Campaign: State’s Capacity to Create Laws for Targeting and Silencing Dissenters (PUDR, Aug 2025)

Also read:
▪ Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case: 16 accused, 1 dead, 1 in custody, 14 out on bail. The bail diaries (The Indian Express / Feb 2026)
▪ Bail for Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor, five years and five months after arrest (SabrangIndia / Jan 2026)
▪ In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict (Frontline / Aug 2025)
▪ The Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill Perpetuates India’s Banning Regime (PUDR / Aug 2025)
▪ Five years behind bars for five activists (PUDR / June 2023)

‘I have empirical basis… I stand by what I’ve written, I’ve no regrets’: Gautam Navlakha

17/02/2026 Asha

Bail ! Gautam with his partner Sabha Husain. May 2024.

The Indian Express / by Vineet Bhalla

Back in Delhi after being released on bail in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, Navlakha says he is thankful to the govt for bringing the co-accused together, says ‘knew only 2 of the 15 earlier’.
Finally home at his Delhi residence after nearly six years – four of which were spent in jail and house arrest – Gautam Navlakha offers a wry observation about the state’s crackdown that upended his life. The 73-year-old journalist, writer and human rights activist notes that before the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, he knew only two of his 15 co-accused personally.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Voices From Prison: In The Isolation of the Anda Ward, We Dared To Sing, Writes Gautam Navlakha (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Bombay High Court allows Gautam Navlakha to return to Delhi, relaxes restrictive bail condition in Bhima Koregaon Case (Sabrang India / Dec 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

Unlawful: Editorial on the Bhima Koregaon case and denial of liberty under UAPA

12/02/2026 Asha

The Telegraph / by The Editorial Board

After eight years, no charges have been framed. This is a shocking failure of the operations of justice that brings up disturbing questions about the commitment to the Constitution
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act makes bail difficult for those charged under it. It seems, however, that clapping UAPA on persons by accusing them of Maoist links, of plots to incite violence and conspiracy against the State, gives authorities a free hand to curtail the freedom of the accused even after bail is granted. Of the 16 people arrested under the UAPA for the Bhima-Koregaon violence in 2018, 14 were granted bail after an average of five years or more.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Inside the NIA’s ‘Perfect’ Conviction Record: How Coercive Detentions Are Driving Guilty Pleas (The Wire / Dec 2025)
▪ Elgaar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case: 16 accused, 1 dead, 1 in custody, 14 out on bail. The bail diaries (The Indian Express / Feb 2026)
▪ Bail for Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor, five years and five months after arrest (SabrangIndia / Jan 2026)
▪ In Surendra Gadling’s case, adjournment becomes the verdict (Frontline / Aug 2025)
▪ UAPA – CRIMINALISING DISSENT AND STATE TERROR – Study of UAPA Abuse in India, 2009-2022 (PUCL / Sep 2022). Download report

Teltumbde Slams Police After Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Cancels Book Event / Response by Kala Ghoda director

04/02/2026 Asha

‘Controversy is best avoided, festival safety paramount’: Kala Ghoda director

13/02/2026

The Indian Express / by Heena Khandelwal

First response on dropping discussion involving Teltumbde
In her first response on the cancellation of a discussion involving activist Anand Teltumbde at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) on the orders of the Mumbai Police, festival director Brinda Miller said she was unaware of the controversy until the police reached out to her.
Read more

‘Controversy best avoided’: Kala Ghoda festival director after Anand Teltumbde book event cancelled

13/02/2026

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

A book discussion at the Mumbai festival featuring the activist was scheduled for February 6 but was cancelled on the orders of the Mumbai Police.
A week after a book discussion at Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda Arts Festival featuring activist Anand Teltumbde was cancelled on police orders, the director of the festival said it was best to “avoid controversy and unnecessary sensationalism”, The Indian Express reported.
Read more

Will You Go With Anand Teltumbde?

05/02/2026

The Wire / by S. Anand

After his event in a Kala Ghoda event was cancelled, activist Anand Teltumbde discussed the Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna with a friend, focusing on his explorations of presence and absence.
That Anand Teltumbde, the Annihilator, who lives in a small part of a very large building called Rajgruha in Mumbai, was going to attend the ongoing Kala Ghoda Arts Festival was not known to us at Navayana. Most of the world minus the minor elites of Mumbai and those plugged into lit fest circuits would not have known about this festival or this one small event within it. Then the state gets in on the act. Cancel, they say, and the organisers of KGAF, whose slogan tellingly is ‘ahead of the curve’, quickly oblige before apologising to Teltumbde and his fellow panellists with a ‘Hi all’ email. The show, as they say, must go on.
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‘Cancel culture’: Discussion with activist Anand Teltumbde at Kala Ghoda festival scrapped amid backlash

05/02/2026

The Print / by Purva Chitnis

A book discussion scheduled Thursday featuring scholar and civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde at Mumbai’s famous Kala Ghoda festival was cancelled allegedly on orders of the Mumbai Police.
Scroll editor Naresh Fernandes was to moderate a discussion titled ‘Incarcerated: Tales from Behind Bars’ also featuring author-journalist Neeta Kolhatkar, who penned the book, ‘The Feared: Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners,’ on 5 February.
Read more

Cops halt talk on Teltumbde’s book at KGAF

05/02/2026

Hindustan Times / by Vinay Dalvi

The event encompassed a discussion on activist and accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case Anand Teltumbde’s book ‘The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir’
Mumbai police denied permission for a programme titled Incarcerated: Tales from Behind Bars, which was slated to be held on Thursday as part of the ongoing Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF), late on Tuesday night. The event encompassed a discussion on activist and accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case Anand Teltumbde’s book ‘The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir’ and journalist Neeta Kolhatkar’s recently published work ‘The Feared: Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners’, at the David Sassoon Library and Reading Room.
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‘Ridiculous’: Anand Teltumbde Slams Police After Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Cancels Book Event

04/02/2026

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Calling the police’s interference “ridiculous”, Teltumbde said that the development feels strange, especially when his book has been in the public domain for some time and public events around his books have been happening over the past many months.
Claiming that the Mumbai police have denied permission, the organisers of Mumbai’s well-known Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) have cancelled a book discussion in which civil rights activist and academic Anand Teltumbde was scheduled to speak. The event, titled Incarcerated: Tales from Behind Bars, was meant to be held on Thursday evening. The cancellation was communicated through an email late evening on February 3.
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Book Event On Undertrial Prisoners At Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Cancelled After Right-Wing Uproar

04/02/2026

Outlook India / by Priyanka Tupe

Organisers of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival cancelled a panel discussion on incarceration and political prisoners late on February 3, citing police pressure after an uproar by right wing social media users. The event was to feature Anand Teltumbde, Neeta Kolhatkar, and Naresh Fernandes at Mumbai’s David Sassoon Library Garden.
‘Incarcerated: tales from behind bars’ an event part of the renowned Kala Ghoda festival in Mumbai has been cancelled by the organisers at midnight of February 3. Participants Anand Teltumbde, eminent writer and under trial prisoner of the Bhima Koregaon case, journalist and writer Neeta Kolhatkar and journalist Naresh Fernandes were among the panellists.
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Anand Teltumbde book discussion dropped from Kala Ghoda Festival after online backlash, organisers cite police request

04/02/2026

The Indian Express / by Heena Khandelwal

Festival director calls decision “unforeseen and unfortunate”; Police sources cite ‘inappropriate’ use of govt, police banner with guest who had been arrested in the past.
A book discussion featuring activist and academic Anand Teltumbde at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) was cancelled on Tuesday night, allegedly following directions from the Mumbai Police, soon after details of the event were made public.
Read more

▪ The Cell and the Soul – A Prison Memoir

Author: Anand Teltumbde
Publishing Date: Sep 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Pages: 256
Read more/order

Also read:
▪Book Launch | ‘Never Imagined I’d Be Qualified For Arrest, Let Alone Write a Prison Memoir’: Anand Teltumbde (The Wire / Nov 2025)
▪Bombay HC refuses to allow Bhima Koregaon accused Anand Teltumbde to travel abroad for lectures (Scroll.in / Oct 2025)
▪ Maharashtra Special Public Security Act, Pre-Emptive Criminalisation And Indefinite Surveillance (Outlook | by Anand Teltumbde | Aug 2025)

▪ The Feared – Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners

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

▪ Maharashtra: Activists, Lawyers Added to ‘Union War Book’, Listed as ‘Enemies of the State’ (The Wire / Jul 2021)