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Who is Sudha Bharadwaj?

Who is Sudha Bharadwaj?

Sudha Bharadwaj

Nov 2019

By Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy

Maaysha, Sudha’s daughter: “If fighting for the rights of adivasis, fighting for workers and peasants, fighting against repression and exploitation and giving up one s whole life for them is being a naxalite then I guess naxalites are pretty good.”

“The 6th Annual Harvard Law International Women’s Day Portrait Exhibit showcases the astounding contributions of women around the world to the areas of law and policy. The honorees — each of whom were nominated by HLS students, faculty or staff — are powerful voices in their respective fields, whether they are sitting on a high court bench, standing in front of a classroom, or marching in the streets.”

Or whether they are sitting in jail.

Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj is a 2019 honoree of the Harvard Law International Women’s day exhibition and is sitting in a jail cell in Pune. How did these conflicting positions come about?

Sudha grew up to illustrious parents, and spent the first part of her life as an American citizen. In the next 30 years of her life, she worked tirelessly in Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM) as a trade unionist and eventually as a lawyer after the CMM, hamstrung in their legal battles by unscrupulous lawyers, found in her the courage and integrity needed to challenge powerful opponents in the courtrooms.

She founded Janhit, giving rigorous legal aid to several industrial workers, villages fighting acquisition and mining, Adivasi communities fighting for forest rights, environmental cases and PIL litigation. Janhit led cases against powerful industrial houses such as Jindal, Vedanta, BALCO, Lafarge Holcim, D.B. Power, Vandana Vidyut, SECL, Bhilai Steel Plant, Monnet Steel, Adani, Hindalco, Grasim, Ultratech and others.

Sudha was instrumental in rebuilding the PUCL group after the arrest and incarceration of its then-President, Dr. Binayak Sen. During this time, she was appointed as the General Secretary of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and worked on issues of human trafficking and attacks on minorities. She also assisted families of victims of human rights violations looked upon as casualties in the conflict zone of Bastar and supported journalists and activists who dared raise their voices and pen against the State excesses in Bastar. She was elected recently as Vice President of the Indian Association of Peoples’ Lawyers (IAPL) and was active in campaigns against attacks on Dalit and human rights lawyers in Chhattisgarh and facilitated an IAPL fact-finding into it.

Sudha was arrested from her Faridabad home which she was sharing with her daughter, Maaysha. During this time, she was a Visiting Professor at the National Law University Delhi, taking Seminar Courses on tribal rights, land acquisition, and the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. This year she was to have taught “Law and Justice in a Globalising World”. Sadly, and ironically, she can’t teach the class as she is in jail. The loss, the students inform us, is all theirs.

Her daughter Maaysha, has in several letters candidly brought to fore Sudha’s tireless spirit and her commitment to her work, “If fighting for the rights of Adivasis, fighting for workers and peasants, fighting against repression and exploitation and giving up one’s whole life for them is being a Naxalite then I guess Naxalites are pretty good.”

Guneet Ahuja, Advocate, Delhi, in an open letter writes about Sudha, “On my first meeting with Sudha ji, I asked her about the competing narratives regarding the condition of indigenous communities in Bastar. Her reply left a deep impact on me: “For a pedestrian on a narrow lane, the car driver is causing the trouble. For the car driver, the pedestrian is the nuisance. Your perspectives change based on where you are placed.”

Sudha is the pedestrian along with all the people she fights for. She believes the road belongs to us. The State is the car who doesn’t want nuisance pedestrians in the way, believes the road belongs to it, and wants it lined with the businesses of its cronies. To the State, Sudha belongs in jail. To us, she is a defender of human rights.

“If you try to be safe and in the middle, you will never succeed.”
Sudha, The Wire

Sudha Bharadwaj Speaks – A Life in Law and Activism


Publisher: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
Edition: January 2021
Language: English
Sudha Bharadwaj’s interview by: Darshana Mitra and Santanu Chakraborty
Pictures credit: PUCL
Cover Design / Layout: Vinay Jain
Paperback: 316 pages

PDF copy: Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism (PUCL, Jan 2021)
…

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Who is Varavara Rao?

Who is Varavara Rao?

Varavara Rao

Nov 2019

By Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy

“When the victory drum started
beating
In the heart of the masses
You mistook it for a person and
trained your guns
Revolution echoed from all
horizons.”

Being thrown into jail is nothing new to the famous Telugu poet Varavara Rao. He has faced at least 25 cases in the last 45 years. His story can be understood through the history of these arrests and the power of his writings, his poetry, his teaching career and his political understandings and analysis of power and oppression, and the path to liberation.
Varavara Rao, or VV was born into a middle class family in Chinna Pendyala, Warangal District, Andhra Pradesh in 1940. He started publishing his poetry at age 17, in 1957, but got interested in revolutionary theory while working as a lecturer at Mahabubnagar. It was during this time that he founded a literature and poetry group called Sahithee Mithrulu and a non-political journal named Srujana to eventually join the Tirugubadu Kavulu (Rebel Poets), who were sympathetic to the armed struggle going on in Srikakulam.
During this time, VV founded the Virasam or Viplava Rachayitala Sangham (Revolutionary Writers’ Association), an association banned by the Andhra Pradesh government in August 2005. The ban was later struck down by the AP High Court in November 2005.
VV, now 74, has published 15 poetry collections of his own, besides having edited a number of anthologies. His poetry has been translated into almost all Indian languages and have appeared in Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and Bengali. His thesis on ‘Telangana Liberation Struggle and Telugu Novel – A Study into Interconnection between Society and Literature’ published in 1983 is considered to be one of the finest works of Marxist critical studies done in Telugu. While in prison he translated Kenyan writer, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s prison diary ‘Detained’ and his novel ‘Devil on the Cross’ into Telugu. He also wrote his own prison diary Sahacharulu (1990), which was translated into English as Captive Imagination.
VV was first arrested under the infamous Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in Andhra Pradesh, in 1973. He was then arrested during Emergency and was re-arrested at the entrance of the jail and kept imprisoned for an additional week when the Emergency was lifted. He survived many attempts on his life post-Emergency.
He was among the 46 accused of conspiring to overthrow the Andhra Pradesh government in the Secunderabad conspiracy case, and was sent to jail once again in 1985. He was also an accused in the Ramnagar conspiracy case where he was accused to have attended a meeting where the plan to kill two Andhra Pradesh Police constables was hatched. He was finally acquitted of the charges after 17 years, in 2003.
He remains a staunch opposer of neo-liberal globalisation and specifically the globalisation policies adopted by Chandrababu Naidu’s government in the ’90s. He went as an emissary for the People’s War Group in the peace negotiations between the Andhra Pradesh government and Naxalites. After multiple rounds of the talks failed, Virasam was banned only to be reinstated later. Following the banning, Rao was arrested once again in 2005 and was released in 2006. He has been arrested four-times since the formation of the new Telangana state in 2014.
VV has faced at least nine cases under the Arms Act of 1959 and the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 over the last four decades. In perhaps the most ridiculous case, he was charged with distributing bombs to ensure the success of a strike against the custodial death of a Radical Students Union activist in 1985. In response, Varavara Rao wrote a memorable poem, titled :

Reflection
I did not supply the explosives
Nor ideas for that matter
It was you who trod with iron heels
Upon the anthill
And from the trampled earth
Sprouted the ideas of vengeance
It was you who struck the beehive
With your lathi
The sound of the scattering bees
Exploded in your shaken facade
Blotched red with fear
When the victory drum started
beating
In the heart of the masses
You mistook it for a person and
trained your guns
Revolution echoed
from all horizons …

WHO IS VARAVARA RAO?

By India Civil Watch

Varavara Rao (VV) was born in Warangal in 1940. He finished his MA in Telugu literature from Osmania University. He worked as a lecturer in several colleges and transformation towards revolutionary ideas started in Varavara Rao’s mind during his tenure in Mahabubnagar district. …

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Who is Shoma Sen?

Who is Shoma Sen?

By Mumbai Rises To Save Democracy

In one of her letters to her daughter, Shoma writes, “They can keep me locked inside, but my mind is completely free”

A reputed academician, a Dalit and Women’s Rights activist, a teacher and dissenter, Shoma Sen is all of the above and more. Born and raised in Mumbai, she moved to Nagpur with her partner and daughter with a strong resolve to protect and promote democratic rights of the most marginalised people in the society.

Shoma has been a respected academic for almost three decades. She has been actively involved with the Women’s Department of Wardha Vishwavidyalaya and taught in various colleges across Nagpur. During the time of her arrest she was the Head of the Department of English at Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University. She has written extensively on post-colonialism and women’s studies for several decades. …

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Who is Arun Ferreira?

Who is Arun Ferreira?

By India Civil Watch

Arun Ferreira is a human rights lawyer from Mumbai, India. He is a member of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) and the Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL). He studied at Mumbai’s St. Xavier’s College where he developed a strong social conscience, and organised the institution’s canteen workers to demand better work conditions. After college, he worked with slum dwellers in Mumbai before becoming a community organiser in Vidarbha (rural Maharashtra state). …

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Who is Vernon Gonsalves?

Who is Vernon Gonsalves?

By Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy

Characterised by a loose cotton half sleeve shirt, loose trousers, spectacles, a jhola and a hearty laughter, Vernon Gonsalves comes across as an effervescent wise man. Gonsalves gets along well with everyone from the age of six to sixty. His demeanour reflects an inner happiness. He started a band in college, but gave it up to be a part of people’s movements. His songs still hold the flavour of 70s rock.
Vernon’s pen is as sharp as his vision for an equitable, just society without distinctions of class, caste, race, with principles of gender equality and justice at its core. He is an acute political observer and makes nuanced arguments about complex sociopolitical-economic issues. Vernon has shown a keenness to understand the latest undercurrents in progressive politics.
He was born to a Mangalorean Catholic couple and grew up in a chawl in a modest locality in Byculla in Mumbai. Vernon was always good with academics and won a gold medal in Commerce from Mumbai University. Subsequently, he left his corporate job in Siemens to work with trade unions, workers, slum dwellers and the working class in Mumbai. During this period, he taught in prominent colleges in Mumbai including Ruparel College, HR College of Commerce and Economics, and Akbar Peerbhoy College of Commerce and Economics. Very few know that, in college he wanted to be a musician. Rumours say that he had also started a band but could not find meaning in it.
Around 1983, he moved to Chandrapur near Nagpur to work with unorganised sector workers including the coal-mine workers in the area. In 1984, he married fellow activist Susan Abraham. It was a union of two unique and fiercely independent minds. They worked in Chandrapur for a decade. After their son Sagar was born in 1994, they returned to Mumbai.
On 19 August 2007, the Maharashtra ATS arrested Vernon from his residence in Andheri, Mumbai. His arrest was falsely shown as from the residence of his co-accused S. Shridhar in Govandi. They were charged with being “top-level” Naxalites having explosives in their possession. For some months prior to this, Vernon had been working for the rights of tribal communities in the Maharashtra district of Chandrapur. 20 cases were filed against him. He spent nearly six years in jail while his trial dragged on as an undertrial. He was acquitted in 18 cases, convicted in one against which his appeal is pending in the Nagpur HC while the application for discharge in the last case in Gujarat is pending before the High Court.
During his years as an undertrial in jail, Vernon spent most of his time writing. He is now working on a collection of prison writings. He edited a set of short stories written while imprisoned, one of which, “Jailbird Jabbar” was written in a typical staccato Bambaiya patois style. He also translated stories by Annabhau Sathe from Marathi to English for Aleph Publication’s “A Clutch of Short Stories.” After his release he wrote articles on prevailing law, rights of Dalit and tribal communities, the condition of prisons in India, land grabbing by the nexus of Corporates and the Government, misuse of the criminal justice system by the governments against marginalised communities, and scrapping of UAPA. One of his last published articles titled “Harsher Punishments and Retributive Criminal Justice” is a landmark commentary on the trends of crime control vis-a-vis justice system in the country.
Vernon’s son Sagar sums what everyone close to him feels about him:
“Among the many things that I admire greatly about my father is his commitment to his beliefs and ideals.To stand up for what is right and help those whose rights are denied – he has always done that and will continue to do so. This did not deter him the last time and will not do it now as well. He has an unbreakable spirit and will always stay true to what he believes in.”

 

WHO IS VERNON GONSALVES?

By India Civil Watch

Vernon Gonsalves is trade unionist, activist, an academic (former professor of business management in a college in Mumbai) and a writer, who writes extensively on Dalit and adivasi rights, the conditions of prisons in India and the routine violation of rights of prisoners. Along with Arun Ferriera, he has authored a number of popular articles on the condition of Indian jails, the abuse of authority by Indian police, and draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a piece of ‘anti-terror’ legislation with a wide ambit and vague concepts, which allows its misuse against academics, lawyers and human rights defenders. Equally importantly, their writings expose the hypocrisy of democracy in India. …

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Who is Sudhir Dhawale?

Who is Sudhir Dhawale?

Sudhir Dhawale

Nov 2019

By Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy

Sudhir believes that every revolution has to be “unique”

Sudhir Dhawale’s rm commitment to activism is grounded in his belief in justice. Growing up in Indora , a centre of Ambedkarite politics in Nagpur, Sudhir has since his younger days, been actively involved in the struggles for human rights and dignity. He was part of people’s movement in Nagpur until 1994 then moved to Bombay in search of work opportunities.

From 1995, Sudhir Dhawale dedicated his life towards ghting against the atrocities on Dalits and other marginalized communities.. He was active in the streets and in the courts and has worked on incidents of Dalit atrocities such as the Ghatkopar Ramabai Nagar Dalit Hatyakand, in which 10 Dalits were gunned down by the Mumbai police for agitating against the desecration of a Dr. Ambedkar Statue in 1997. He was also involved in the Khairlanji agitation (against the massacre of a Dalit family in 2006), the Baban Misal murder in Ahmadnagar district in 2008, the ruthless murder of Sahebrao Jondhale in Marathwada in 2008, the Sadashiv Salve Guruji murder in Beed district in 2009, the Manorama Kamble gang rape and murder case in Nagpur in 2009, the Rohidas Tupe murder in Palgaon near Aurangabad in 2009, and many more cases of atrocities against Dalits in Maharashtra.

In 2002, following the Gujarat pogrom massacres, he started a Marathi magazine named Vidrohi. It started as a four-page magazine and soon doubled into eight pages. In a few years, it took the shape of a full- edged magazine which was published twice every month and spoke of pertinent issues concerning the country. It continues to play a pivotal role in bringing in the Dalit voice on human rights abuse of Dalits and other minorities across India, and also publishes fact- nding reports and valuable literature.

After the Khairlanji massacre took place in 2006, many Ambedkarite, left and other progressive organizations felt the need to form and drive a movement based on anti- caste politics with a concrete long-term program of caste annihilation. With this understanding, on December 6, 2007 at the Chaityabhoomi in Mumbai, the Republican Panthers Jaatiya Antachi Chalwal (Republican Panthers Caste Annihilation Movement) was formed. Sudhir, one of the founding members of this organisation, with years of experience and political intellect, evolved a new theoretical framework for the Republican Panthers situating the caste annihilation program at its centre. As a cultural group, Republican Panthers brought their revolutionary music and street theatre to the slums, trade unions, school and protests, to describe the atrocity that is the Hindu caste system.

In 2011, the Maharashtra police arrested Dhawale on charges of sedition and of being a member of and providing support to a terrorist organisation. In May 2014, after Dhawale had spent 40 months in incarceration, RG Asmar—a judge presiding over a special UAPA court in Gondia, a district in Maharashtra— pronounced a judgment acquitting Dhawale and eight others of all charges. The judgment was strongly worded, and the court came down heavily against the state police for its investigation.

It is believed that it was the magazine Vidrohi that brought the ire of the establishment and became the reason for his arrest. Upon his release Sudhir did not only increase the reach of Vidrohi but also led many protests and marches on di erent social issues. He was actively leading several joint fronts formed against caste atrocities, like the Jatiya Atyachar Virodhi Kruti Samiti, the Joint Action Committee for Social justice, the Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prearna Abhiyan and many more.
Incidentally, the lawyer who represented him in the 2011 case was Surendra Gadling, his co-accused in the current Bhima Koregaon case.

Sudhir also incorporated his political experiences and understanding on the paper. It was not only through the Vidrohi magazine, but also many books that he wrote and edited, on diverse socio-political issues. During his time in prison, he has written three books. His writings are sharpened through the assimilation of the pain and struggle of the masses.

Sudhir along with others, had called for the Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017, bringing together Dalit, Maratha and Muslim leaders on one platform to commemorate the two- hundredth anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle and to discuss the State’s crackdown on the marginalised sections of the society.

As an organizer, writer, poet, playwright, freelance journalist and editor of Marathi magazine Vidrohi, Sudhir Dhawale has tried to bring the issues of injustice and atrocities against Dalits in the public domain to make democracy a substantive force and movement in the country.

Sudhir’s words are active, gritty, and capable of moving stones.
Sudhir explains that every revolution has to be “unique”.
To our own unique Revolution…

“What sort of a city is this?

What sort of people are you?

When injustice is done there should
be a revolt in the city.

And if there is no revolt,

It were better that the city should
perish in fire before the night falls…”

Lines from The good Person of Szechwan
a play written by Brecht. The lines
in Marathi were quated in the fir for
`provoking´ the crowd present in Elgar Parishad.

Who is Sudhir Dhawale?

By India Civil Watch

After spending close to four years (2011-2014) in jail in India (where he was denied every kind of human right) on charges of being a ‘Naxalite’, Sudhir Dhawale was acquitted of all charges. Reflecting on his traumatic experience, Sudhir soberly identifies his private struggle as being part of a much larger public and collective struggle for democratic values. Sudhir: …

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Who is Mahesh Raut?

Who is Mahesh Raut?

Mahesh Raut

Mahesh Raut

Nov 2019

By Mumbai Rises to Save Democracy

“Mahesh is highly loved and respected in all these villages and one with the people I visited. They treated him as if he were a member of their own house!”

Hailing from Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, Mahesh Raut is a young prominent activist working for the rights of Adivasi communities in his district. Born in Lakhapur, a small village in Maharashtra, Mahesh completed his schooling from Gadchiroli and moved to Nagpur for graduation. He later went on to pursue higher education from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. On completing his education he worked as Prime Minister Rural Development Fellow (PMRDF) in Gadchiroli. He has tirelessly advocated for laws like The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and Forest Rights Act which protect the democratic rights of indigenous communities against unlawful land grabbing by large corporations. Mahesh has consistently worked to protect and promote the rights of the marginalised within a Constitutional framework. On completion of his fellowship, Mahesh decided to continue working with the Adivasi communities in the State.

Mahesh organised and participated in mass movements to abet the cause of social welfare. He was the co-convenor of Visthapan Vidrohi Jan Vikas Andolan (VVJVA) which ghts against the forced displacement of Adivasis and other marginalised people. As a member of VVJVA, Mahesh organised the Tendu leaves workers from Adivasi communities of the region to sell them directly in the market without the involvement of middlemen.

Along with campaigning for the Adivasis of the region, he also joined the Bharat Jan Andolan (BJA), an organisation started by late BD Sharma. Through his work with BJA, Mahesh has been instrumental in organising people for participative decision making in regions a ected by mining projects, including the Surajgarh mining project.

His work against the atrocities of Police and several State authorities led to several cases being led against him. According to a letter drafted by his PMRDF fellows, the State’s crackdown on Mahesh started from 2013 citing his consistent political engagement as one of the reasons for his harassment. His friend and fellow activist Sohini Shoaib, working in Bihar writes about her visit to Gadchiroli, “Mahesh was highly loved and respected in all these villages and one with the people I visited. They treated him as if he were a member of their own house! Some of them even tried to get me to convince him to get married: they thought he worked too hard and did not take care of his health enough. They hoped that nding a partner would help him feel less lonely, help him balance other aspects of life!”

In 2018, Mahesh was picked up by the Pune Police for his alleged involvement in organising the Elgar Parishad and his alleged Maoist links. He was booked under sections of the UAPA and arrested from his residence in Nagpur. Neither was he involved in organising the Elgar Parishad nor did he attend the 31st December events. His arrest is a clear crackdown of the State on Human Rights defenders who are struggling against the State and Corporation nexus. His contributions to promote and uphold Constitutional rights of the marginalised identities have led him to persecution and consequent imprisonment. His incarceration is a standing testament of the State’s repression of Rights’ activists who protect the values of the Constitution which the same State is trampling upon.


Mahesh Raut (left) and Lalsu Narote. Foto credit: Javed Iqbal/ The Wire

Who is Mahesh Raut?

By India Civil Watch

Lalsu Nogoti, an elected district council member from Bhamragad in Maharashtra is speaking about the work of Mahesh Raut:
“He first came to us as a part of the PMRD [Prime Minister’s Rural Development] fellowship in 2013. He would visit every village with other government officials and meticulously note down grievances and parallelly also research on several village and state-level policies that could come to our rescue. His work in the formative years helped us build our struggles in the coming days.”
…

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Who is Rona Wilson?

Who is Rona Wilson?

By India Civil Watch

Rona Wilson is the 47-year old Public Relations Secretary of the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP). He was arrested under the UAPA on June 6, 2018, in Delhi, at the same time as Shoma Sen, Surendra Gadling, and Mahesh Raut in Nagpur and Sudhir Dhawale in Mumbai, and accused of channeling Maoist funds for the Elgar Parishad and fomenting violence in Bhima Koregaon.

…

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Who is Gautam Navlakha?

Who is Gautam Navlakha?

By India Civil Watch

Gautam Navlakha is a Delhi-based veteran journalist, author, civil liberties, human rights and peace activist best known for his fierce and sustained critique of the Indian state’s militarism against its own citizenry in three broad zones – the northeastern states, Kashmir valley, and the central Indian forested zone in Chhattisgarh. He has been actively involved with the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) – one of India’s leading civil liberties and democratic rights defence organizations- working to protect, extend and help implement fundamental rights as guaranteed in the Indian constitution.
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Counting the Caged: What India’s prison data refuses to see

Counting the Caged: What India’s prison data refuses to see

Sabrang / by CJP Team

Two years after NCRB’s Prison Statistics India 2023 report was published, the numbers still read less like history and more like prophecy
The NCRB Prison Statistics Report, 2023, detailed an already stressed carceral system, housing 5.82 lakh inmates in a system sanctioned for 4.25 lakh, with undertrial prisoners making up almost 78% of all prisoners. Other than numbers and statistics being added to the data, nothing changed substantively between the original numbers and now.
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Also read:
▪ Notes From Inside Taloja Prison (Outlook | by Mahesh Raut | Jun 2025)
▪ Inside Taloja Prison: A Study | By Mahesh Raut (Outlook / May 2025)
▪ Many Prisoners at Taloja Jail Not Produced Before Court For Years, Reveals Survey by Surendra Gadling and Sagar Gorkhe (The Wire / Feb 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)

Between poetry and prison: Varavara Rao as voice of dissent in Indian radical politics

Between poetry and prison: Varavara Rao as voice of dissent in Indian radical politics

VV Rao. Pic credit: Wikimedia Commons

Counterview / by Harsh Thakor

Varavara Rao, born in 1940, is an Indian poet, teacher, and activist associated with radical politics. He turns 85 on November 3. Known as VV, Rao gained prominence during the rural land rights movements of the 1960s and served as a mediator between the Andhra Pradesh government and Naxalite groups in the early 2000s. The Indian state has classified him as a dissident and a national security threat.
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Also read:
▪ Activist Varavara Rao’s request to travel for dental surgery rejected (Scroll.in / Oct 2025)
▪ SC refuses to hear plea of P Varavara Rao on bail modification (Hindustan Times / Sep 2025)
▪ Verse, ablaze: Excerpts from ‘Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry’ (The Week / Jul 2023)
▪ Supreme Court grants permanent medical bail to P. Varavara Rao in Bhima Koregaon case (The Leaflet / Aug 2022)
▪ Captive Imagination – Letters From Prison

Author: Varavara Rao
Publishing Date: 2010
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Pages: 208

Poet, Marxist critic and activist, Varavara Rao (VV) has been continually persecuted by the state and intermittently imprisoned since 1973, but he never stopped writing during all these decades, even from within prison. When he was subjected to ‘one thousand days of solitary confinement’ during 1985­-89 in Secunderabad Jail, a leading national daily invited him to write about his prison experiences.

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Dear Mahesh Raut, Before You Return to Jail This Month …

Dear Mahesh Raut, Before You Return to Jail This Month …

Mahesh Raut

The Wire / by Mekhala Saran

Be careful, Mahesh. You aren’t 30 anymore. You are 38 now. Pushing 40, as they say. You were 30 at the time of your arrest.
We don’t have time to waste. You are to return to jail this month, at the end of your interim medical bail. So, I must get to it:
Media reports say that you are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Have your doctors told you yet that this disease never fully goes away?
Read more

Also read:
▪ Supreme Court Extends Interim Bail Of Mahesh Raut Till November 26 (Live Law / Oct 2025)
▪ Supreme Court grants six-week interim medical bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Mahesh Raut (Sabrangindia / Sep 2025)
▪ Year after being granted bail, Mahesh Raut remains in jail as stay extended (The Indian Express / Sep 2024)
▪ Inconsistencies in Bail Orders Mean Individual Liberty Is the Outcome of Judicial Lottery (The Wire / Oct 2022)

Book Launch | ‘Never Imagined I’d Be Qualified For Arrest, Let Alone Write a Prison Memoir’: Anand Teltumbde

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.
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‘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.
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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”.
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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.
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“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.
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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.
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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

Also read:

The Cell and the Soul – A Prison Memoir

Author: Anand Teltumbde
Publishing Date: Sep 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Pages: 256

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.

Read more / order

Bhima Koregaon probe panel issues show cause notice to ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray

Bhima Koregaon probe panel issues show cause notice to ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray

Graphic by Arun Ferreira & Vernon Gonsalves

Bhima Koregaon probe panel issues show cause notice to ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray

31/10/2025

Hindustan Times / by Nadeem Inamdar

The notice was issued after Thackeray failed to respond to an application seeking the production of documents related to the case
A commission probing the 2018 Koregaon Bhima violence on Thursday issued a show-cause notice to former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for failing to respond to an application seeking the production of documents related to the case.
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Koregaon Bhima violence case: Probe panel issues show cause notice to Uddhav Thackeray

30/10/2025

mid-day / by Mid-day online correspondent

The inquiry panel, headed by former High Court Chief Justice J. N. Patel, questioned in the notice why an application filed by Prakash Ambedkar, leader of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and a witness in the case, seeking a bailable warrant against Uddhav Thackeray, should not be allowed
The commission investigating the Koregaon Bhima violence case of 2018 has issued a show cause notice to former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray for failing to respond to a request for documents related to the case, reported the PTI.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Koregaon Bhima Probe: Spotlight on Uddhav Thackeray (Pune Mirror / Oct 2025)
▪ Bhima Koregaon commission gets 18th extension (Hindustan Times / Aug 2025)
▪ Alternative reading of Bhima Koregaon: A Maharashtra outfit is trying to advance Dalit cause from Hindutva orbit (The Indian Express / Apr 2025)
▪ Why caste Hindutva, not an Elgar conspiracy, is at the root of the Bhima Koregaon violence (The Polis Project / Feb 2025)
▪ Book Excerpt | How Bhima Koregaon Became a Trope for Dalit Pride and Assertion (The Wire │ by Ajaz Ashraf │ June 2024)
▪ Let’s Remember the Lesson of Bhima Koregaon: Down with the New Peshwai (Sanhati │ by Sudhir Dhawale │ March 2018)
▪ Why peoples’ coalitions are uniting against Hindutva — the ‘new Peshwai’ (Dailyo.in │ by Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves │ Jan 2018)
▪ The Myth of Bhima Koregaon Reinforces the Identities It Seeks to Transcend (The Wire | Anand Teltumbde | Jan 2018)

SC gives Maharashtra final chance to file affidavit on Surendra Gadling’s plea in 2016 Surjagarh case

SC gives Maharashtra final chance to file affidavit on Surendra Gadling’s plea in 2016 Surjagarh case

PUDR campaign. June 2024

Supreme Court gives Maharashtra final chance to file affidavit on Surendra Gadling’s plea in 2016 Surjagarh mine arson case

30/10/2025

The Leaflet / by Paramod Kumar

Senior Advocate Anand Grover strongly objected to the delay, pointing out that nearly six weeks had elapsed since the Court had last asked the State to explain the reasons behind the delay in trial.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the Maharashtra government a final opportunity to submit its affidavit in response to a petition filed by advocate Surendra Gadling in connection with the 2016 Surjagarh iron ore mine arson case.
A Bench comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi allowed the State one more week to file its affidavit, making it clear that this would be the last extension.
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2016 Gadchiroli Case: Surendra Gadling Objects To State’s Delay In Filing Affidavit Explaining Reasons For Trial’s Delay

29/10/2025

Live Law / by Debby Jain

Lawyer and activist Surendra Gadling today objected to the State of Maharashtra’s delay in filing an affidavit before the Supreme Court in his plea seeking bail in the 2016 Gadchiroli arson case.
At the request of Additional Solicitor General SV Raju (for State), a bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi however granted the State 1 week’s time to file the document, as a last opportunity.
Read more

Also read:
▪ 2016 Surjagarh arson case: Advocate Gadling can appear in person to argue his discharge plea, says court (The Indian Express / Oct 2025)
▪ Elgar Parishad case: HC questions Gadling’s plea, says accused can’t choose probe agency (Hindustan Times / Sep 2025)
▪ Supreme Court Seeks Explanation on Delayed Trial in 2016 Arson Case (Devdiscourse / Sep 2025)
▪ 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)
▪ Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)

Marking the death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy: An Elegy For A Comrade

Marking the death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy: An Elegy For A Comrade

Illustration by #bakeryprasad

An Elegy For A Comrade: Excerpt From The Cell And The Soul By Anand Teltumbde

19/10/2025

Outlook / by Anand Teltumbde

‘The Cell And The Soul’ Marks the first death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, these reflections were written from within the Anda cell—recalling the loss, the silence that followed, and the conditions that led to his passing.
Stan Swamy’s death was an unbearable loss to us, the BK-16—a quasi-family bound together by the regime’s foul design to silence dissent. At 84, Stan remained remarkably healthy, save for his Parkinsonian tremors and impaired hearing. His death was not of age, but of neglect—born of a judiciary and prison system that habitually withholds medical care until crisis, refusing outside treatment for fear of exposing the emptiness of prison hospitals. Stan’s passing was the price of this callousness.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Father Stan Swamy died of natural causes, Maharashtra government tells court (India Today / Oct 2025)
▪ ‘I’m going to live to 185’: Anand Teltumbde remembers his friend Stan Swamy in his memoir (Scroll.in | Anand Teltumbde | Sep 2025)
▪ I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 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)
▪ How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Aug 2021)

The Cell and the Soul – A Prison Memoir

Author: Anand Teltumbde
Publishing Date: Sep 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Pages: 256

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.

Read more / order

2016 Surjagarh arson case: Advocate Gadling can appear in person to argue his discharge plea, says court

2016 Surjagarh arson case: Advocate Gadling can appear in person to argue his discharge plea, says court

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

Observing that denying permission to advocate Surendra Gadling to argue his discharge application in person, pending for nearly three years in a case in Gadchiroli, would “compound the injustice already caused by the inordinate delay”, a special court in Aheri directed that arrangements be made for him to be produced before it on October 28.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Elgar Parishad case: HC questions Gadling’s plea, says accused can’t choose probe agency (Hindustan Times / Sep 2025)
▪ Supreme Court Seeks Explanation on Delayed Trial in 2016 Arson Case (Devdiscourse / Sep 2025)
▪ 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)
▪ Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)

Conversation with Anand Teltumbde / Excerpts and Book Reviews of ‘THE CELL AND THE SOUL’

Conversation with Anand Teltumbde / Excerpts and Book Reviews of ‘THE CELL AND THE SOUL’

“The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir” by Anand Teltumbde stands as one of the most powerful indictments of Indian democracy

27/10/2025

Countercurrents.org / by Harsh Thakor

“The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir” by Anand Teltumbde is not merely a prison memoir but a profound exposition of the Indian state, society, and criminal justice system, revealing their inhumane nature. It stands as one of the most powerful indictments of a democracy teetering on the brink of collapse. The book lucidly explores the stark realities of prison life in India, chronicling not only Teltumbde’s personal struggles but also those of his co-accused, serving as a testament to the resilient spirit of countless imprisoned activists.
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Anand Teltumbde’s The Cell And The Soul Highlights Urgent Need For Prisons Reforms In India

19/10/2025

Outlook / by Kabir Deb

Anand Teltumbde’s book offers us a significant insight into prisons, those who run them and how they contribute to the deterioration of judicial processing.
… Anand Teltumbde’s The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir presents before us a mirror in which we get to see our shattered democracy. From 2018 to 2019, the arrest of sixteen intellectuals with the help of fabricated documents, emails and voice recordings shook the liberty of this nation.
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An Elegy For A Comrade: Excerpt From The Cell And The Soul By Anand Teltumbde

19/10/2025

Outlook / by Anand Teltumbde

‘The Cell And The Soul’ Marks the first death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, these reflections were written from within the Anda cell—recalling the loss, the silence that followed, and the conditions that led to his passing.
Stan Swamy’s death was an unbearable loss to us, the BK-16—a quasi-family bound together by the regime’s foul design to silence dissent. At 84, Stan remained remarkably healthy, save for his Parkinsonian tremors and impaired hearing. His death was not of age, but of neglect—born of a judiciary and prison system that habitually withholds medical care until crisis, refusing outside treatment for fear of exposing the emptiness of prison hospitals. Stan’s passing was the price of this callousness.
Read more

The Cell and the Soul: Inside Anand Teltumbde’s prison reflection

18/10/2025

The New Indian Express / by Paramita Ghosh

Academic and a former corporate CEO, Anand Teltumbde, on his recently published part-prison notebook, part-memoir of his 31-month stay in Taloja Central Prison as an undertrial in connection to the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case
… A conversation with him on the recent publication of The Cell and the Soul (Bloomsbury), his part-prison memoir, part-prison diary.
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Book review: Anand Teltumbde’s memoir shows why prison is a mirror image of society, except the delusion of freedom

18/10/2025

The Leaflet / by Abdul Wahid Shaikh

Acquitted in the 7/11 Mumbai blasts case, a prison rights activist reviews the prison memoir of another – a searing reading on intellectual stifling, of loosening faith in the judiciary, and why the Bhima Koregaon case is a landmark indeed.
Abdul Wahid Shaikh is a Mumbai based prison rights activist who runs the Innocent’s Network which advocates against wrongful convictions. Shaikh was acquitted in 2015 after nine years in Arthur Road Jail in the 7/11 Mumbai train bombings. He is the author of ‘Innocent Prisoner’, ‘Ishrat Jahan Encounter Case’ and an upcoming book ‘Fair Trial?’

Anand Teltumbde’s ‘THE CELL AND THE SOUL’ is not just a prison memoir., it is a mirror to the Indian state, society and criminal justice system.
It refrains from fitting into the neat category of carceral literature, refusing to limit itself into description of everyday mundane life of prison.
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Review of The Cell and the Soul by Anand Teltumbde

17/10/2025

The Hindu / by G. Sampath

Teltumbde’s Taloja jail memoir is a pathology report on the cancerous rot eating away at the criminal justice system
What is the definition of a crime? “Crime is what the police think it is,” writes Anand Teltumbde, a scholar activist who spent 31 months in jail as an undertrial in connection with the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case. “By this definition, police are free to arrest you, slap whatever sections they like on you and put you behind bars. Yes, the Constitution gives you the remedy of approaching the courts. But that would take years to settle, whether you committed a crime or not. Until then, you are …a beggar for bail.”
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“Punitive actions against prisoners are seen as a demonstration of administrative control”

14/10/2025

The Caravan / by Anand Teltumbde

In The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir, the scholar and activist Anand Teltumbde writes about his incarceration in Taloja Central Prison. He spent 31 months in prison, as an undertrial in what is broadly termed the Bhima Koregaon case, before being released on bail in November 2022. In this excerpt from the book, he reflects on the prison’s surveillance system, its bureaucracy and various systemic failures, including suspensions of phone facilities and rejections of applications from prisoners.
Read more

The Cell and the Soul – A Prison Memoir

Author: Anand Teltumbde
Publishing Date: Sep 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Pages: 256

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.

Read more / order

Also read:
▪ ‘I’m going to live to 185’: Anand Teltumbde remembers his friend Stan Swamy in his memoir (Scroll.in | Anand Teltumbde | Sep 2025)
▪ BK-16 Prison Diaries: Anand Teltumbde reflects on his arrest and incarceration (THE POLIS PROJECT | Anand Teltumbde | June 2024)

Mumbai Police Book TISS Students For Event On GN Saibaba Death Anniversary; Rekindles 2017 Incident

Mumbai Police Book TISS Students For Event On GN Saibaba Death Anniversary; Rekindles 2017 Incident

Mumbai Police Book TISS Students For Maoist-Linked GN Saibaba Death Anniversary; Rekindles 2017 Incident Of Taking Students To Naxal Training Camps In Forest

14/10/2025

The Communemag / by The Commune

The Mumbai Police on 13 October 2025 registered a First Information Report (FIR) against at least ten students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) for allegedly organizing an event to commemorate the death anniversary of former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba.
… This incident is not the first time TISS has been linked to allegations involving Naxalite activities. In 2018, as per an India Today report, the Maharashtra Police had claimed that accused activist Mahesh Raut, an alumnus of TISS, had taken students from the institute to meet underground Maoist leaders in forest areas.
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When a spontaneous gathering of students is criminalised

15/10/2025

Groundxero / by freespeechcollective

Recording the sequence of events and observations on the current events unfolding in TISS, Mumbai, from students’ perspective
What is the price of political engagement and learning in a higher educational institute in India? It seems that young people who seek to read, talk to each other and understand any issue are slapped with FIRs before they can fully make up their minds on what stance to take.
On Sunday, 12 October 2025, students at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai gathered to read a few poems written by Professor GN Saibaba to mark his death anniversary. They gathered in a peaceful manner, read the poems, placed a few candles around a photograph of Professor Saibaba and dispersed—all in about ten minutes. For many of the students, this year has been the first time they have learnt of the scholar and activist’s life, work, and death. The gathering came as a spontaneous response to discovering his poems.
Read more

Also read/watch:
▪ G.N. Saibaba’s Lifelong Campaign Was Against the Violence of Silencing (The Wire | by Rona Wilson | Oct 2024)
▪ G.N. Saibaba’s Life Is Not Just a Chronicle of His Times, but Also What the Times Refused to Chronicle (The Wire / Oct 2024)
▪ Surendra Gadling’s Computer Was Attacked, Incriminating Documents Planted: Arsenal Consulting (The Wire / July 2021)

▪ Video: State’s Job is to Serve People, Not Punish Them: G N Saibaba


en | 38:33 | 2024

Newsclick / by Newsclick Team

Former DU professor G.N. Saibaba, who passed away in Hyderabad on Saturday, had recounted his harrowing ordeal during 10 years in jail at a press conference in New Delhi in March this year.
Watch video