Posts – Page 2 – free them all

Voices from Prison Series: Of Lives Stolen for Dissent │ Various accounts of political activists

20/01/2026 Asha

Voices From Prison: Mahesh Raut | A Broken Prison System Is In Dire Need Of Critical Care

22/01/2026

Outlook / by Mahesh Raut

Mahesh Raut, the youngest accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, was granted interim bail on medical grounds. Many prisoners have no hope.
What constitutes freedom? What does it constitute for the person who is confined or for the one who comes out of jail, only to get entangled in another web of chains; some similar, but for others, different from what they experienced behind bars. In a prison, your identity is reduced to just a number. You are dehumanised at the whims of authorities and burdened by numerous hurdles and difficulties to secure bail. Many are not able to come out of prison even after securing bail due to financial constraints. All these factors take a toll on the physical and mental health of prisoners.
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Lives Lost: How Prolonged Incarceration Failed Pandu Narote, Kanchan Nanaware, Stan Swamy

22/01/2026

Outlook / by Priyanka Tupe

Pandu Pora Narote, Kanchan Nanaware and Stan Swamy never lived to learn their innocence or guilt after years of incarceration under the UAPA. Narote was acquitted by the Bombay High Court only after his death. It was too little, too late. Nanaware and Swamy also died as undertrials. For their families and lawyers, justice exists only on paper, not in life.
Pandu Pora Narote, 33, a tribal youth from Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, was arrested in August 2013 on allegations of links with the banned CPI (Maoist) and its frontal organisation, the Revolutionary Democratic Front. The case later widened to include former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba and several others.
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Voices From Prison: Of Lives Stolen For Dissent

20/01/2026

Outlook / by Outlook News Desk

Outlook’s February 1 issue, Thou Shalt Not Dissent, shines a light on the lives of political prisoners who were slapped with anti-terrorism charges and continue to face long trials and curbing of rights.
…
In Outlook’s February 1 issue, Thou Shalt Not Dissent, first-person accounts of political activists who were slapped with anti-terrorism charges under different political regimes, explore life behind bars, the trauma, sights and sounds of a world bereft of freedom, normalcy and reason. Weaved with the accounts are stories of individuals who carry the burden of incarceration like a tumour on the face, afraid to cover it, so it doesn’t chafe, and hesitant to let it free, so it does not translate into their only identity.
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Voices From Prison: ‘In Jail, I Measured Time From One Court Date to Another’

21/01/2026

Outlook / by Shoma Sen

Women’s rights activist and professor Shoma Sen, who was arrested in 2018 for her alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon riots, writes how in prisons, time comes to a standstill, literally
Though it is true that I did time, it appears more as if time did me. One cloudy evening, on June 21, 2018, when I was being taken to the Yerawada jail in Pune, I knew that watches were not allowed in jail, yet I had clung on to my basic Titan watch. I had to submit it at the gate. It was returned to me, looking like a museum relic, almost six years later. Time, trapped in a brown sarkari envelope, sealed in a metal box. Time that had stopped ticking.
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Me Coming Out Alive Is A Miracle: Hany Babu, Bhima-Koregaon Accused, On Life Behind Bars

21/01/2026

Outlook / by Hany Babu M.T.

More than five years after his arrest under the UAPA in the Bhima Koregaon case, former Delhi University professor Hany Babu was granted bail in December 2025. He shares his experience of prison life.
Mornings start very early in jail, but they never come with an air of freedom. It has only been three to four weeks since I came out; the bail arrived quite late for me. Five years is a long time compared to my co-accused. Throughout these five years, hope never left my sight, even when I contracted Covid. But there were indeed times when a little despair did creep in.
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Correctional Facility Or The World Of Endless Repetition, Solitude and Boredom?

21/01/2026

Outlook / by Rona Wilson

The prison system in India, persistently mediated and nourished by its colonial and retributive sensibilities, cannot be wished away by just changing the names of the prisons as correctional facilities, writes Rona Wilson, accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.
I had trouble in my barrack with some of the inmates smoking heavily beside me and some among them playing ludo till the wee hours. As the game intensifies with gambling, so does smoking and use of tobacco. I requested the officer-in-charge of my circle to intervene.
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Voices From Prison: Life After Jail Is Tough, But Surveillance, Harassment Continue, Says Sudha Bharadwaj

20/01/2026

Outlook / by Sudha Bharadwaj

I am enormously relieved that the separation from my only daughter, Maaysha, has ended. We can speak to each other every day.
A couple of weeks ago, cops in civil dress—or so they claimed to be—arrived in the society where I live in a friend’s accommodation on rent. The police have my mobile number, which, no doubt, they monitor regularly. Besides, I report to the local police station every 14 days, and I regularly attend court dates, at least once every 15 days, if not more frequently. Despite this, the police did not bother to call me.
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Voices From Prison: In The Isolation of the Anda Ward, We Dared To Sing, Writes Gautam Navlakha

20/01/2026

Outlook / by Gautam Navlakha

I realised that the more intense the sense of despair, the harder hope kicks in.

‘Those who speak of humanity in this system
Are thrown into prison to acquaint them
With the vocabulary of ‘criminology’’’
— Varavara Rao, Schools and Prisons

Hope and despair are basic human emotions and I believe that all human beings, now and then, swing between these two ends of the spectrum in life. I experienced these emotions acutely during my time in prison and captivity.
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Voices From Prison: Alienating A Poet From A Language He Deeply Loves Is Painful, Writes Varavara Rao’s Daughter

20/01/2026

Outlook / by P Vanava

The poet and activist was jailed in connection with caste violence that erupted in 2018 in Bhima Koregaon. He was 78 then. Though he was released on medical grounds in 2022, he is still confined to Mumbai. In this first-person account, his daughter Pavana writes about how multiple incarcerations could not break her father’s strength and soul
…
This wasn’t his first arrest; he has been arrested many times in the past, since the Emergency in 1975, for his political activism. I was a newborn baby (a month old), when appa was arrested.
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Voices From Prison: Bail Is Little Solace As I Lost My Life Anyway, Says Anand Teltumbde

19/01/2026

Outlook / by Anand Teltumbde

We became victims of two things—unjust investigation and a media trial that was used as a weapon. The Media Trial was Deeply Painful.
The tragic dimension of jail has been exhaustively mined. What remains scandalously underexplored is its comic genius. Prison is a factory of absurdity, running at full capacity every day, and I made it a habit to collect its specimens—especially during the so-called free hours, when the cells were opened each morning. This ritual began with the ceremonial clanking of batons, as guards slid them menacingly across steel bars, producing a sound—less like an alarm than a declaration of sovereignty.
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Voices From Prison: What Happened In Bhima Koregaon Could Happen To You

20/01/2026

Outlook / by Alpa Shah

The Bhima Koregaon case is not only about those who were imprisoned. It is also about the fate of democracy itself
There are things in life that somehow wrap themselves around us. Things we never would have dreamed of doing—ideas that once seemed dangerous, crazy, or simply foolish. They arrive quietly, almost by accident, and before we know it, they surround us, occupy our thoughts, and slowly take over. Until one day, there is no turning back, and we can’t imagine thinking about anything else.
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▪ THE BK-16 PRISON DIARIES SERIES (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)

Credits: Drawing by Arun Ferreira / The Polis Project

To mark six years of the arbitrary arrests and imprisonment of political dissidents in the Bhima Koregaon case, The Polis Project is publishing a series of writings by the BK-16, and their families, friends and partners. By describing various aspects of the past six years, the series offers a glimpse into the BK-16’s lives inside prison, as well as the struggles of their loved ones outside. Each piece in the series is complemented by Arun Ferreira’s striking and evocative artwork.

INTRODUCING THE BK-16 PRISON DIARIES SERIES (THE POLIS PROJECT / JUNE 2024)

▪ How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? Voices of Indian Political Prisoners

How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? includes visual testimonies and prison writings from those falsely accused of inciting the Bhima Koregaon violence, by student leaders opposing the new discriminatory citizenship law passed in 2020, and by activists from the Pinjra Tod’s movement. In bringing together these voices, the book celebrates the courage, humanity and moral integrity of those jailed for standing in solidarity with marginalised and oppressed communities.

Authors: Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia
Publishing Date: Aug 2023
Publisher: Pluto Press
Pages: 247
Read more / order

Koregaon Bhima panel tells chief secretary to submit info on letter sought by Ambedkar

18/01/2026 Asha

Bhima Koregaon 2018. Graphic by Arun Ferreira & Vernon Gonsalves.

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Commission Summons Maharashtra Chief Secretary Over Sharad Pawar’s Alleged Secret Note to Uddhav Thackeray.
The Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry has directed the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra to submit information regarding a letter sought by VBA president and Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar.
In his application filed before the Commission in February last year, Ambedkar had claimed that Nationalist Congress Party NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar had on January 24, 2020 given a letter to then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, claiming the violence (in Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 2018) was a conspiracy hatched by the previous government under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis.
Read more

Also read:
▪ CMO should have Sharad Pawar’s letter blaming Fadnavis govt for Koregaon Bhima violence: Uddhav Thackeray (The Indian Express / Jan 2026)
▪ 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 / June 2024)
▪ Top Investigating Officer Admits Elgar Parishad Event ‘Had No Role’ in Bhima Koregaon Violence (The Wire / Dec 2022)

How Not To Defend Umar Khalid / Shadows of Judicial Indiscipline / From Protest to Persecution

16/01/2026 Asha

An Injustice Strengthened by Political Silence

18/01/2026

Peoples Democracy / by Brinda Karat

The Supreme Court’s refusal to grant bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, while accepting the bail pleas of five other accused in the same case, is not merely a judicial order affecting two individuals. It marks a deeply troubling moment for constitutional democracy in India.
…
Silence transforms injustice, more so when it has a communal colour, into routine governance. When there is hesitation to challenge unjust court orders, to oppose political persecution carried out through lawless laws like UAPA, whether in the Delhi violence cases, the Bhima Koregaon prosecutions or the NewsClick case, the ruling regime faces no real political cost for its repression, all under the pretext of “national security.” In such a political climate, even the custodial death of a Stan Swamy — caused by the sheer cruelty of denying bail and even basic facilities despite his serious health conditions — becomes normalised.
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How Not To Defend Umar Khalid

16/01/2026

The Wire / by Ajay Gudvarthy

The problem with Umar for the current regime is his refusal to be constrained within a Muslim body and identity. Very much similar to a Dalit like Anand Teltumbde who is not Dalit enough because he speaks of right to education and corporate Hindutva.
Umar Khalid is arrested not because he is a Muslim. He is under detention because he does not wear his Muslim identity on his sleeves. He remains incarcerated not because he protested against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) but because he was agitated about what is happening to the tribals in central India and was resisting the damage being done to the economy that was emaciating the working poor.
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Shadows of Judicial Indiscipline: On the Supreme Court’s bail denial to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam

07/01/2026

The Leaflet / by Indira Jaising

In both the Bhima Koregaon and Delhi riots cases, a wrongful invoking of UAPA and obdurate refusal to follow precedent on delay in trial, raise legitimate questions on the independence of the judiciary.
At the heart of the controversy relating to the denial of bail to Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid is a simple question: what is the crime that they have committed? What if they have committed no crime at all under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967? Would bail still have been denied to them?
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From Protest to Persecution: The Supreme Court’s defining Moment in Delhi Riot Case

07/01/2026

PUDR / by PUDR

On 5 January 2026, the Supreme Court delivered its first substantive order in the so-called ‘Delhi riots conspiracy case’ of FIR 59/2020 under UAPA, to grant bail to five (Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa ur Rehman, Meeran Haider, Md Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad) and reject the bail of two (Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam).
… the Supreme Court walks back on its own precedent in Vernon Gonsalves, which held that in determining the existence of a prima facie case to deny bail under UAPA, courts are empowered to look into the probative value or patent inadmissibility of prosecutorial materials. In the order of 5 January 2026, the Supreme Court states: “the inquiry is one of statutory plausibility, not evidentiary sufficiency”.
Read full statement

When a Government Targets Its Citizens

07/01/2026

Countercurrents.org / by Hiren Gohain

Does anyone remember the Bhima Koregaon incident now? Certain well-known people active and well-regarded for their work in academic areas as well as in social action to bring justice to victims of state repression and social discrimination as well as human rights violations,had been detained following midnight arrests on hair-raising charges of conspiring to assassinate the Prime Minister and destroy the state. It had shaken the fragile world of the media, though not the workaday world.
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Justice Delayed, Selectively Denied

05/01/2026

Youth Ki Awaaz / by Geetika Kaur

The denial of bail to Umar Khalid this week is not an isolated legal decision. It sits within a larger and deeply disturbing pattern in India’s criminal justice system, one where activists, students, lawyers, and environmentalists languish in jail for years without conviction, while those convicted of rape, murder, or mass violence repeatedly find the doors of prison opening for them.
… Stan Swamy died in custody after repeated denial of bail despite his age and illness. Sudha Bharadwaj spent years in jail before being granted bail, not because she was acquitted, but because prolonged incarceration without trial became legally indefensible. Gautam Navlakha remained under incarceration and house arrest for years on allegations that rested largely on contested digital evidence.
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The spectacle of justice in the Delhi riots case is cover for polarisation and violence

06/01/2026

Scroll.in / by Akash Bhattacharya

In the six years since, a series of incidents in the national capital have intensified this schism while Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam remain incarcerated.
The capital of India, Delhi is no stranger to political violence. But the Delhi riots of 2020 set a new benchmark. The violence not only ended lives and livelihoods, it also transformed the city’s social and political landscape for the worse.
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Also read:
▪ How The Supreme Court’s Bail Order Against Umar, Sharjeel Enables Govt Efforts To Silence Muslim Voices (article 14 / Jan 2026)
▪ After Five Years in Jail, Bail Still Barred for Two: Supreme Court denies bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in Delhi riots case (Sabrangindia / Jan 2026)
▪ Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, and The Moral Arc of the Universe (The Wire / Jan 2026)
▪ In UAPA Bail Hearing, Defence Not To Be Considered; Only See If Prosecution Has Shown Prima Facie Case : Supreme Court (Live Law / Jan 2026)
Read judgment
▪ Delhi Riots UAPA Case : Supreme Court’s Bail Conditions Bar Accused From Sharing Posts Digitally & Attending Gatherings (Live Law / Jan 2026)
▪ Why SC denied bail to Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam but awarded it to five other anti-CAA activists (Scroll.in / Jan 2026)
▪ Recovering the Basics: The Supreme Court’s Bail Order in Vernon Gonsalves’ Case (Constitutional Law and Philosophy / Jul 2023)
▪ Amit Shah’s ‘Bhima Koregaon Model’ Used For Anti-CAA Protests (NDTV / May 2020)

Imperative for Understanding Evolution of Human Rights Paradigm: Whither Human Rights in India

15/01/2026 Asha

Sabrang India / by Harsh Thakor

‘Whither Human Rights in India’ is a comprehensive exploration of how the devastation of human rights over the parts decade symbolise a crucial departure or rupture, manifesting a new fascist paradigm
‘Whither Human Rights in India,’ edited by Anand Teltumbde, is a critical and outstanding collection of essays navigating India’s human rights landscape, exploring diverse arenas Ike majoritarianism, state violence, systemic inequality (Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims), judicial issues, hate speech, and threats to vulnerable groups.
Resurrecting the outlook of Father Stan Swamy and Prof. G. N. Saibaba, Whither Human Rights in India is both a chronicle of resistance and a call to reshape the future of democracy and human dignity.
Read more

▪ Whither Human Rights in India

Critical Essays on Democracy, State Power, Civil Liberties & the Lived Realities of Dalits, Adivasis, Minorities & More

Whither Human Rights in India, edited by Anand Teltumbde, one of India’s prominent human rights activists, is a searing and indispensable anthology that brings together some of the most important thinkers, activists and human rights defenders of our time. The essays trace the historical and ideological roots of India’s human rights discourse—from colonial legacies and constitutional guarantees to the challenges posed by majoritarian politics, state violence and systemic inequality.

Editor: Anand Teltumbde
Publishing Date: Nov 2025
Publisher: Penguin Viking
Pages: 400
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Release APCLC activists, protect right to political critique

15/01/2026 Asha

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

PUDR condemns the arrest of Kranthi Chaitanya, Vice-President of the Civil Liberties Committee (Andhra Pradesh unit), and fellow activist Mohan Krishna on 9 January 2026, and their subsequent remand to judicial custody on 10 January. The FIR, based on a complaint filed by the President of the Sanatana Dharma Protection Committee, a resident of Tirupati, accuses them of erecting “provocative banners.”
…
The sections invoked in this case are non-bailable and carry a minimum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment. The arrests, coupled with the FIR’s expansive use of criminal conspiracy provisions, signal yet another attack on activists and civil liberties organisations, many of which are already under sustained pressure following the Bhima Koregaon arrests.
Read full statement

Also read:
▪ India: Authorities must immediately repeal repressive new criminal laws (Amnesty International / Jul 2024)
▪ Explainer: How the Sedition Law Has Been Used in the Modi Era (The Wire / Mai 2022)

Civic freedoms remain at risk with crackdown on protests, internet restrictions and denial of bail to activists

13/01/2026 Asha

CIVICUS Monitor / by CIVICUS

India’s civic space is still rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. The authorities persist in targeting activists, journalists, students and civil society through the misuse of draconian laws, arbitrary detention, censorship and the criminalisation of dissent. Over the past year, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), counterterrorism provisions and public order regulations have been consistently deployed to silence government critics, restrict civil society, and deter peaceful protests.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Ongoing detention of activists without bail, criminalisation of dissent and ban on books (CIVICUS / Sep S025)
▪ Read India report: INDIA – COUNTRY FACTSHEET 2025 (World Organization Against Torture / Jun 2025)

▪ India: Submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on the deterioration of civic space (CIVICUS /Jul 2024)
▪ CIVIC FREEDOMS IN INDIA ‘REPRESSED’: GLOBAL MONITOR CIVICUS (The Wire / March 2023)
Read full report „People Power Under Attack 2022“ (CIVICUS)

Hierarchy in jail is formed by class: Anand Teltumbde on his prison memoir ‘The Cell and the Soul’

11/01/2026 Asha

The Mint / by Prachi Pinglay-Plumber

Scholar Anand Teltumbde examines a country driven to a dead end, where the opposition is silent and citizens have been terrorised into normalcy
…
In an interview with Lounge, he discusses the writing of his prison memoir, why class trumps caste within the confines of prison, and the pitfalls of a caste census.
Read more

Also read:
▪ No mosquito nets, no medicine—Teltumbde recounts life in prison in ‘The Cell and the Soul’ (The Print / Nov 2025)
▪ I never thought I’d qualify for arrest, says Teltumbde (Hindustan Times / Nov 2025)
▪ Taloja Jail: Lives Fading in Silence Behind Iron Walls (Outlook | by Sudhir Dhawale | Sep 2025)

▪ The Cell and the Soul – A Prison Memoir

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

▪ I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
▪ BK-16 Prison Diaries: The ‘ordinary’ in extraordinary times: A captive’s life in Covid-19 (The Polis Project | by Gautam Navlakha | May 2025)
▪ BK-16 Prison Diaries: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality (The Polis Project | by Sagar Gorkhe | Feb 2025)
▪ Ramesh Gaichor on the Elgar prisoners’ defiance of the neo-Peshwai prison system (The Polis Project | by Ramesh Gaichor | Sep 2024)
▪ Some personal reflections on prison medical care (The Leaflet | by Vernon Gonsalves | Apr 2024)

▪ The Feared – Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners

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

▪ From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada

Author: Sudha Bhardwaj
Publishing Date: Oct 2023
Publisher: Juggernaut
Pages: 216
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

Members of Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry visit ‘Jaystambh’ with Elgaar Parishad activist

09/01/2026 Asha

Booklet: “Salaakhon Mein Qaid Avaazein” (Access PDF)

Members of Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry visit ‘Jaystambh’ with Elgaar Parishad activist

10/01/2026

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Activist Potdar is among the organisers of the Elgaar Parishad—a conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of battle of Koregaon Bhima.
Members of the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry, along with activist Harshali Potdar and lawyers representing different parties, visited the ‘Jaystambh’ at Perne village in Pune district on Friday.
Read more

If Sharad Pawar wrote any letter seeking SIT probe into Koregaon Bhima riot, it must be with CMO: Uddhav

09/01/2026

Times of India /by Vishwas Kothari

Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray filed an affidavit with the Koregaon Bhima inquiry commission in Pune stating that NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s letter, if any, written to him in his capacity as the CM in Jan 2020, and demanding an SIT probe into the Jan 1, 2018, riot at Koregaon Bhima, has to be with the CMO now.
Read more

CMO should have Sharad Pawar’s letter blaming Fadnavis govt for Koregaon Bhima violence: Uddhav Thackeray

09/01/2026

The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde

Ambedkar’s lawyer Kiran Kadam said he would be soon filing a fresh application requesting the commission to issue a notice to the CMO for producing the said letter.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray submitted an affidavit before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry through his lawyer Asim Sarode on Thursday, in connection with an application filed by Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon violence probe: Sharad Pawar’s letters should be with CMO, Uddhav Thackeray tells inquiry panel

08/01/2026

Midday / by mid-day online correspondent

The commission had issued a notice to Thackeray in October 2025, asking him to produce documents and letters allegedly submitted by Sharad Pawar during Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure as Maharashtra Chief Minister
Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray has informed the inquiry commission probing the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence that certain letters written by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar should still be available with the current Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), 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)
▪ 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 / June 2024)
▪ Top Investigating Officer Admits Elgar Parishad Event ‘Had No Role’ in Bhima Koregaon Violence (The Wire / Dec 2022)
▪ Ekbote instigated Koregaon Bhima violence, Elgaar Parishad organiser tells panel (The Indian Express / Sep 2021)
▪ India’s Hindu Nationalist Project Relies on Brutal Repression (Jacobinmag / April 2021)
▪ Mumbai Police ‘Arrests’ Potdar for Sharing a Facebook Post, Releases Her in Few Hours (The Wire / Jan 2021)

In Photos: Lakhs Gather To Mark The Battle Of Bhima Koregaon / Dalit Assertion, and the Politics of Public Memory

01/01/2026 Asha

In Photos: Lakhs Gather at ‘Jaystambh’ to Mark the Anniversary of Battle of Bhima Koregaon

02/01/2026

The Wire / by Atul Howale

On January 1, 2018, violence had broken out on the same anniversary, at Bhima Koregaon. Several writers, academics, lawyers and other intellectuals were arrested in connection with the case.
On Thursday, January 1, 2026, lakhs of followers gathered around the ‘Jaystambh’ in Pune, Maharashtra, to mark the 208th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. Every year, it is customary for Ambedkarite followers from Maharashtra and across different parts of the country to visit the site.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon, Dalit Assertion, and the Politics of Public Memory

02/01/2026

The Mooknayak / by Dr. Vikrant Kishore

Bhima Koregaon is not about settling the past. It is about insisting on a present in which Dalit dignity, memory, and presence are taken seriously.
Bhima Koregaon occupies a distinctive place in contemporary Dalit public life, not because it offers a settled historical consensus, but because it allows Dalits to gather, remember, and assert themselves in public without mediation. Each year on 1 January, large numbers of Dalits travel to the village near Pune to commemorate the 1818 battle and to mark what has come to be known as Shaurya Diwas. For many observers, the scale and persistence of this gathering remain puzzling.
Read more

Why 1818 Bhima Koregaon battle marks a flashpoint in 2026 Maharashtra civic polls

01/01/2026

The Indian Express / by Zeeshan Shaikh

Some parties are keen to be seen at this January 1 anniversary event during the election season, viewing it as a symbol of Dalit pride, constitutional values and social justice, while some others would stay away from it
As political parties in Maharashtra intensify their campaigns for the January 15 municipal corporation elections, a major public event is set to take place at Bhima Koregaon, a small village near Pune, on Thursday, which would be one of the state’s largest and most politically sensitive gatherings.
Every year on January 1, lakhs of Dalits assemble at Bhima Koregaon to mark the anniversary of the 1818 battle that they regard as a historic assertion against caste oppression.
Read more

Lakhs Gather At Jaystambh To Commemorate Battle Of Bhima Koregaon

01/01/2026

Free Press Journal / by FPJ Web Deshk

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar and many other leaders paid tributes at the Jaystambh
As in previous years, lakhs of people gathered at the Jaystambh in Perne village at Bhima Koregaon in Pune district on Thursday to pay tribute on the 208th anniversary of the battle of Bhima Koregaon.
Read more

How Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s 1927 Bhima Koregaon Visit Turned New Year’s Day into Shaurya Diwas for the Bahujan

31/12/2025

The Mooknayak / by Geeta Sunil Pillai

What was once a marginal British commemoration morphed into an annual Dalit-Bahujan ritual. Followers began gathering at the Vijay Stambh every January 1, honoring the fallen with floral tributes, “Jai Bhim” chants, and recitations of the Constitution’s Preamble.
As the clock strikes midnight tonight, millions across India will usher in 2026 not just with fireworks and celebrations, but with a profound act of remembrance and resistance. For the Bahujan community, encompassing Dalits, Adivasis, and other marginalized groups, January 1 is no ordinary New Year’s Day. It is Shaurya Diwas, or Valour Day, commemorating the 1818 Battle of Bhima Koregaon and the transformative legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Read more

Ambedkar, among others, at the Vijay Stambhain Bhima Koregaon, January 1, 1927. Pic credits: Wikipedia

Also read:
▪ Beating Brahminism The Way 500 Soldiers of Bhima Koregaon Did (Velivada / Dec 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)
▪ 7 Years Later, Bhima Koregaon Revisited (Rediff.com / Jan 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)
▪ Remembering the oppressed: In Mauritius, thinking about the battle of Bhima Koregaon (Scroll.in / Dec 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)
▪ Bhima Koregaon: Dalits in Search of Icons from History (Clarion / Jan 2018)

‘No one dies in prison, They die on the way to hospital’

01/01/2026 Asha

Times of India / by Akshay Bhagwat

Hany Babu entered Navi Mumbai’s Taloja prison in July 2020. Anand Teltumbde followed the same year. Babu spent five years inside before being released on bail; Teltumbde was released on bail; Teltumbde was released in 2022 after spending about two-and-a-half years in prison. Neither has faced trial.
According to the India Justice Report 2025, undertrials now account for around 75% of India’s prison population.
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Also read:
▪ My Imprisonment Part of Scheme to Suppress Dissent, Intimidate Academics: DU Prof Hany Babu (Hindustan Gazette / Dec 2025)
▪ I realised that through Allah I can have the strength to face what was before me: Hany Babu (Frontline / Dec 2025)
▪ Taloja Jail: Lives Fading in Silence Behind Iron Walls (Outlook | by Sudhir Dhawale | 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)
▪ Inside Taloja Prison: A Study | By Mahesh Raut (Outlook / May 2025)
▪ BK-16 Prison Diaries: The ‘ordinary’ in extraordinary times: A captive’s life in Covid-19 (The Polis Project | by Gautam Navlakha | May 2025)
▪ In Taloja Central Jail, interviews with over 300 undertrial prisoners show denial of rights (The Leaflet | by Hany Babu & Surendra Gadling | Mar 2025)
▪ BK-16 Prison Diaries: Sagar Gorkhe on his battle to survive Taloja jail’s brutality (The Polis Project | by Sagar Gorkhe | Feb 2025)
▪ Ramesh Gaichor on the Elgar prisoners’ defiance of the neo-Peshwai prison system (The Polis Project | by Ramesh Gaichor | Sep 2024)
▪ Some personal reflections on prison medical care (The Leaflet | by Vernon Gonsalves | Apr 2024)