Browsed by
Tag: adivasis

Stan Swamy’s Fifth Death Anniversary / Concerns Over UAPA Abuse Persist / The Struggles He Lived For Continue

Stan Swamy’s Fifth Death Anniversary / Concerns Over UAPA Abuse Persist / The Struggles He Lived For Continue

5 Years Since Stan Swamy’s Custodial Death : No Lessons Learnt, Concerns Over UAPA Abuse Persist

05/07/2026

Live Law / by Manu Sebastian

The Courts, unfortunately, look away from the abject weaponisation of the law, and the evocations of personal liberty remain largely confined to judicial seminars.
It has been five years since the death of Father Stan Swamy, while he was under custody in the Bhima Koregaon case. We still don’t know what was the crime committed by the man, except for the hyperbolic allegations of the National Investigation Agency, over which the Courts themselves have later raised many doubts and questions while granting bail to several co-accused in the case.
Read more

5 Years After Stan Swamy Died in Custody, the Struggles He Lived For Continue

05/07/2026

The Quint / by Grace Nau Backia & Edgar Kaiser

Remembering Fr Stan Swamy means remembering the Adivasi rights movement he spent his life building.
“If this makes me a ‘desh drohi,’ then so be it,” wrote Fr Stan Swamy in his email to his friends on 28 July 2019, when he came to know that he had been accused of the crime of championing the rights of Adivasis in Jharkhand. His legacy transcends time, although his voice, which rang louder against the power, has been brought to a halt.
Five years since his death, we look back at Stan’s life, the legacy he left behind, and where things stand today, with the struggles he devoted his life to.
Read more

I raise my voice for Adivasis, am I a Traitor?

04/07/2026

SabrangIndia / by Stan Swamy

This piece authored by Fr Stan Swamy was originally published on Aug 01, 2018. It was then re-published on July 5, 2021 the day of his martyrdom and is now being published on July 4-5, 2026 on the fifth anniversary of his death, in lasting tribute to his work and memory.

Stan Swamy, 1 August 2018:
During the past two decades, I have identified myself with the Adivasi people and their struggle for a life of dignity and self-respect. As a writer, I have tried to analyse the different issues they are facing. In this process, I have clearly expressed dissent with several policies, laws enacted by the govt in the light of the Indian Constitution. I have questioned the validity, legality, justness of several steps taken by the govt and the ruling class.
Read full statement

Fr Stan Swamy’s Fifth Death Anniversary To Be Marked In Mumbai With Constitution-Themed Memorial Event

02/07/2026

Free Press Journal / by FPJ News Service

Mumbai’s Bombay Catholic Sabha, along with several civil rights organisations, will hold a programme on July 5 to mark the fifth death anniversary of Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Fr Stan Swamy. Titled ‘Fr Stan and his Belief in the Constitution’, the event in Bandra will feature advocates, activists and rights groups discussing his legacy and commitment to constitutional values.
The Bombay Catholic Sabha (BCS), along with several civil rights and citizens’ organisations, will organise a programme on Sunday, 5 July, to commemorate the fifth death anniversary of Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Fr Stan Swamy.
Read more

If Stan Swamy, the Martyr, were alive today ….

02/07/2026

Sabrangindia / by Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ

On the fifth anniversary of the tragic death of the People’s Priest, an associate writes that, if alive Fr Stan Swamy would have been at the forefront of all the ongoing struggles of the Adivasis
Exactly five years ago, on 5 July 2021, Jesuit Father Stan Swamy was murdered. He was killed because he refused to kow-tow to a brutal, fascist regime. He was killed because he took a stand for justice and truth! He was killed because he accompanied the Adivasis and the other subalterns for a more dignified, equitable, and humane life! He was killed because he refused to compromise with corrupt, communal, anti-people, anti –constitutional forces! He was killed because he believed in humanity and in the power of ordinary people! What Stan’s murderers never bargained for is that Stan the martyr will never die! Stan was a martyr for justice – he lives in the hearts, souls, and minds of millions today and forever!

Stan Swamy, the Martyr, is no longer around today- but if he were physically present in this world today, what exactly would he be doing?

If Stan Swamy, the Martyr, were alive today, he would be in the midst of the Adivasis. His life would be very simple and frugal. He would eat their food, sing their songs, and dance with them. He would identify with them totally. Yes, of course, he would be angry if others tried to destroy their identity, their culture and customs, their traditions, and their value systems. He would master their language and walk the talk with them.
Read more

Indian Jesuit priest Fr Stan Swamy to be remembered at anniversary Mass in London

19/06/2026

By Jesuit Mission UK

Fr Stan Swamy SJ – the late priest who died in an Indian jail in 2021 – will be honoured at a memorial Mass at a London Jesuit parish.
The vigil service at St Anselm’s Church in Southall at 6.30pm on Saturday 4th July will be dedicated to the memory of Fr Stan, whose death anniversary falls the next day.
Read more

Also read/watch:
▪ NIA opposes plea to clear Stan Swamy’s name, says it would set wrong precedent (India Today / Sep 2025)

▪ A Documentary Film on Stan Swamy – A Caged Bird Can Still Sing


hindi / en | 21:40min | 2025
By Karwan e Mohabbat

This short documentary revisits the life and work of Father Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who spent decades standing with Adivasi communities in Jharkhand. Arrested under draconian anti-terror laws and denied timely medical care, Stan died in custody on 5 July 2021. Through conversations with his friends and colleagues, and using Stan’s own archival footage and recordings, we reflect on his unwavering commitment to justice and begin to understand why he was targeted by the state. This is both a tribute and a reminder of the forces that criminalise dissent and silence those who speak for the most marginalised.

Watch video

▪ I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)
▪ 3rd Fr Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture organised by PUCL – Jharkhand (PUCL / Jul 2024)
▪ How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Aug 2021)

▪ I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

‘Why truth has become so bitter, dissent so intolerable, justice so out of reach?’ because truth has become very bitter to those in power and position, dissent, so unpalatable to the ruling elite, justice, so out of reach to the powerless, marginalised, deprived people. Yet, truth must be spoken, right to dissent must be upheld, and justice must reach the doorsteps of the poor. I am not a silent spectator. This booklet is not my autobiography. It is rather a collation of some glimpses/episodes from my life that somehow made a difference for me, and possibly for my confrères, colleagues and the people with whom I have shared my life.

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

▪ Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.


en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video

Freedom, Education and Resistance: Revisiting Paulo Freire Through the Life of Stan Swamy

Freedom, Education and Resistance: Revisiting Paulo Freire Through the Life of Stan Swamy

Countercurrents / by Pon Chandran

By drawing together the life and ideas of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire and Indian human rights activist Stan Swamy, Pon. Chandran’s review of Cultural Action for Freedom revisits one of the most enduring questions in political education: can education become a tool of liberation rather than conformity?
… There is a striking similarity between Freire and Stan Swamy, whose work among Adivasi communities in Jharkhand reflected many principles of liberation pedagogy. Like Freire, Swamy viewed education as a means of empowering marginalised communities to understand and defend their rights. Through legal awareness and constitutional advocacy, he encouraged tribal communities to critically examine the structures responsible for displacement and land dispossession.
Read more

Also read/watch:

▪ I saw firsthand how callous prison officials and their negligence led to Stan Swamy’s death (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Jul 2025)

▪ I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

‘Why truth has become so bitter, dissent so intolerable, justice so out of reach?’ because truth has become very bitter to those in power and position, dissent, so unpalatable to the ruling elite, justice, so out of reach to the powerless, marginalised, deprived people. Yet, truth must be spoken, right to dissent must be upheld, and justice must reach the doorsteps of the poor. I am not a silent spectator. This booklet is not my autobiography. It is rather a collation of some glimpses/episodes from my life that somehow made a difference for me, and possibly for my confrères, colleagues and the people with whom I have shared my life.

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

▪ Framed to Die – The Case of Stan Swamy


Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Peoples Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi
Language: English
Paperback: 45 pages

Stan Swamy, as this report documents, was framed, fettered, and finally forced towards a fatal illness under due process of law. The report argues that the naturalness of Stan’s death—a cardiac arrest driven by Covid complications—doesn’t exonerate the unnaturalness of the persecution that he suffered under the UAPA. Underlying Stan’s experiences of persecution lie the life-stories of many others, including the 15 accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Beyond chronicling Stan’s persecution under law, the report documents why Comrade Stan was a dissenter and a true patriot and why the state feared and criminalized his dissent under the UAPA.

Access a free PDF copy of the book here
 

▪ Video: Testimony of Stan Swamy, two days before his arrest on 8 October 2020.


en | 7:48 min | Oct 6, 2020
Watch video

Remembering Stan Swamy: Justice, Adivasi Rights, and the Politics of Criminalisation

Remembering Stan Swamy: Justice, Adivasi Rights, and the Politics of Criminalisation


pachaiyammal / @Shravs_Dalit (Apr 26):
Remembering Father Stan Swamy on his Birth Anniversary

Remembering Stan Swamy: Justice, Adivasi Rights, and the Politics of Criminalisation

27/04/2026

Countercurrents.org / by Dr Suresh Khairnar

The special constitutional protections granted to Adivasis under the Fifth and Sixth Schedules are steadily being eroded. The death of Stan Swamy stands as a stark reminder of this trajectory, raising serious concerns about the treatment of those who defend these rights.
In the Bhima Koregaon case, in which the NIA arrested him in October 2020, Stan Swamy had never visited Bhima Koregaon. There is no credible basis for linking him to the Elgaar Parishad. The Parishad itself was a coalition of more than 200 social organisations from Maharashtra, formed solely to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon Victory Day on 1 January 2018. I was personally associated with it as president of the Rashtra Seva Dal.
Read more

Shared by Parakala Prabhakar @parakala

Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha / @JharkhandJanad1 (Apr 25):
Today Mahasabha and Bagaicha, as part of two day Stan Swamy anniversary, organised discussions with activists and political reps and a press con on SIR and the worsening of electoral systems. @parakala was the main speaker. We also released a pamphlet for mass dissemination.


#AdivasiLivesMatter @AdivasisMatter (Apr 26):
Remembering Stan Swamy voice for Adivasis, justice & jal jangal zameen. Johar.
#StanSwamy #TribalRight

Also read:
▪ Jharkhand Special Intensive Revision: Economist Warns of ‘Bloodless Political Genocide Amidst Transparency Converns (Times of India / Apr 2026)
▪ Father Stan Swamy died of natural causes, Maharashtra government tells court (India Today / Oct 2025)
▪ NIA opposes plea to clear Stan Swamy’s name, says it would set wrong precedent (India Today / 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)
▪ Jharkhand police to probe into Maoist links with Stan Swamy’s ‘Bagaicha’, 63 other frontal organisations (The New Indian Express / Sep 2023)
▪ Hackers Planted Files to Frame an Indian Priest Who Died in Custody (Wired / Dec 2022)
▪ How the system broke Stan Swamy: A cell mate recalls the activist’s last days in prison (Scroll.in | by Arun Ferreira | Aug 2021)
▪ Rashtra Seva Dal’s Inquiry Report into Bhima-Koregaon Riots (SACW/Jan 2018)

▪ I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection (Indian Social Institute / Aug 2021)

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

‘Why truth has become so bitter, dissent so intolerable, justice so out of reach?’ because truth has become very bitter to those in power and position, dissent, so unpalatable to the ruling elite, justice, so out of reach to the powerless, marginalised, deprived people. Yet, truth must be spoken, right to dissent must be upheld, and justice must reach the doorsteps of the poor. I am not a silent spectator. This booklet is not my autobiography. It is rather a collation of some glimpses/episodes from my life that somehow made a difference for me, and possibly for my confrères, colleagues and the people with whom I have shared my life.

Access a free PDF copy of the book here

OIAD: Surendra Gadling kept in prolonged detention for 8 years

OIAD: Surendra Gadling kept in prolonged detention for 8 years

Pic credits: IAPL

Protect-lawyers.org / by Observatoire International des Avocats en Danger (OIAD)

Mr Surendra Gadling is a lawyer specialising in the defence of human rights and marginalised communities, particularly Dalits and indigenous peoples in India. He has been held in detention for nearly eight years in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. He is now the only defendant still in prison – the other fifteen people prosecuted in this case have been released on bail.
Gadling was arrested in 2018 and is one of a group of human rights defenders prosecuted for their alleged involvement in violence that occurred in Bhima Koregaon. Several organisations believe that these prosecutions are in fact targeting committed activists and denounce the charges as baseless.
Mr Gadling is also being prosecuted in another case linked to a fire at a mining site in Surajgarh. According to several lawyers, inconsistencies have been identified in the complaint (including the absence of evidence linking him directly to the incident).
Read full statement

Also read:
▪ 7 yrs in jail, charges framed against Surendra Gadling in Surajgarh arson case. What Bombay HC told SC (The Print / Apr 2026)
▪ IAPL demands release of advocate Surendra Gadling from Maharashtra jail (The Sisat Daily / March 2026)
▪ Public Meeting at Press Club of India Demands Release of People’s Lawyer Surendra Gadling (The Mooknayak / March 2026)
▪ 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)

The End of Naxalism, the End of Accountability

The End of Naxalism, the End of Accountability

Graphic credits: virasam.org

The Wire / by Nandini Sundar

As the government claims victory over the CPI (Maoist), a more consequential defeat is being obscured: the collapse of constitutional accountability and the normalisation of impunity.
…
Among the many ironies of this confused and legally directionless ‘end of Naxalism’, is the fate of those arrested on charges of being Maoist sympathisers. At one end, we have the human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling who has been in jail since 2018, along with the rest of the BK 16 who are out on bail but still suffer from a protracted trial despite ample proof that police ‘evidence’ was fabricated. At the other end, the youth leaders of the Moolvasi Bachao Manch in Bastar, like Raghu Midiyami, Suneeta Pottam and others, have been jailed for over two years under UAPA, along with some other 40 activists at different times. Even simple rights like an operation to fix Raghu Midiyami’s broken finger are being resisted by the NIA. The MBM waged an entirely constitutional struggle, invoking the 5th Schedule of the Constitution and PESA to defend their lands. Evidently a peaceful movement of locals, in the face of an intensified mining push, is now a greater threat to the national security state than even the Maoists.
Hundreds of other innocent Adivasis continue to languish in jail, going through the tortuous legal system. Stan Swamy was targeted because his PIL in the Jharkhand High Court, based on interviews with 102 undertrials, showed that 97% of those arrested on charges of being Maoist actually had no relation to them.
Read more

Also read:
▪ 7 yrs in jail, charges framed against Surendra Gadling in Surajgarh arson case. What Bombay HC told SC (The Print / Apr 2026)
▪ 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)
▪ Who Is Suneeta Pottam, the Tribal Rights Activist Picked up for Unknown Cases Earlier This Month? (The Wire / Jun 2024)
▪ Encountering Resistance – State Policy for Development in Gadchiroli (PUDR / June 2018)
▪ Condemn the State Sponsored Massacre Scripted as ‘Encounter’ in Gadchiroli and Bijapur in Central India (wssnet.wordpress.com / May 2018)
▪ A study of Undertrials in Jharkhand (Sanhati / by Bagaicha Research Team / Feb 2016)

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

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

March 12, 2026. Pic credit: CASR

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)

CASR Condemns NIA Notice to Anti-Displacement Activist Damodar Turi

CASR Condemns NIA Notice to Anti-Displacement Activist Damodar Turi

Poster campaign, 2019.

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)

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

Conversion laws and national identity: A Jesuit response response to the Hindutva narrative

Countercurrents / by Rajiv Shah

A recent book, “Luminous Footprints: The Christian Impact on India”, authored by two Jesuit scholars, Dr. Lancy Lobo and Dr. Denzil Fernandes, seeks to counter the current dominant narrative on Indian Christians, which equates evangelisation with conversion, and education, health and the social services provided by Christians as meant to lure — even force — vulnerable sections into Christianity.
… the book cites the instance of Fr Stan Swamy, a Jharkhand-based civil rights leader, who was persecuted for actively advocating for tribal rights, especially the Pathalgadi movement, in which tribals “installed stone tablets in the village, inscribing the rights of tribals over their land and natural resources.”
Read more

Also read:
▪ 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)
▪ Jesuit Missions repeats call to clear Indian priest’s name (Indcatholic News / Jul 2024)
▪ COUNTRY UPDATE: India | Increasing Abuses against Religious Minorities in India (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom / Oct 2024)
▪ Jharkhand police to probe into Maoist links with Stan Swamy’s ‘Bagaicha’, 63 other frontal organisations (The New Indian Express / Sep 2023)
▪ Modi government’s actions against the Christian minority reveal a deep malaise within our society (Scroll.in / Mar 2022)
▪ A study of Undertrials in Jharkhand (Sanhati / by Bagaicha Research Team / Feb 2016)

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

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

Drawing by Arun Ferreira
Drawing by Arun Ferreira

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

Also read:
More from the Voices From Prison series
▪ Voices From Prison: For GN Saibaba, Who Is No More, And Others Who Are Here (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ 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)
▪ Voices From Prison | I Still Question The Govt, But Now In A More Satirical Tone: Rakesh Roshan Kiro (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Voices From Prison: Hope Remains A Stubborn Thing Even In Captivity, Says Umar Khalid (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Voices From Prison | The Problematic Judgement in the Denial of Bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Voices From Prison: Who Stole My Youth? Asks North-East Delhi Riots Accused Mohammad Iqbal (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Voices From Prison: My Detention And Incarceration Were Preordained By Prejudice, Says Sidhique Kappan (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Voices From Prison | Scars Of 17 Years Will Remain: Aparna Purohit On Lt Col Purohit’s Imprisonment In 2008 Malegaon Case (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Voices From Prison | He Has Been Arrested For Political Reasons: Gitanjali Angmo On Husband Sonam Wangchuk’s Imprisonment (Outlook / Jan 2026)
▪ Voices From Prison | A Legacy Of Detention: Weaponisation Of PDA, TADA, NSA And UAPA Laws Since Independence (Outlook / Jan 2026)

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

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

On Living the Legacy of Fr. Stan Swamy

On Living the Legacy of Fr. Stan Swamy

Countercurrents / by Cedric Prakash

Late evening of 8 October 2020, Fr Stan Swamy was summoned from ‘Bagaicha’ in Ranchi (the Social Centre he founded in 2006 and where he lived) by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials, to their local headquarters in Ranchi city. He was immediately detained and kept in their custody the whole night. The next morning, he was flown to Bombay and unceremoniously thrown into Taloja Jail. His incarceration followed months of raids, interrogations, intimidation and harassment at the hands of the NIA. The treatment meted out to him in jail was even worse.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Father Stan Swamy died of natural causes, Maharashtra government tells court (India Today / Oct 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)
▪ Will anti-Naxal drive pave way for mining giants? (The New Indian Express / May 2025)
▪ Jharkhand police to probe into Maoist links with Stan Swamy’s ‘Bagaicha’, 63 other frontal organisations (The New Indian Express / Sep 2023)

▪ I am not a Silent Spectator – Why Truth has become so bitter, Dissent so intolarable, Justice so out of reach – An Autobiographical Fragment, Memory and Reflection (Indian Social Institute | by Stan Swamy | Aug 2021)

Edition: Aug 2021
Publisher: Indian Social Institute, Bangalore
Language: English
Paperback: 149 pages

‘Why truth has become so bitter, dissent so intolerable, justice so out of reach?’ because truth has become very bitter to those in power and position, dissent, so unpalatable to the ruling elite, justice, so out of reach to the powerless, marginalised, deprived people. Yet, truth must be spoken, right to dissent must be upheld, and justice must reach the doorsteps of the poor. I am not a silent spectator. This booklet is not my autobiography. It is rather a collation of some glimpses/episodes from my life that somehow made a difference for me, and possibly for my confrères, colleagues and the people with whom I have shared my life.

Access a free PDF copy of the book here