Anand Teltumbde – free them all

Voices From Prison: Of Lives Stolen For Dissent – Various Accounts Of Political Activists

20/01/2026 Asha

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: 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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Also read:
▪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: For GN Saibaba, Who Is No More, And Others Who Are Here (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 | 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)

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
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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.
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▪ 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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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

‘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.
Read more

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)

India’s prisoners of conscience and the politics of waiting

02/12/2025 Asha

Scroll.in / by Sahil Hussain Choudhury

The law speaks the language of liberty, but power uses to the grammar of postponement.
In The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir, Anand Teltumbde notes that incarceration does not only test the body – it also tests whether the mind will refuse to surrender. …
The National Crime Records Bureau’s Prison Statistics India 2023 shows that nearly 73.5% of India’s prisoners are undertrials – people not yet convicted of any crime. Behind that abstraction lies a quieter truth: for most who enter the system, justice never arrives; only waiting does.
Read more

Also read:

▪ The Cell and the Soul – A Prison Memoir
Author: Anand Teltumbde
Publishing Date: Sep 2025
Publisher: Bloomsbury India
Pages: 256
Read more/order
▪ What Freedom Means For India’s Political Prisoners (Outlook / Apr 2025)
▪ BK-16 Prison Diaries: Sudhir Dhawale’s poem, “Prisoners of Consciousness” (The Polis Project / Mar 2025)
▪ Who Is a ‘Political Prisoner’? Rona Wilson Says Caste and Religion Are Key to the Answer (The Wire / Feb 2025)

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

Author: Sudha Bhardwaj
Publishing Date: Oct 2023
Publisher: Juggernaut
Pages: 216
Read more/order

▪ The Feared – Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners

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

▪ Punished without trial: How India’s political prisoners are being denied basic rights in jail (Scroll.in / Aug 2022)
▪ Who is a political prisoner? Time to define one (CivilSociety / Jul 2022)

Teltumbde makes his voice heard online / NIA court refuses Anand Teltumbde’s request to travel to literary festival

27/11/2025 Asha

Teltumbde barred from attending Hortus, makes his voice heard online

28/11/2025

Onmanorama / by Team Onmanorama

At the Manorama Hortus, the stage was set for two speakers, but only one chair was occupied. Writer S Anand sat alone, while the face of renowned scholar and activist Anand Teltumbde looked down from a large screen behind him.
“He is everywhere, but not here,” S Anand told the audience, explaining the “unfortunate turn of circumstances.”
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Out on bail in Bhima Koregaon case, academician Teltumbde’s request to attend lit fest rejected by court

27/11/2025

The Print / by Mayank Kumar

Mumbai court said invite to speak at Kochi festival was a ‘luxury’. The Dalit rights activist was set a pre-condition by Bombay HC in 2022 to take trial court’s nod for travel.
A Mumbai court has rejected the plea of academician Anand Teltumbde to attend a literature festival in Kochi organised by the media house, Malayala Manorama.
The court ruled that an invitation to speak at the festival was not an extreme circumstance that could fulfil the bail conditions imposed by the Bombay High Court in November 2022.
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NIA court refuses Teltumbde’s request to travel for Kochi literary festival

27/11/2025

Hindustan Times / by Vikrant Jha

Teltumbde was arrested by the NIA in April 2020 for alleged involvement in the Elgaar Parishad event in Pune on December 31, 2017, which investigators claim fuelled caste violence near the Bhima Koregaon war memorial the following day
A special court constituted under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday rejected a plea by scholar and human rights activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case, seeking permission to travel to Kochi later this week for an academic engagement.
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Elgaar case accused’s plea rejected: Going to speak at literature event ‘sort of luxury’: Court to Teltumbde

27/11/2025

The Indian Express / by Sadaf Modak

The court said that the Bombay High Court while granting bail to Teltumbde in November 2022 had imposed a condition with a specific intention, directing him not to go beyond local limits of the court.
Observing that travelling outside Mumbai to speak at a literature event for academic purposes is “sort of a luxury”, a special court Wednesday rejected permission to scholar Anand Teltumbde, booked in the Elgaar Parishad case, to travel to Kochi for two days.
Read more

Also read:
▪ Bombay HC refuses to allow Anand Teltumbde to travel abroad for lectures (Scroll.in / Oct 2025)
▪ Anti-terror agency seeks to seize Anand Teltumbde’s passport (India Today / Sep 2025)
▪ NIA opposes Anand Teltumbde’s plea to travel abroad, cites risk of absconding (The Hindu / April 2025)

‘The Cell and the Soul’: The mirror to Indian democracy in Anand Teltumbde’s prison memoir

22/11/2025 Asha

Scroll.in / by Ankush Pal

The memoir transforms personal suffering into a forensic examination of institutional decay.
Anand Teltumbde’s The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir stands as one of the most searing indictments of contemporary Indian democracy, transforming personal suffering into a forensic examination of institutional decay.
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.

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

02/11/2025 Asha

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.
Read more
Watch video

Video | Anand Teltumbde opens up about his years in prison

en | 42:12min | 2025
Video production team: Akhtarista Ansari, Saleem Ul Haq, Sonia Chand & Nidhi Jacob

Maktoob / Nikita Jain in conversation with Anand Teltumbde

Human rights defender and scholar Anand Teltumbde opens up about his years in prison, his new autobiography The Cell and the Soul, and what life has been like since his release with Maktoob’s Nikita Jain. Teltumbde, implicated in the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case in 2018, spent 31 months in jail before being released on bail in November 2022. He reflects on the emotional toll of incarceration, the losses he faced, and the strength that kept him going. Watch as Teltumbde discusses survival, resistance, and reclaiming life after imprisonment, a powerful account of endurance and conviction.
Watch video

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.

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

19/10/2025 Asha

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.

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

17/10/2025 Asha

“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: 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.
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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.