Modi promised a strike on Pakistan. Instead, he turned the tools of the British empire inward—counting caste to divide, not to dismantle it.
After the Pahalgam terrorist attack of April 22, 2025, the mitti me mila denge threat from Narendra Modi seemed to imply that he would launch a big-bang, post-Pulwama-style surgical strike on Pakistan. But what came on April 30, 2025, after a week of quiet, was the declaration of a caste census. Read more
The leading scholar of the Dalit movement, explains how Hindutva parties use Babasaheb for political gains.
One of India’s leading public intellectuals and an authority on the Dalit movement, Anand Teltumbde, has been in the news across the country for his book on Ambedkar, Iconoclast: A Reflective Biography of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. The book offers a deep analysis of not just Ambedkar’s philosophy, but also the man he was— complex, visionary and tenacious. In this interview with Frontline, Teltumbde, brings to life Babasaheb, an icon who is now worryingly “worshipped” by several political parties and ordinary people. Read more
Learning About Strength, Solidarity and the Injustices of Incarceration
04/04/2025
The Wire / by Meenaz Kakalia
In ‘The Feared’, Neeta Kolhatkar interviews 11 political prisoners and their loved ones about their struggles, their resilience and their joys.
While memoirs of political prisoners are not uncommon, what one doesn’t often find is their stories told through interviews which probe the more intimate aspects of their lives and the enduring ways in which their incarceration has affected their families and loved ones. Read more
Voices from the Purgatory
04/04/2025
The Telegraph / by Kartik Chauhan
The Feared is not only an urgent call for prison reforms but it also reveals an alarming history of forced and/or false incarcerations of political dissenters, opponents and activists in India
… The opening interview with Sudha Bharadwaj revisits her days in Yerawada and Byculla prisons. Bharadwaj talks about her daughter and the complexity of mulaqat processes in Indian prisons — a recurring conversation in the book wherein the interviewees report arbitrary rules that the prison authorities impose with impunity, often in flagrant violation of the prescribed Prison Manual. Read more
Also read: ▪ The Feared – Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners
Author: Neeta Kolhatkar
Publishing Date: Dec 2024
Publisher: S&S India
Pages: 272
During long discussions, sometimes taking place over multiple meetings, Kolhatkar unearths personal anecdotes from the time her interviewees were incarcerated, bringing into focus the human face of prison inmates, while also detailing the wretched conditions relating to space, hygiene, medical attention, and food that they experienced. Read more /order
NIA Opposes Dr Anand Teltumbde’s Plea To Travel Abroad, Citing Risk Of Absconding
04/04/2025
Free Press Journal / by Urvi Mahajan
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed the plea by Dalit rights activist Dr. Anand Teltumbde.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed the plea by Dalit rights activist Dr. Anand Teltumbde, one of the accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case, seeking permission to travel abroad, stating that there is a likelihood of him absconding. Read more
NIA opposes Anand Teltumbde’s plea to travel abroad, cites risk of absconding
04/04/2025
The Hindu / by Abhinay Deshpande
The accused scholar filed a plea to travel to the Netherlands and the U.K. for academic reasons; NIA denied on the grounds of his alleged involvment with CPI (Maoist).
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed a plea by academician Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, seeking permission from the Bombay High Court to travel abroad for academic engagements. The agency argued that Mr. Teltumbde poses a flight risk and might seek asylum if allowed to leave the country. Read more
NIA opposes plea by Anand Teltumbde for foreign travel, says he could abscond
04/04/2025
Bar & Bench / by Sahyaja MS
Dr. Teltumbde, one of the accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking permission to travel abroad for academic engagements.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday opposed the plea filed by Dalit rights activist Dr Anand Teltumbde before the Bombay High Court seeking permission to travel abroad for academic purposes.
In an affidavit filed before the High Court, the NIA explicitly voiced its apprehension that Dr Teltumbde might abscond and take shelter in foreign countries to avoid the trial in the Bhima Koregaon case in which he is an accused. Read more
Anand Teltumbde’s Activities Threaten India’s Sovereignty; Must Not Be Permitted To Go Abroad, Can Give Lectures Virtually: NIA To Bombay HC
03/04/2025
Live Law / by Narsi Benwal
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday told the Bombay High Court that Dalit rights’ activist Dr Anand Teltumbde is an active member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) (CPI-M), and is allegedly involved in activities that pose a ‘threat’ to the ‘sovereignty, security and integrity’ of India and thus he should not be permitted to travel to Amsterdam and the United Kingdom to attend academic assignments. Read more
Anand Teltumbde seeks High Court nod to travel abroad
19/03/2025
India Today / by Vidya
Professor Anand Teltumbde has asked the Bombay High Court to allow him to travel abroad for academic events in Europe. The NIA opposed the plea, arguing it should be filed in the trial court.
Professor Anand Teltumbde, an academician accused in the Elgar Parishad case, has asked the Bombay High Court to direct the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to return his passport and allow him to travel abroad for about a month to visit different universities. Read more
Anand Teltumbde Moves Bombay High Court For Permission To Travel Abroad On Academic Assignments
19/03/2025
Live Law / by Live Law News Network
Dr Anand Teltumbde, one of the accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case, has approached the Bombay High Court seeking permission to travel abroad from Mumbai to Amsterdam as well as the United Kingdom to attend academic assignments.
Notably, Teltumbde has been made an accused in an FIR registered by the NIA for offences punishable under the IPC and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. In November 2022, the High Court had granted bail to the professor on merits imposing certain conditions including that he will not leave the court’s jurisdiction without permission. Read more
‘The Message Is Loud & Clear.’ Author Of New Book On 11 Indian ‘Prisoners Of Conscience’ & The Costs Of Defiance
07/03/2025
Article 14 / by Zeyad Masroor Khan
Political prisoners are among the most discriminated against of India’s prisoners, says Neeta Kolhatkar, author of ‘The Feared’, a book that explores the lives of 11 such prisoners and their families. They talked to her about their experiences while incarcerated and—for those on bail—after. Kolhatkar tells us how she got access to India’s ‘prisoners of conscience’, and why she thinks they were arrested; how they struggle for basic facilities, including medical tests; the impact on their physical and mental health, on their spouses and children; and their survival strategies.
“I will not come out alive if I am jailed again.”
That is what Binayak Sen, 75, says in “The Feared”, a new book by Mumbai-based journalist Neeta Kolhatkar, chronicling the experiences of 11 Indian political prisoner. A medical doctor arrested in 2007 while working in the Adivasi lands of Chhattisgarh, Sen was convicted of sedition in 2010 before being granted bail in 2011. Read more
The Feared: A wake-up call to the gross human rights violations inflicted on thousands of undertrials
05/06/2025
Sabrang India / by Harsh Thakor
The Feared is a collection of interviews conducted by Neeta Kolhatkar with 11 political prisoners and, in some cases, their loved ones. Through these conversations, she vividly portrays their everyday lives within multiple prisons across India. This landmark work is a path breaking contribution to resurrecting the spirit of dissent and resistance at a time when proto-fascism is reaching unprecedented heights.
The book serves as a wake-up call to the gross human rights violations inflicted on thousands of undertrials. Kolhatkar’s detailed discussions – some spanning multiple meetings – reveal personal anecdotes from the prisoners’ time behind bars. She brings to light not only their experiences but also the deplorable prison conditions, including issues related to space, hygiene, medical care, and food. Read more
‘If I’m A Hindu, It Does Not Mean I’ll Put Non-Hindu Behind Bars,’ Says Retired Justice BN Srikrishna At Book Launch
27/02/2025
Free Press Journal / FPJ News Service
If I’m a Hindu, it does not mean that I hate a person who’s a non-Hindu or put him behind the bars for their religion or political ideology, said retired justice BN Srikrishna, who headed the Srikrishna Commission to investigate the Bombay Riots of 1992-93.
… The book includes conversations with political prisoners including Sudha Bharadwaj, Nilofer Malik and Sameer Khan, Koel Sen, Prashant Rahi and Shikha Rahi, Sanjay Raut, Kishorechandra Wangkhem, Anand Teltumbde and Rama Ambedkar, Binayak Sen, Kobad Gandhy, Muralidharan K and P Hemlatha. Read more
Also read: ▪ The Feared – Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners
Author: Neeta Kolhatkar
Publishing Date: Dec 2024
Publisher: S&S India
Pages: 272 Read more /order
BJP’s ultranationalism is a strategy to make up for its absence during the freedom struggle, but the binary discourse on nationalism is being weaponised to make detractors fall in line
… Six months after Modi’s government took office, the term ‘anti-national’ emerged as a popular slur. Often used by BJP leaders and supporters, the phrase wields a strong rhetorical power in shaping the ‘nationalist’ public discourse. The binary label has since served as a weapon to silence critics, discredit dissent and marginalise opposition, reinforcing a divisive political narrative. Read more
Politics Of Division: Why Autocrats Foster Binary Thinking
21/02/2025
Outlook India / by Anand Teltumbde
Autocratic and fascist regimes consolidate power by reducing complex socio-political realities into rigid binary oppositions. Instead of addressing systemic economic inequalities, they redirect public anger toward scapegoats – immigrants, minorities and dissenting voices.
… A deadly consequence of this binary-driven autocratic politics is the erosion of democratic institutions. The judiciary, independent media and civil society organisations are labelled as enemies of the state if they challenge the ruling regime. Read more
Anand Teltumbde Moves Bombay HC Seeking Discharge From Bhima Koregaon Case, Judge Recuses From Hearing
03/01/2025
The Wire / by The Wire Staff
Justice Kotwal said he had heard and decided bail pleas of a few other accused in the same case in his capacity as a single judge and was thus recusing himself.
Dalit rights activist Anand Teltumbde has moved Bombay High Court seeking closure of the case against him pertaining to the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018. Read more
Bench recuses itself from hearing Teltumbde’s plea for discharge in Elgar Parishad case
02/01/2025
India Today / by Vidya
The Bombay High Court bench, headed by Justice Sarang Kotwal, recused itself from hearing Anand Teltumbde’s plea as the judge had previously decided on some bail applications related to the matter.
A bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday recused itself from hearing an appeal filed by Professor Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case in Pune. Teltumbde had approached the high court challenging the rejection of his discharge plea. Read more
Bombay HC judge recuses himself from hearing Anand Teltumbde’s discharge plea
02/01/2025
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
Justice Sarang Kotwal declined to hear the matter, saying that he had earlier heard and decided on bail applications of accused persons in the case.
A Bombay High Court judge on Thursday recused himself from hearing an appeal by activist and writer Anand Teltumbde demanding that he be discharged from the Bhima Koregaon case, Live Law reported. Read more
Bombay HC Judge Recuses From Hearing Prof Anand Teltumbde’s Appeal Against Order Rejecting Discharge Plea
02/01/2025
Live Law / by Narsi Benwal
Bombay High Court judge Justice Sarang Kotwal on Thursday (January 2) recused from hearing an appeal filed by Professor Anand Teltumbde, one of the accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
The judge also asked the Registry to ensure that any of the matters related to the Bhima-Koregaon case, should not be listed before him. Read more
During the course of extensive research, Kolhatkar spoke to political prisoners and their family members.
Journalist and political analyst Neeta Kolhatkar has written about the life and struggles of the political prisoners in India. The prisoners include Dr Binayak Sen, paediatrician, public health specialist and social activist, and Prof Anand Teltumbde, eminent scholar, Dalit activist and management teacher. Read more
The Feared
Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners
simonandschuster.co.in / by Neeta Kolhatkar
During long discussions, sometimes taking place over multiple meetings, Kolhatkar unearths personal anecdotes from the time her interviewees were incarcerated, bringing into focus the human face of prison inmates, while also detailing the wretched conditions relating to space, hygiene, medical attention, and food that they experienced. Apart from being an urgent call to action for prison reforms, The Feared is thus also an account of hope and strength, narrating unique stories of survival and solidarity, and the unexpected bonds and relationships formed in prison.
Author: Neeta Kolhatkar
Publisher: S&S India (December 20, 2024)
Length: 272 pages Read more
Here is a list of 5 academicians who have transformed higher education into an inclusive model of academia through theory and research.
Academic freedom has become a contested term in contemporary Higher Education in India. While the spaces of universities have always been political, the current trend is best described as Saffronisation. Political interference in the recruitment process of faculty has become a persistent problem hindering the scope of research. A curb on critical voices seems in place to evoke a culture of self-censorship. Read more
