While forming the government, Modi may do whatever it takes, but thereafter he will recoil back to his fascist persona with a vengeance.
… Most commentators expect Modi 3.0 to be a tamed affair which may not last a full term. I do not agree. While forming the government, he may do whatever it takes, but thereafter he will recoil back to his fascist persona with a vengeance, like a wounded tigress. He will do more of what he knew and did with added fervour of vendetta. For instance, Muslims and Dalits concertedly voted against the BJP, and he will not leave them unpunished. There will be more incarcerations of dissenters (“urban Naxals”), and more raids on and arrests of political opponents by the central agencies under the guise of punishing corruption. Read more
Social Activist Anand Teltumbde’s Discharge Plea Rejected By Special UAPA Court
12/05/2024
The Free Press Journal / by Charul Shah Joshi
The court said determination of the evidence and rival contentions can take place only on conclusion of trial.
The special UAPA court has rejected scholar and activist Anand Teltumbde’s plea of discharge in the Elgar Parishad case, observing that material presented by the prosecution raises suspicion and is required to be tested in the trial. Read more
Teltumbde part of Elgar plot, shows material
12/05/2024
Times of India / by Rebecca Samervel
In a detailed order rejecting the discharge plea of scholar and activist Anand Teltumbde in the Elgar Parishad case, a special NIA court on Friday said there is material which prima facie reveals about his involvement in the alleged conspiracy. Read more
Special judge Rajesh J Katariya rejected the plea, observing that the material placed on record revealed involvement of Teltumbde in the conspiracy and further disclosed grave suspicion
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday rejected the application filed by civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde for discharge from the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case. Read more
‘Never Adjusted Your Stand’: 9 Elgar Accused Congratulate Anand Teltumbde From Jail
05/02/2024
The Wire / by The Wire Staff
Their co-accused who is out on bail, Teltumbde has been conferred the Basava National Award – Karnataka’s highest honour.
… Although a few have been granted bail on medical and technical grounds, nine remain behind bars at Byculla and Taloja prisons in Maharashtra. The latter have written a congratulatory letter to co-accused Dr Anand Teltumbde, on his being given the Karnataka government’s highest award, the Basava Award.
The letter, which the prisoners released through their lawyers, is being produced below. Read more
‘A small streak of light’: Seven BK prisoners congratulate Anand Teltumbde on award
04/02/2024
Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff
The writer, who is on bail in the same case, was honoured with the Basava Award by the Karnataka government on January 31.
The seven people who are still in jail in the Bhima Koregaon case have congratulated their co-accused Anand Teltumbde for having been granted the Karnataka government’s Basava Award on January 31 and pushing “forward the wheel of democratic revolution of annihilating the caste system”. Read more
‘My state has done the greatest honour by putting me in jail’: Anand Teltumbde after receiving Karnataka’s Basava award
01/02/2024
The Indian Express / by Sanath Prasad
Teltumbde says the award is ‘an honour for all the faceless and countless activists struggling for making this world better for people to live’.
Civil rights activist and academic Anand Teltumbde was felicitated with the Basava Rashtriya Puraskara by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Wednesday for his work on delivering social justice and equality through speeches and writings. Read more Poster by Siddesh Gautam / #bakeryprasad
NIA court allows Anand Teltumbde to travel to Bengaluru to receive Basava Rashtriya Puraskar award
30/01/2024
The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala
Dr Anand Teltumbde has been allowed to travel to Bengaluru to receive the Basava Rashtriya Puraskar award for 2022–23. The award recognises individuals and organisations for their achievements in the areas of literature, social justice and harmony.
Today, a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court of special judge Rajesh Kataria allowed Dalit scholar, academic and activist, Dr Anand Teltumbde to travel to Bengaluru to receive the Basava Rashtriya Puraskar award for 2022–23 from the Karnataka government. Read more
Elgar Parishad case accused allowed to visit Karnataka to receive award
30/01/2024
India Today / by Vidya
Professor Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad case, has been allowed to travel to Bengaluru to receive a felicitation by the state government.
A special court in Mumbai has allowed scholar-activist Professor Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the 2018 Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case of Maharashtra, to travel to Karnataka for two days to receive an award from the government in the neighbouring state. Read more
Civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde chosen for Basava Award; Na. D’Souza gets Pampa Prashasti
26/01/2024
The Hindu / by the Hindu Bureau
Scholar, civil rights activist, and Ambedkarite Anand Teltumbde from Maharashtra and Dr. N.G. Mahadevappa from Dharwad in Karnataka have been picked for the national-level Basava Award for the year 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively. Read More
Teltumbde helped us to foreground the meaning of atrocity. Among his notable scholarly contributions to social sciences are his monographs covering the state and the political economy.
Anand Teltumbde is a rare intellectual, someone gifted with a versatility that cuts across disciplines. He’s among the top-ranking intellectuals of contemporary India. Much like the late British historian Eric Hobsbawm, he is someone who can easily play with multiple topics and engage intelligently. Read more
The Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad ‘Maoist’ conspiracy case is a grand experiment with truth where the State is daring the people to stand up for justice.
‘TRUTH or dare’ is a mostly verbal party game requiring two or more players. Players are given the choice between answering a question truthfully, or performing a ‘dare’. The premise is simple: Players take turns asking one another ‘truth or dare?’ If they choose truth, they have to answer a question of the asker’s choosing. If they choose dare, the asker dares them to do something rather than make a confession.
Suppose the State were to subject its citizens to a macabre version of this game by cooking up a conspiracy case and locking up people behind bars. Then tell them that in order to win their freedom, they have to choose the ‘truth’ of the conspiracy or the ‘dare’ to dissent.
This is the absurd logic that plays out when you try to make sense of the Bhima Koregaon conspiracy case. Read more
Elgaar Parishad held to defuse social tension between OBCs and Marathas: Ambedkar
17/09/2023
The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde
Ambedkar rejected the allegation, saying the first meeting called by retired Justice Sawant and Justice B G Kolse Patil was on the issue of the widening divide between the OBCs and Marathas.
Dalit leader and president of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi Prakash Ambedkar on Saturday told the the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry that the main aim of holding the Elgaar Parishad in Pune was to defuse the social tension created between the Other Backward classes (OBC) and the Marathas on the issue of reservations. Read more
Top cop Kadam deposes before Koregaon Bhima probe panel
16/09/2023
The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde
The two-member commission headed by retired High Court Justice J N Patel is probing into the causes that led to the violence in Koregaon Bhima area on January 1, 2018, leaving one dead and several injured.
Senior police officer Ravindra Kadam (now retired) deposed as a witness before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Friday. Read more
Activist ‘confronted’ with article by Anand Teltumbde on Koregaon Bhima battle ‘myth’
15/09/2023
The Indian Express / by Chandan Haygunde
The two-member commission, headed by retired high court justice J N Patel, is probing into the causes that led to the violence in Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 2018, that led to the death of one person and left several injured.
Activist Harshali Potdar, who is among the organisers of the ‘Elgaar Parishad’, was questioned about an article written by scholar Anand Teltumbde on the ‘myth’ related to the battle of Koregaon Bhima during her cross-examination before the Koregaon Bhima Commission of Inquiry on Thursday. Read more
Mahesh Raut’s bail plea reserved for judgment on September 21
12/09/2023
The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala
Additional Solicitor General of India Devang Girish Vyas, representing the NIA, argued that as an active member of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), Mahesh Raut recruited members and received funds to further its activities, and he was a participant in the Elgar Parishad event that had led to violence.
… With the conclusion of arguments on both sides, the matter is reserved for judgment on September 21. Read more
Bombay High Court reserves order on Mahesh Raut’s bail plea
13/09/2023
India Today / by Vidya
Division bench of Bombay High Court has reserved its order on activist Mahesh Raut’s bail plea in the Elgar Parishad Maoist links case. The order will be issued on September 21.
The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, reserved its verdict on the bail plea of activist Mahesh Raut, who stands accused in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgar Parishad Maoist links and criminal conspiracy case.
Advocate Mihir Desai, representing Raut, cited several high court and Supreme Court orders where Raut’s co-accused were granted bail and argued that his case is on par with theirs. Read more
HC reserves its order in Elgar accused’s bail plea
13/09/2023
The Times of India / by Swati Deshpande
Bombay high court on Tuesday reserved for orders a bail plea filed by Mahesh Raut, a 34 year old researcher from Chandrapur, accused in the January 2018 Elgar Parishad case. The HC bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Sharmila Deshmukh said it would pass orders on September 21 or by September 26. Read more
Mahesh Raut bail plea seeks parity with Dr Anand Teltumbde’s
11/09/2023
The Leaflet / by Sarah Thanawala
Senior advocate Mihir Desai, appearing on behalf of Mahesh Raut, took the court through material cited by the National Investigation Agency, claiming lack of evidence against Raut. Desai sought parity with judgments granting bail to other co-accused persons— Dr Anand Teltumbde, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira.
On Monday, a division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices A.S. Gadkari and Sharmila U. Deshmukh heard the bail plea of forest rights activist Mahesh Raut. Read more
Anand Teltumbde is a scholar and civil rights activist known for his extensive work on B.R. Ambedkar’s life and work as well as the caste issue. He was arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case in 2020 and released on bail in November 2022 after spending 31 months in jail. The 72-year-old spoke to Snigdhendu Bhattacharya. Read more
Professor Anand Teltumbde fought for civil and labor rights while holding various managerial profiles during his illustrious corporate career and had only ever passed by a prison while commuting to work.
“If a profile like mine could be tarnished over night as such an oxymoron as urban Naxal, then I thought nothing would be impossible in the world”, he says months after his release on bail in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case where he is accused of Maoist links along with several rights activists.
In this interview, Teltumbde talks about his observations from behind prison bars, the four books he authored during his time in prison, including a book dedicated to Ambedkar and why he declined to avail court permission to meet his mother. Read more
● Video: The Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails
By All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice – AILAJ / March 2022 en | 1:21:23 | 2022
The huge number of undertrials, the overcrowding, and the disproportional numbers of Dalit, Muslim and Adivasi prisoners are part of the prison problem in India.
We are joined by Adv. Sudha Bharadwaj for a discussion on the Conditions of Prisoners in Indian Jails. Watch video