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Arun Ferreira’s account of custodial torture, years of imprisonment is shared by thousands of fellow countrymen, women

Arun Ferreira’s account of custodial torture, years of imprisonment is shared by thousands of fellow countrymen, women

First published: Nov 20, 2015

Counterview.org / By Fr Cedric Prakash sj*


On September 27, 2011 Arun Ferreira was released from the Nagpur jail after being illegally incarcerated since May 2007 on charges of being a Naxalite. Just as he stepped out from the gates of the jail even as his aged parents and other family members waited outside the jail to welcome him back into their loving embrace, Arun was forcibly arrested once again and that too without a warrant.
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Inside the Anda Cell: Extracts from Arun Ferreira’s Prison Memoir

Inside the Anda Cell: Extracts from Arun Ferreira’s Prison Memoir

First published: Sep 30, 2014

Book: Colours of The Cage – A Prison Memoir. By Arun Ferreira (Publisher: Aleph, 2014)


From 28 May to 14 June 2007, I was slapped with five more cases relating to Naxalite violence in Gondia, a district about 150 kilometres from Nagpur. Gondia and especially Gadchiroli, the other district lying at the extreme end of Maharashtra, are areas of intense Maoist activity. In almost all of Gadchiroli and parts of Gondia, armed Naxal squads have fought the police and paramilitary forces with support from the local tribals and peasants.
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Interview: Arun Ferreira: ‘The high walls keep out realities’

Interview: Arun Ferreira: ‘The high walls keep out realities’

First published: Jan 6, 2016

Frontline / By Frontline Staff

Arun Ferreira spent six years in Nagpur jail as a political prisoner. He was arrested in 2007 for alleged naxalite and anti-national activities under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Eleven cases were registered against him. He fought a relentless legal battle to prove that the charges were false and completely fabricated. In January 2014, he was acquitted in all the cases for lack of substantial evidence. At the time of his release, he told Frontline: “My case is really nothing special. The real issue is the way political prisoners are handled and the blatant violations of the human rights of all prisoners.”
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Video: Arun Ferreira – Life in an Indian Prison

Video: Arun Ferreira – Life in an Indian Prison

en | 12:51 min | 2014

youtoube / produced by Faiza Khan

Arun Ferreira was arrested in May 2007 on fabricated charges under the Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act (UAPA). As soon as he was acquitted in a case, a new one would be conjured up. Finally out on bail in January 2012, Arun talks about life in prison and torture they were subjected to, through his sketches.
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Indian journalist Sudhir Dhawale discusses his release from prison

Indian journalist Sudhir Dhawale discusses his release from prison

First published: Jun 3, 2014

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)/ By Sumit Galhotra

After languishing in jail for 40 months, Mumbai-based journalist and activist Sudhir Dhawale has walked free. Dhawale was the only journalist in jail in India in late 2013, according to CPJ’s annual prison census. With his release, there are currently no other journalists behind bars in the country for work-related reasons.
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