‘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. Read more
▪ 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.
Indian Jesuits to continue fight to clear Father Stan Swamy’s name
18/12/2025
UCA News / by Michael Gonsalves
Court-appointed guardian to file fresh petition against official report concluding it was a ‘natural,’ not ‘custodial death’
Jesuits in India say they will continue the legal battle to clear the name of their late confrere, Father Stan Swamy, who died in police custody while awaiting trial for alleged sedition and anti-state activities four years ago.
The 84-year-old Jesuit who died in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) on July 5, 2021, was widely respected as an activist priest for his work among tribal people in eastern Jharkhand and other states for more than five decades. Read more
Ex-St Xavier’s College principal to challenge Stan Swamy’s custodial death report
12/12/2025
India Today / by Vidya
The magistrate’s enquiry report, submitted by the Maharashtra government two months back, confirmed that Swamy died due to natural causes. The report, prepared by Bandra Magistrate Komalsing Rajput following an enquiry on April 24, 2024, concluded that the 84-year-old activist died from “septicemia due to lobar pneumonia (natural).
The Bombay High Court on Thursday permitted Frazer Mascarenhance, the former principal of St. Xavier’s College, to file a fresh petition, challenging the enquiry report of the late Father Stan Swamy in the Elgar Parishad case in 2018. Read more
Bombay High Court Disposes Of Plea Seeking To Quash Observations Against Father Stan Swamy In Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon Case
12/12/2025
Live Law / by Narsi Benwal
The Bombay High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition filed in December 2021 by the next of kin of Father Stan Swamy, who sought clearing the now deceased (Swamy’s) name from the Elgar Parishad – Bhima Koregaon case.
The plea was filed by Father Fraser Mascarenhas, the former principal of Xavier’s College in Mumbai through senior advocate Mihir Desai, argued that the findings of the special NIA court against Swamy “besmirches” his reputation and body of work in tribal and human rights. The findings further violate his fundamental right to reputation under Article 21 of the Constitution. Accordingly, they should be quashed. Read more
Bombay High Court Disposes Plea to Quash Remarks Against Fr. Stan Swamy
12/12/2025
Catholicconnect.in / by Catholic Connect Reporter
The Bombay High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition filed in December 2021 by the next of kin of Father Stan Swamy, who sought to clear the now deceased priest’s name from the Elgar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon case. The plea, filed by Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, through senior advocate Mihir Desai, argued that the findings of the special NIA court against Swamy “besmirches” his reputation and body of work in tribal and human rights. The findings, they argued, violated his fundamental right to reputation under Article 21 of the Constitution and should therefore be quashed. Read more
Jesuit priest to challenge reports declaring Stan Swamy’s death natural, HC allows fresh plea
12/12/2025
Hindustan Times / by Karuna Nidhi
Father Frazer Mascarenhas plans to challenge reports declaring Father Stan Swamy’s death natural, citing prison conditions as a factor in his health decline.
Father Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St Xavier’s College and a close associate of the late Father Stan Swamy, told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that he intends to challenge both the magistrate’s inquiry report and the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) order that upheld it. The two reports had concluded that Swamy, who died in custody while awaiting trial in the Elgar Parishad case, had died a natural death. Read more
Stan Swamy’s kin to challenge magistrate report, SHRC finding death due to natural causes
12/12/2025
The Indian Express / by Express News Service
Mascarenhas said the magistrate’s report had concluded that Swamy’s death was due to natural causes, a finding later affirmed by the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
Father Frazer Mascarenhas, former principal of St Xavier’s College, on Thursday told the Bombay High Court that he will challenge the magistrate’s judicial inquiry report into the custodial death of his late friend Father Stan Swamy, an accused in the Elgaar Parishad case. Read more
▪ 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.
Netherlands-based digital forensics expert Robert Jan Mora found “malware, not identified as such in the (RFSL) report, on an external pen drive that was seized from Mr. [Rona] Wilson”.
In 2022, when Netherlands-based digital forensics expert Robert Jan Mora was reviewing screenshots of Pune Police reports on some of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, he found something strange.
The Bhima Koregaon case has garnered international infamy for the prolonged persecution of 16 human rights defenders under terrorism-related charges, with individuals and organisations from across the world calling for the release of all accused. Read more
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
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.
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
▪ 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.
Father Stan Swamy died of natural causes, Maharashtra government tells court
07/10/2025
India Today / by Vidya
The Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission found no foul play or medical negligence. The Bombay High Court is hearing a plea to clear his name, with further hearing on November 13.
The Maharashtra government on Monday submitted a magistrate’s enquiry report confirming that Father Stan Swamy’s death was due to natural causes. The report, prepared by Bandra Magistrate Komalsing Rajput following an enquiry on April 24, 2024, concluded that the 84-year-old activist, who was imprisoned in the Elgar Parishad case, died from “septicemia due to lobar pneumonia (natural).” Read more
‘Father Stan Swamy Died Natural Death, Was Provided Prompt Medical Treatment’: State Tells Bombay High Court
06/10/2025
Live Law / by Narsi Benwal
The Bombay High Court was informed on Monday that a mandatory Magisterial Inquiry report on Father Stan Swamy’s death was submitted before the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) earlier in May which concluded that he had died a ‘natural death.’ Read more
An excerpt from Teltumbde’s prison memoir ‘The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir’.
I did not realise that when I said, “Don’t come back here,” to Stan while seeing him off at the gate of the jail hospital, it would prove ominous.
It was May 28, 2021, and Arun Ferreira and I drove him in a wheelchair to the gate of the jail hospital, extremely happy over the Bombay High Court order to shift him to the Holy Family Hospital, albeit for only 15 days. Read more
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.
Fr Stan Swamy can’t be declared innocent just because he’s dead: NIA
24/09/2025
Hindustan Times / by Karuna Nidhi
The petition was filed by Stan Swamy’s friend and fellow Jesuit priest Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas who retired in 2015 as Mumbai’s St. Xavier’s College principal
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday opposed a petition filed in the Bombay High Court seeking to remove the “odium” of criminal charges against Jesuit priest Father Stan Swamy who died in custody in July 2021 while awaiting trial in the Elgar Parishad case. Read more
NIA opposes plea to clear Stan Swamy’s name, says it would set wrong precedent
23/09/2025
India Today / by Vidya
The petition sought a judicial inquiry into Stan Swamy’s death and requested that the “odium of guilty” attached to him be removed.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed a petition filed in the Bombay High Court seeking to clear the name of late tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy from the Elgar Parishad case, saying such a move would set a “wrong precedent.”
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The court will take up the matter again after two weeks. Read more
This year’s Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture reflected on migration, livelihood, and justice, continuing the legacy of Father Stan Swamy’s lifelong advocacy for the marginalized.
The program also emphasised the ongoing demand for the release of all Bhima Koregaon accused.
Date: Sat, 13 September 2025
Speaker: Father Prem Xalxo SJ
Chair: Advocate Indira Jaising en / hindi | 1:51:29 | 2025 Watch recording
Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture: Speakers stress on struggles of tribal, migrant communities
14/09/2025
The Indian Express / by Naresh S
Senior advocate Mihir Desai, who has represented human rights cases in the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court, reflected on Stan Swamy’s legacy
Speakers at the Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture, held on Saturday at Nariman Point after being cancelled earlier by St Xavier’s College, stressed on the ongoing struggles of India’s tribal and migrant communities. Organised by over 55 civil society groups, the event drew both in-person and virtual audiences and paid tribute to the late Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy. Read more
Civil society pushes on, holds Stan Swamy lecture
14/09/2025
Hindustan Times / by Sabah Virani
Irfan Engineer condemned the suppression of free expression at the Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture, highlighting resistance against political intimidation and rights violations.
“This lecture is an act of resistance; resistance to suppression of freedom of expression, resistance to bulldozing our democracy and constitution, resistance to an attempt to intimidate marginalised sections of society and educational institutions, in what can be taught, what lectures are arranged, and what cannot, and their being dictated by Hindu nationalist organisations, which have a political agenda and muscle power to exercise it,” said Irfan Engineer, director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS). Read more
Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture to be held tomorrow at Mumbai’s Nariman Point after cancellation at St Xavier’s College
12/09/2025
The Indian Express / by Naresh S
The original programme commemorating Father Stan Swamy, planned for August 9 at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, was cancelled following objections raised by ABVP activists.
The annual Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture, initially cancelled by St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, will now be held on Saturday in Nariman Point, which the attendees can join virtually.
The lecture is being organised by a coalition of civil society groups, including the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Samanvaya, People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), Karvaan-e-Mohabbat, and International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India). Read more
Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture | Migration for Livelihood: Hope Amidst Miseries? (Sep 13)
10/09/2025
Free Press Journal / by FPJ Desk
Swamy was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in 2019 after violence at the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon gathering. He was reportedly ailing when he passed away.
The Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture 2025 on ‘Migration for Livelihood: Hope Amidst Miseries’ by Fr Prem Xalxo, will be held online on September 13, after the programme organised by St Xavier’s College on August 9 was cancelled. Read more
Also watch/read:
▪ Video: Mihir Desai Speaks – Stan Swamy Memorial Lecture en | 50:18 | 2025
Senior advocate Mihir Desai shares his perspective. He fought Stan Swamy’s case in the Mumbai High Court. A champion of Adivasi rights, Stan Swamy was accused of conspiring against the state and taken into custody in the infamous Bhima Koregaon case. He passed away in Taloja Jail/Holy Family Hospital on 5 July 2025. Watch video
St. Xavier’s bowed to ABVP pressure, cancelling a memorial for the late Jesuit activist, exposing the deepening crisis of free speech and academic courage in India.
The cancellation of the Stan Swamy Memorial lecture and the weaponisation of allegations, truth is obfuscated. Read more
