“Indian jails have turned into a prison for people who are merely accused. It is unfortunate that political prisoners, get bail from the High court, but it is stayed by the Supreme Court and their bail arguments continue for months, even years.”
Human rights activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha offers a stark account of life inside India’s prisons, describing a system defined by deliberate neglect, overcrowding, and institutional apathy. Arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, Navlakha spent years in judicial custody as an undertrial, reflecting the plight of thousands of undertrials who remain in detention for years without bail. Watch video
Video | Sudhir Dhawale Spoke With Outlook About Mental Health Crisis in Indian Prisons
01/10/2025
Outlook / by Priyanka Tupe
hindi /en | 46:58 | 2025
Indian Human Rights activist Sudhir Dhawale, imprisoned under UAPA in Bhima Koregaon case, exposes India’s prison mental health crisis: overcrowding, absent psychiatric care, caste-based labor, and systematic erosion of dignity. Watch video
Taloja Jail: Lives Fading in Silence Behind Iron Walls
28/09/2025
Outlook / by Sudhir Dhawale
The author, who spent 10 years in jail, details the painful experiences of the inmates and the cold attitude of the authorities
Narya was a prisoner in Taloja Central Jail, Navi Mumbai. He was young and had already spent a few years in jail. With overgrown hair, a thick moustache and a full-grown beard, he was an eccentric who would roam the prison yard with complete disregard. Since he routinely got into quarrels with the jailer and physical fights with other inmates, people were wary of him. Read more
An Imprisoned Mind | Mental Health Challenges Among India’s Political Prisoners
28/09/2025
Outlook / by Apeksha Priyadarshini
In Indian prisons, where the incarcerated are robbed of basic human dignity, conversations about mental health are a formidable challenge.
…
The impact of the prison architecture on the mental health of prisoners is also brought up by Gautam Navlakha, a septuagenarian human rights defender and journalist, who was arrested in the now infamous ‘Bhima Koregaon’ (BK 16) case—where 16 activists, lawyers and teachers were charged with incitement to riots at Koregaon Bhima in January 2018, following the “Elgar Parishad’ conclave that they participated in on December 31, 2017 at Pune.
…. Jenny Rowena, partner of another BK 16 undertrial prisoner Prof Hany Babu, shares Navlakha’s views on what incarceration robs from an individual. Babu, who is also lodged in Taloja Central jail, completed five years of incarceration as an undertrial this July. 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. Read more / order
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
Despite nearly 200 listings in trial court, proceedings haven’t moved beyond preliminary stage. Surendra Gadling was arrested in Surajgarh arson case in January 2019.
Human rights lawyer Surendra Pundalik Gadling has spent more than six-and-a-half years in custody as an undertrial in the 2016 Surajgarh arson case, with the trial still stalled at the stage of framing of charges.
Gadling, also an accused in the Elgar Parishad–Koregaon Bhima case, was granted interim bail last week in this matter by an NIA court in Mumbai to attend the last rites of a family member. Read more
Video: 6yrs, no charges framed
en | 4:51 | 2025
Maharasthra human rights lawyer and activist Surnedra Gadling was arrested in Surajgarh arson case in January 2019. Despite nearly 200 listings in trial courts over 4 years, proceedings haven’t moved beyond preliminary stage. He’s also accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. Ruchi Bhattar explains more in this video. Watch video
Progressive Students’ Association – JNU / @Psa_jnu
4 Years since the institutional murder of Fr. Stan Swamy!
By Progressive Students’ Association – JNU / @Psa_jnu (Jul 5, 2025):
“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.”
▪ Free BK 15!
▪ Free All Political Prisoners!
▪ Repeal UAPA.
Four years on, India commemorates the death of a priest of the people, Fr Stan Swamy
05/07/2025
cjp / by Cedric Prakash SJ
On his fourth death anniversary, Jesuit activist Stan Swamy is remembered in for his integrity, sacrifice, and the institutional injustice he endured
When Fr Stan Swamy died on July 5, 2021, the world of truth and justice was shocked and saddened. Those who belonged to this group were convinced, that his death was not a natural one, but a pre-mediated institutional murder. Yes, he was killed – because the powerful and other vested interests had no doubt that he was a real nuisance to their nefarious deeds. So he needed to be done away with. Theirs was a meticulously crafted plan: to interrogate and harass him, to incarcerate him in Taloja jail under an extremely draconian law, the ‘Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), to continuously intimidate him through the National Investigation Agency (NIA) even whilst he was imprisoned, to deny him (an ailing 84-year-old frail, sickly Jesuit) a much –needed straw-sipper, proper food and adequate Medicare; all this and more! Read more
Video: A Documentary Film on Stan Swamy – A Caged Bird Can Still Sing
hindi / en | 21:40 | 2025
By Karwan e Mohabbat
This short documentary revisits the life and work of Father Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who spent decades standing with Adivasi communities in Jharkhand. Arrested under draconian anti-terror laws and denied timely medical care, Stan died in custody on 5 July 2021.
Through conversations with his friends and colleagues, and using Stan’s own archival footage and recordings, we reflect on his unwavering commitment to justice and begin to understand why he was targeted by the state. This is both a tribute and a reminder of the forces that criminalise dissent and silence those who speak for the most marginalised. Watch video
Video: The courage and death of Stan Swamy
hindi | 55:44 | 2025
Scroll.in / by Karwan e Mohabbat
In this episode of our discussion series, author and peace worker Harsh Mander is in conversation with filmmaker Meghnath, activist Aloka Kujur, and Father Tony, director of Bagaicha, the institute founded by Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi. The conversation reflects on the life, work, and legacy of Stan Swamy – a Jesuit priest, Adivasi rights activist, and a central figure in the fight for justice for India’s marginalized communities. The panel discusses his decades-long work with Adivasis and undertrials, his commitment to human rights, and the events that led to his arrest under the UAPA. They talk about his time in jail, the denial of basic medical care, and his death in custody. Watch video
Repeal UAPA, withdraw cases: DMK, allies remember Stan Swamy on death anniversary
05/07/2025
Times Of India / by TNN
Senior DMK leaders and their allies on Saturday squarely blamed the Modi govt for the death of 84-year-old tribal rights activist Stan Swamy in a Jharkhand prison in 2021, calling it an injustice that cannot be undone. Read more
Father Stan’s legacy: The dream of justice for the Adivasis continues in Ranchi
07/07/2025
Herald Malaysia / by Alessandra De Poli
Four years after the death of the Jesuit who dedicated his life to defending the land rights of India’s indigenous peoples, the Bagaicha centre, which he founded in the State of Jharkhand, continues to fight for the poor. Despite threats and continuous mining, Jesuits and activists continue their mission to accompany tribal communities in claiming their rights, in the name of Father Stan Swamy, a symbol of justice for new generations too. Read more
Leaders of INDIA bloc parties remember tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, slams UAPA
07/07/2025
The Telegraph / by M.R. Venkatesh
Unveiling a bust of Fr Stan at St Peter’s Higher Secondary School in Viragalur village near Tiruchirappalli, DMK MP K. Kanimozhi remembered how the octogenarian who had fought for the rights of tribals all his life was denied a straw and a sipper in jail
Leaders of INDIA bloc parties have called upon the Centre to repeal the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which they alleged was being used as a tool to crush dissent, as they paid homage to tribal rights activist Stan Swamy at his native village in Tamil Nadu on his fourth death anniversary on Saturday. Read more
‘Pilgrim of hope’ Fr Stan Swamy remembered on anniversary
07/07/2025
The Tablet / by Rita Joseph
Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said Fr Stan had been targeted for defending the rights of tribal peoples to forests, water and mineral-rich lands that the government wanted to exploit.
Memorial meetings across India commemorated the tribal rights activist Fr Stan Swamy SJ on the fourth anniversary of his death on Saturday. Read more
Activists call for legal protection, remembering Indian priest’s death
08/07/2025
UCA News / by UCA News reporter
84-year-old Jesuit Stan Swamy died in custody after being denied bail on medical grounds
A call to protect Indian activists from state repression was made on the death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist who died as an undertrial five years ago.Political leaders from the ruling alliance in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Swamy’s home state, endorsed the call by Jesuits and rights activists for legal measures to protect activists working for the socially and financially disadvantaged. Read more
Father Stan Swamy was killed for standing up for the rights of Adivasis
10/07/2025
Countercurrents.org / by Dr Suresh Khairnar
Father Stan Swamy had never visited Bhima Koregaon in his life, in which he was arrested by the NIA in October 2020. And there is no reason for him to have any connection with Elgar Parishad. Because that Parishad was formed by more than two hundred social organizations of Maharashtra to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas (on 1 January 2018). In which I myself was a member in the capacity of President from Rashtra Seva Dal. And after celebrating Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas on 1 January 2018, that Parishad has no existence after that. It was formed purely for the program to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Diwas in 2018. Read more
Outlook India / by Sudhir Dhawale, translated from Marathi to English by Vernon Gonsalves
Dalit rights activist Sudhir Dhawale, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case wrote this poem in prison on ‘Why he will not collaborate’
… The following poem is an ode to his artiste friends Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor from Kabir Kala Manch, who were arrested in connection with the same case in 2020 by the National Investigation Agency. Before their arrests, the duo released a video, disclosing that they were being threatened by security agencies to turn an approver and spend less time behind bars. The two continue to remain imprisoned.
I didn’t plant the bomb,
I didn’t even dream of it,
I shall not collaborate, with you.
Shahir Sagar Gorkhe and Shahir Ramesh Gaichor, prominent members of Bhima Koregaon Shauryadin Prerna Abhiyan and Kabir Kala Manch, found themselves at the receiving end of the BJP government’s actions when they were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 7th September 2020.
Both Shahir Sagar Gorkhe and Shahir Ramesh Gaichor have asserted that the NIA forced them to provide false testimony against those already arrested. They were coerced into writing confessional statements seeking forgiveness and implicating other individuals in the case. However, their steadfast refusal to comply with these unjust demands has put them at risk of being arrested by the NIA.
In a recorded video statement, Sagar emphasized their commitment to following the constitution and their allegiance to Dr. Ambedkar, stating, “We aren’t progenies of Savarkar but are children of Dr. Ambedkar. Confessing to things we have never done is out of the question.”
… On November 22 this year, the deportee from the Maoist heartland, Himanshu Kumar, now 60, completed a nearly 2,000-kilometre cycle march through western India…
The destination for the cycle march was a choice that emerged from a strong conviction. One of Kumar’s intentions was to prick the nation’s conscience over the languishing predicament, since early 2018, of “the 16 best minds of the country.” Of them, seven men and one woman still remain behind bars – the former in Taloja Central Jail and the latter in Byculla Women’s Jail. Read more
Video: Himanshu Kumar’s cycle march and advocacy against opression
hindi (english subtitles) | 40:06 | 2024
In this interview, senior reporter Prashant Rahi talks to Himanshu about his cycle march and history and future plans of advocacy against oppression. Watch video
Marking Human Rights Day, Students Gather At Jantar Mantar To Demand The Release Of Political Prisoners
11/12/2024
Outlook / Apeksha Priyadarshini
Led by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union, the students came together to demand the release of various political prisoners—many of them students—who have been incarcerated for more than four years. Read more
Video: Human Rights Day Special: Sudha Bharadwaj on activism, human rights in India
Part 1: en | 01:02:00 | 2022
Part 2: en | 45:43:00 | 2022
On this Human Rights Day, Newslaundry is removing the paywall from our interview with prominent human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, who had walked out of prison in 2021 after being repeatedly denied bail in the Bhima Koregaon case.
Working with people on the ground, Sudha is only too aware of how “alien” the judicial process is to the majority of India’s population. She also thinks it’s important for young lawyers to cut their teeth by representing the most marginalised.
In this interview, the activist talks about her childhood in Bilaspur and her educational journey, culminating in Jawaharlal Nehru University and IIT Kanpur. Her mother, a JNU professor, helped shape the ideology of this self-proclaimed Marxist who began working with trade unions at the age of 25.
In Byculla jail, Sudha tried to secure legal aid for those imprisoned with her. She believes in the importance of a “united front” and worries that the lack of this unity gives rise to dogma. Watch video Part 1 Watch video Part 2
Also read: ▪ From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada Author: Sudha Bhardwaj Publishing Date: Oct 2023 Publisher: Juggernaut Pages: 216 Read more / order
▪ Sudha Bharadwaj speaks – A Life in Law and Activism Publishing Date: January 2021 Interview: Darshana Mitra and Santanu Chakraborty Publisher: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Pages: 316 Access a free PDF copy of the book here
Video: Bhima Koregaon, Dalit Assertion, Upper Caste Backlash and the Deep State
Writer and Senior Journalist Ajaz Ashraf discusses the perspectives in his recently published book “Bhima Koregaon Challenging Caste“ in the context of the history of the Elgar Parishad, the relevance of Bhima Koregaon as a symbol of struggle and the upper caste backlash that has manifested in this background. Ashraf also discussed the Deep State factor in Indian polity. Watch The AIDEM interactions with Venkitesh Ramakrishnan here.
