Anand Teltumbde, the jailed scholar and activist, who is being incarcerated by the world’s so called largest democracy, has been recognised as this year’s person by a Vancouver-based online magazine that covers alternative politics. Radical Desi has declared Anand Teltumbde as Person of the Year 2020 for being in the news after his arrest on trumped up charges.
Teltumbde has authored many books, and has written columns critical of the Indian state and the way it has been treating religious minorities and oppressed groups. He was taken in custody on April 14, 2020. Ironically, he was arrested on the birth anniversary of the towering Indian intellectual and Dalit icon Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Teltumbde happens to be the grandson-in-law of Ambedkar, who was the architect of the Indian constitution.
Teltumbde has been courageously speaking out against state violence and repression. He was being hounded by the Indian authorities for questioning the power. His arrest is a clear attempt to muzzle any voice of dissent by the currently ruling right wing Hindu nationalist regime, which has already imprisoned many other political activists and scholars under draconian laws.
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