A very special memory, which exemplifies the kind of person that Sumit Sarkar was, bears repeating here. It shows us the multiple ways in which what we believe in can shape perceptions in everyday life and perhaps even alter public discourse.

The time and place was IIM Calcutta, where, maybe in 1999, I was one of three candidates who was called to the campus for the talk, and later interview, for the job of History Professor. My talk went well, I was told, and then it came to the interview. On that panel were many, including Sumit Sarkar and another very senior and highly respected historian. I cannot remember who else was on the panel. Many questions were asked, and I nervously answered them, to the best of my ability.

But then, I was suddenly asked, by that same senior historian, about my marital status, and whether I was hoping for the job to be with my partner. I was stunned, but before I could catch my breath, Sumit Sarkar told the panel that these were not fair or appropriate questions to ask, and the matter ended there.

I did not get that job after all, ranking only number 2 in the list. But I will cherish this memory of someone who stood for the right of women not to be asked questions that would never have been asked of a man.

And I wish I had cultivated the same courage in all the positions that I later came to occupy. I cannot say I have.

Ways of Historical Thinking: Sumit Sarkar, his times and legacies

I did not have the good fortune of being taught by Sumit Sarkar. But like every (conscientious) modern Indian historian, I have indeed been ‘taught’ by him. His classic, Modern India, modestly described as a ‘textbook ’, is perhaps the most well-thumbed of my many books. Here, along with colonial masters and nationalist leaders, peasants, workers and ordinary people sprang from its pages. This was no simple inclusion: it was a conceptual break, altering our understanding of Indian history in profound ways, acknowledging the lives and actions of millions, even their failures, as the true basis on which to understand our past. But political leaders, their actions, and the periodisations familiar to students of history could not be dispensed with altogether. Therefore, the book, despite its emphasis on the novel breakthroughs of a ‘history from below’, was sandwiched ‘between the foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 and the achievement of independence in August 19 47’ since those sixty years ‘witnessed perhaps the greatest transition in our country’s long history’. In one memorable sentence, he signalled the
many unfulfilled promises of Indian nationalism: thus, the Mahatma succeeded in
‘drawing in the masses, while at the same time keeping mass activity strictly pegged down
to certain forms predetermined by the leader.’

Let me not dwell on the gaping hole that Sumit Sarkar’s demise had left among Indian
historians, and focus instead on the riches he has left us. His book, Swadeshi Movement in
Bengal, on Bengal’s (first) partition of 1905, and the nationalist movement that it spawned,
was full of methodological innovations, using plays, novels, newspapers, pamphlets in
addition to the more familiar colonial archive. These materials led him to ask questions
that often led to ambiguous or unsatisfactory answers. Educated unemployment and
rising prices surely fuelled the anger against the Bengal partition. But the pride-inducing
victory of a little ‘eastern’ nation, Japan, over a powerful ‘western’ neighbour, Russia, — the
Russo Japanese war of 1904-5 – also played its part, despite a relative ignorance in India of emerging critiques of imperialism elsewhere.

Sarkar also asked himself: how could a Swadeshi editorial in the Bande Mataram praise, in
the same breath, both the labour movement and the caste system, the latter for having had ‘the true socialistic aim of keeping awake in every class of the society a sense of duty to it’ ?

Or, as he would ask later, what drew upper caste men to revolutionary terrorism in Bengal,
and why has that memory endured longer than those of tribal or lower caste participants?
Sarkar was among the earliest of historians to unpack how ‘Hindu’ nationalism gradually
became ‘common sense’, with consequences up to the present day.

Sarkar’s task was to break out of the economic determinism and narrow positivism that
was the hallmark of Marxist scholarship at the time. But the work remains unsurpassed,
since it upholds the protocols of historical research, the verifiability of evidence, and as he
said, ‘the constant knowledge that my conclusions remain open to revision and change.’

Would a revised Modern India, that more correctly reflects the scholarship of the last four
decades — as many regions, social groups, practices, and events have found their historians – be at all possible in our times?

How were material conditions and cultural forms to be integrated within a structured totality? Sarkar’s companion volume Modern Times brought culture and other histories – of the city for instance, or of print media or caste – to the foreground, to understand the subaltern on her own terms. His Marxism did not come in the way of engaging with what Ranajit Guha has called the oldest (and richest) archive in India: religion. He read religion, but not as a believer; not to denigrate but to connect the celestial world to its earthly presence in meaningful ways.

In fact, Marxism enabled his interest in the nineteenth-century mystic (and rustic) Hindu
thinker Ramakrishna Paramhansa, and the petty-bourgeois, clerical ambience within
which he operated, which gave his philosophy its force and material influence, especially
among the emerging, well read, urban middle class. That contradiction needed to be
explained. Sarkar linked the belated entry of clock-time into India, and the disciplinary
mechanisms it generated, to the slavery of clerical labour, which paved the way for the
reception of Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna’s ‘success’ and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s
‘failures’ were equally processes that he critically examined.

Sarkar showed us the true meaning of engaged scholarship: when India was stunned in
1992 by the shock troops of the BJP and RSS that brought down the Babri Masjid, Sarkar
and his colleagues produced a short but vital book called Khaki Shorts and Saffron Flags. It
was the first serious historical reconstruction (based also on sensitive fieldwork) of what
the RSS had become, the most formidable force on the Indian political firmament.
Certainly the young people who have today given us a ray of hope should place this book at
the top of their reading lists.

Sumit Sarkar, in both his writing and his political positions, was unafraid to confront the
official left and its surrender to global capital, as at Nandigram and Singur. He would have
been the first to admit that proletarians have not been the grave diggers of capitalism,
though he welcomed those historians who showed renewed interest in labour and working
class history. I was personally honoured when this remarkable historian included me in
his review of five such books. But more striking was his intellectual openness: his choices
‘provincialised’ Bengal, by acknowledging the worlds and questions that lay well beyond it
– Kanpur, Jamshedpur, KGF, Bombay, the railway works. At a time when ‘everyone’
is a historian, and we are being trained in thinking of history only as ‘pride’ in the past, we will miss complex thinkers like Sumit Sarkar even more, for his passing no doubt signals the end of an era.

(The author is the professor (retd.), Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, New Delhi)

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These rising classes, coming up due to industrialisation, communication and modern education, looked forward to a country where  an inclusive nationalism will ensure the peace and progress of the country. Class-wise this was a broad generalization,  while few exceptions were scattered here and there. To oppose or ignore these trends towards modern India, we also had the declining sections of earlier rulers/dominant sections of society who were steeped in the feudal values of hierarchy of caste and gender. Those; who were rooted in the values of patriarchy and glorified the times when the values of Kingdoms/feudalism prevailed. They mostly opposed the freedom movement and insisted on ‘glorious ancient’ times.

They imposed a method of looking backwards while walking forwards. These tendencies came from the landlords. Kings etc. who were scared of the ripples of empowerment of workers/Dalits/women and Adivasis. They typically glorified their kings of their religion and the social values related to those times. The Muslim League had mainly support from the nawabs and Landlords, while Hindu Mahasabha-RSS had supporters from Rajas, Landlords and clerics. They opposed the emerging values of democratic society, modern education for all and struggle against the British. These tendencies regarded religion as the base of Nation, well-articulated by Savarkar in his book, Hindutva or ‘Who is a Hindu’. This was a painful counter to the ongoing anti-British struggle of the national movement. The partition of the country on the basis of religion was the biggest stab in the back of Indian Nationalism.

The Constituent Assembly well represented the diversity of the country. Ambedkar who had burnt Manu smriti was asked to chair the crucial drafting committee. Soon after the Constitution was formed, the RSS mouthpiece Organiser came with a scathing criticism of this on the grounds that it does not have the ancient values of Manu smriti. The images of Ambedkar and Nehru were burnt by these elements.

The independent India had the twin leadership of Nehru-Patel, both staunch followers of Gandhi. While Patel successfully integrated most of the Princely states, Nehru implemented the vision of Modern India by ensuring that the Constitution is implemented in letter and spirit. ‘One person One Vote’ was implemented successfully and roots of democracy were planted deep with Nehru’s undying faith in democracy and secularism, which in a way are twins. His plan of Modern education (IITs, IIMs, AIIMS to name a few) laying the foundation of the public sector, focus on irrigation and implementation of reservation policy did ensure some march towards equality. Some commentators who compare Pakistan and India’s plight a few decades earlier stated that India’s achievements and Pakistan’s failure (In education, industrialization) can also be attributed to many factors, but the central factor was the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru in India.

Now from the last few decades the rise of Hindu right wing, RSS and its progeny have changed the direction of national goals and ideas. Now authoritarian politics in the name of Hindu religion is taking the CenterStage, and has undermining the idea of India which emerged during our freedom movement. Those who were standing on the by lanes and opposing the freedom movement and its values of inclusion and equality of all are now dominating and the development of the country has come to a halt. The walls of hate against religious minorities are out to demolish the values of fraternity in our society. The recently held movement against the failure of the examination system has definitely broken the arrogance of this regime, but the direction and goals of Hindu nationalism are very much intact. The battle to restore our democratic spirit and values of the Indian constitution needs a protracted and long struggle.

RSS combine has sowed hatred very deep in the society, it has also infiltrated all the facets of Indian state. The dissatisfaction due to its policies has peaked and surfaced strongly with the Cockroach movement. This has ensured that the inhibition imposed by the ‘elected autocratic’ regime may loosen up a bit for the time being. The deeper wound inflicted by the RSS combine may not be easily overcome. It has affected the body politics in a very deep manner. A regime change from the one committed to Hindu nationalism to the one devoted to the Indian Constitution is what is needed in the due course. The false hood-based narratives which have made a place in popular understanding need to be countered by the narratives built around love and friendship of Indian people from centuries, the narratives around which Bose, Gandhi, Patel and Nehru strove to instil them among the in the Indian people. The Jantar mantar phenomenon is the first step towards recovering India’s being as the centuries old civilization struggling to make its deserving place in the comity of nations.

The condition of minorities needs to be brought to the level of ‘equal citizenship’. The Authoritarianism of the Government needs to be undone and we need to resume nation building on a rational and scientific basis. The Jantar mantar initiative is just the beginning, a long way to go to restore the dreams of Gandhi and Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh and Subhash Bose, Maulana Azad and Sardar Patel. Wishing all a happy Independence Day.

Related:

Sharia, Manusmriti or the Indian Constitution

Identity issue to the fore: Vande Mataram controversy

The post Looking Forward to 79th Independence Day: Whither Democracy! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Teachers working as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been engaged in the exercise for more than a month. They were earlier expected to return to schools on August 8, but their deployment has now been extended until August 17. The draft electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on August 24.

The extended schedule means teachers appointed as BLOs, as well as those assisting them, will continue with house visits, voter verification, form-related work and other activities connected with the revision.

Unit tests and classroom teaching affected

Schools are preparing for unit tests scheduled for August while also working with new textbooks introduced for Standards III, IV and VI under the National Education Policy. Teachers and school heads said the continued absence of staff has made it difficult for schools to maintain regular teaching and complete the syllabus.

The periodic assessment test, which is mandatory for students and is intended to assess their learning and academic progress, is normally conducted in August. Educationists have said that continued teacher deployment could push the assessment towards the end of September or October.

The extension has also affected unit tests planned for the second week of August. In several government and civic schools, teachers have either been fully relieved from school duties or are spending a substantial part of their working hours on SIR-related work.

In some schools, more than 70% of the teaching staff has reportedly been deployed for SIR duties, leaving fewer teachers to handle regular classes and examinations. Several schools have also been functioning for only half a day because of the shortage of teaching staff.

Teacher Madhav Suryawanshi said the continued deployment was affecting classroom work. He said, “BLO and SIR duties are complicated and continuous processes that require teachers to stay away from classrooms for several weeks”, as reported by the Times of India.

He also pointed out that the new textbooks introduced this year for Standards III, IV and VI under the NEP required additional classroom attention. According to him, schools were already facing difficulties in completing the syllabus and preparing for the first unit tests.

Schools managing with reduced staff

The impact is not limited to teachers formally appointed as BLOs. School heads said other teaching and non-teaching employees have also been assigned to assist in the SIR exercise.

According to the Times of India, Headmaster Tanaji Mane said his school had 17 teachers, one clerk and four Class IV employees. Initially, three teachers had been appointed as BLOs, but from July, the teaching and non-teaching staff were also assigned as assistants for the SIR exercise and directed to be relieved from their regular school duties.

According to Mane, the school had to function with reduced staff before all employees were eventually relieved. He was later also assigned election duty.

He said schools were simultaneously receiving circulars relating to literacy surveys, out-of-school children, student records and departmental competitions, making it difficult to run the school with normal staffing.

Education Department accounts for large share of BLO appointments

Tanaji Kamble, president of the Progressive Teachers Association, cited figures from the Ghatkopar East Assembly constituency to highlight the extent of teacher deployment. According to Kamble, 283 employees were appointed for BLO duties in the constituency. Of these, 184, or around 65%, were from the Education Department, including 157 teachers. Kamble said the figures from one constituency reflected the wider situation in Mumbai. He also said the government had stated that around 40% of teachers had been assigned SIR duties, while the situation on the ground was different, as per a report in the Hindustan Times.

The deployment has also led to pressure on teachers who do not report for election-related work. Police stations have issued notices to some teachers who failed to report for duty.

The issue has led to concerns among teachers, headmasters and school managements. Some school administrators have also approached the court over the matter, although no hearing has taken place so far.

Teachers say prolonged duty is affecting learning

Faruk Kazi, another teacher involved in the SIR exercise, said teachers had already been under pressure because of the prolonged nature of the work. As reported by the Times of India, Kazi said, “We have been under immense pressure for the past month. The form-filling process was completed only recently, but now verification and subsequent stages will continue.”

He said the revised schedule could extend the work into October and added that the Education Department had not done enough to address the concerns arising from prolonged non-academic duties. Jalinder Sarode, working president of Shikshak Sena (Maharashtra), also said the extension was coming at a time when examinations were already being conducted, as reported

As reported, Sarode said, “Examinations are going on and the frequent absence of teachers is disturbing the teaching process.”

He suggested that the government consider using trained personnel from other departments or outsourcing election-related work instead of continuing to deploy teachers from schools.

Concern over prolonged absence from classrooms

Suhas Gurav, an educator, said the issue was not limited to the additional workload being placed on teachers. He said attention also needed to be given to the effect of prolonged BLO and SIR duties on classroom teaching. As reported, Gurav said, “The real question is whether parents and society recognise that prolonged BLO and SIR responsibilities prevent teachers from devoting sufficient time to their primary responsibility of teaching.”

The SIR extension means teachers and other school employees assigned to the exercise will continue their election-related responsibilities until August 17, while the draft electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on August 24. Schools will accordingly continue to manage regular teaching and academic activities alongside the extended election-related deployment.

Related:

The Deadly Deadline: “I Can’t Do This Anymore”—India’s electoral revision turns into a graveyard for BLOs/teachers

SIR exercise leaves trail of suicide across states as BLOs buckle under pressure and citizens panic over citizenship

Haunted by NRC fears, 57-year-old West Bengal man dies by suicide; Mamata blames BJP for turning democracy into a “theatre of fear”

Pregnant woman deported despite parents on 2002 SIR rolls, another homemaker commits suicide

The post Maharashtra SIR extension keeps teachers away from classrooms as unit tests face delays appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Pannalal was reportedly arrested from his residence in Raipur late on Friday night, August 7, and was subsequently sent to judicial custody. According to a statement issued by a group of activists and human-rights campaigners, members of the Bajrang Dal had gathered outside his residence during the arrest, while a substantial police presence was deployed in the area.

The activists have described the arrest as an attempt to “silence a voice for minority rights” and have called for Pannalal’s immediate release on bail, a transparent judicial process and an end to what they describe as the misuse of criminal law in matters involving religious speech.

FIR over Alleged Facebook Comment

According to the statement, the case against Pannalal was initiated following a complaint by BJP spokesperson Amit Chimnani concerning an allegedly objectionable comment Pannalal made on Facebook in connection with a post about Lord Shiva.

The activists say Pannalal has been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to promoting enmity between groups, deliberately insulting religious beliefs with the intention of outraging religious feelings, and intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of peace.

Section 196 of the BNS covers conduct that promotes or attempts to promote disharmony, hatred or ill-will between religious or other groups. Section 299 addresses deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of a class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, while Section 352 deals with intentional insult where the accused intends, or knows it is likely, that the provocation will lead to a breach of public peace.

The precise contents of the alleged Facebook comment, the FIR and the police’s evidence against Pannalal could not be independently established from the material available for this report. The allegations remain subject to investigation and judicial determination.

Activists Question Circumstances Surrounding Arrest

The signatories to the statement have questioned the timing and circumstances of the arrest, particularly the reported presence of Bajrang Dal activists outside Pannalal’s residence.

They argue that the combination of a politically affiliated complainant, the late-night arrest and the mobilisation of Hindu-right groups raises questions about whether adequate safeguards were followed in handling a case involving potentially sensitive religious speech.

Those assertions, however, are the position of the activists who issued the statement and should not be treated as established findings unless supported by police records, court proceedings or independent evidence.

The authorities have not, in the material reviewed for this report, publicly established that the gathering outside Pannalal’s residence was coordinated with the police or that the arrest itself was politically motivated.

Pannalal’s Longstanding Role in Chhattisgarh’s Minority-rights Debate

Pannalal is a longstanding public figure in Chhattisgarh’s Christian community and has frequently spoken about alleged attacks on Christians, religious freedom and the rights of tribal Christians.

The Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, which he heads, has previously highlighted alleged attacks on Christian communities and places of worship. In 2020, Pannalal publicly raised concerns following violence involving Christian families in Kondagaon district. At the time, police described the underlying dispute as involving tensions within local communities and said they would take legal action as appropriate.

His advocacy has also brought him into conflict with authorities and Hindu organisations in previous years. In 2025, an FIR was registered against him at Raipur’s Azad Chowk police station following controversy surrounding social-media material related to the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Reports at the time said the case invoked BNS Sections 196 and 299, while Hindu organisations including the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad had demanded action against him.

Earlier reporting has likewise documented Pannalal’s involvement in disputes concerning alleged attacks on Christians and restrictions affecting Christian religious activity in the state.

Arrest Comes Shortly After Tougher Anti-conversion Law Takes Effect

The latest controversy comes against the backdrop of a major change in Chhattisgarh’s religious-conversion law.

The Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act, 2026 has now come into force. The legislation replaces the older law inherited from undivided Madhya Pradesh and introduces substantially tougher provisions concerning religious conversion. Reports say the law took effect from July 10, 2026, following notification by the state government.

The new legislation provides stringent penalties for conversion through force, fraud, coercion or inducement, with provisions that can result in lengthy imprisonment and, in certain circumstances, life imprisonment and substantial fines. It also establishes additional procedural requirements surrounding religious conversion.

The law has become a major point of contention between the BJP government and opposition and civil-society groups. The government has defended the legislation as necessary to prevent exploitation and protect religious freedom, while critics have expressed concern about the potential for broad provisions to be used against legitimate religious activity.

The timing of Pannalal’s arrest is therefore likely to intensify an already contentious debate over the relationship between religious-conversion laws, minority rights and freedom of conscience in Chhattisgarh.

Constitutional Questions

The activists opposing Pannalal’s arrest have invoked Articles 19 and 25 of the Constitution.

Article 19 guarantees citizens specified freedoms of speech and expression, subject to constitutionally permitted restrictions. Article 25 guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion, subject to public order, morality, health and other constitutional limitations.

The constitutional question in Pannalal’s case will ultimately turn on the precise content and context of the alleged Facebook comment, the applicability of the criminal provisions invoked, and whether the prosecution can establish the necessary legal ingredients of the offences.

Freedom of expression in India is not absolute, particularly where speech is alleged to threaten public order or deliberately insult religious beliefs. At the same time, criminal prosecution for speech requires the statutory elements of the offence to be established, and the accused remains entitled to due process and the presumption of innocence.

Allegation of Executive Prejudgment

The statement issued by the activists also criticises Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, alleging that he publicly described Pannalal’s remarks as objectionable to Sanatan Dharma before the case had been adjudicated.

If accurately attributed and contextualised, such comments could become an important part of the wider debate over executive commentary on pending criminal proceedings. The activists argue that a government should not prejudge an accused person’s guilt before the courts have examined the evidence.

However, whether the Chief Minister’s reported remarks amount to improper interference with the judicial process is ultimately a matter that would depend on their precise wording, context and the applicable legal standards.

Wider Backdrop of Christian-minority Concerns

Pannalal’s arrest follows a period of heightened national attention on religious-conversion allegations and the treatment of Christians in Chhattisgarh.

In July 2025, the arrests of two Catholic nuns and another person at Durg railway station over allegations involving forced conversion and human trafficking generated protests and political controversy. The arrests were made under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the then-existing Chhattisgarh Religious Freedom Act. Christian organisations argued that the allegations were politically motivated, while authorities maintained that the cases required investigation.

The episode illustrated the highly polarised environment surrounding allegations of religious conversion in the state, where accusations can rapidly become intertwined with political mobilisation, communal tensions and questions about minority protection.

Pannalal himself has been a prominent critic of what he and other Christian organisations describe as growing pressure on Christian communities. His organisation has previously alleged attacks, intimidation and restrictions on Christian religious activity, claims that have at various times been disputed or differently characterised by authorities.

Demand for Release and Due Process

The August 9 statement has been signed by a group of activists, writers, academics, diplomats and civil-society figures, including former National Integration Council member Dr John Dayal, Jesuit priest and human-rights activist Fr Cedric Prakash, activist Minakshi Singh, Caleb Institute president Dr Richard Howell, Raipur-based activist Dr Goldy George, writer Jay Jayaram, academic Fr Frazier Masceranhas, retired diplomat Ashok Sharma, Dr Fatima Poonawala and writer-activist Blessy Prasad Mathews, among others.

They have demanded:

– Pannalal’s immediate and unconditional release on bail;

– a fair and transparent judicial process;

– an end to executive commentary that could prejudice criminal proceedings;

– protection of freedom of expression and freedom of conscience; and

– an end to what they characterise as the use of criminal law for political silencing.

The controversy now moves into the legal arena, where the contents of the alleged social-media post, the FIR, the prosecution’s evidence and the circumstances surrounding Pannalal’s arrest will be subject to scrutiny.

What Happens Next

The immediate legal issue is Pannalal’s custody and his prospects for bail. The investigation will also determine whether the prosecution can establish the statutory requirements of the BNS provisions invoked against him.

Beyond the individual case, however, the arrest is likely to become a test of how Chhattisgarh balances competing constitutional interests: protection of religious sentiment and public order on one side, and freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and minority rights on the other.

For supporters of Pannalal, the case represents another instance of a minority-rights advocate being criminally prosecuted after speaking publicly about religious issues. For those supporting the complaint, the case concerns accountability for speech alleged to offend religious beliefs and potentially disturb communal harmony.

The courts, rather than political actors or street mobilisation, will ultimately have to determine whether the alleged Facebook comment crossed the legal threshold for criminal liability.

The allegations against Arun Pannalal are not proof of guilt. Likewise, allegations of political or communal targeting made by his supporters remain claims unless established through independent evidence or judicial findings.

Courtesy: CounterView

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The first FIR was registered on August 5, just four days after the law came into force. According to The Indian Express, the 22-year-old, originally from Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly in a relationship with a minor from his village. The two subsequently moved to Karnataka and then Pune. Police allege that he asked the girl to convert from her religion. He has been booked under Sections 3 and 9(2) of the new Act, along with provisions of the POCSO Act, and is currently in judicial custody.

Section 3 prohibits conversion or attempts to convert through coercion, fraud, allurement, misrepresentation, force, threat or undue influence. Where a minor is involved, Section 9(2) permits punishment of up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh.

The allegation, however, still has to be established. The FIR itself does not establish that an offence under Section 3 occurred, particularly since the prosecution will have to demonstrate the specific means allegedly used to induce the conversion. The distinction matters in a law where ordinary interpersonal conduct could potentially come under scrutiny if the statutory ingredients are interpreted expansively.

Second FIR widens the scope of concern

The second case concerns a British national and OCI cardholder. Pune Police allege that he participated in prayer meetings and religious gatherings and attempted to persuade people to embrace Christianity. Police have also alleged that he spoke about following Jesus and made statements concerning Hindu temples and deities that were intended to mislead people and induce conversion, The Indian Express reported.

The police have reportedly invoked both the Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Act and provisions of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, arguing that the OCI cardholder was not authorised to preach or deliver religious discourses without permission. This case raises a more fundamental question about the boundary between religious propagation and unlawful inducement. Participation in a religious gathering or expressing one’s religious beliefs, by itself, does not establish coercion, fraud, force or undue influence. Whether the alleged conduct crosses that statutory threshold will ultimately have to be determined through evidence and judicial scrutiny.

A law with wide-reaching provisions

The Maharashtra Act does more than criminalise forced or fraudulent conversion. It introduces a prior-notice regime for persons intending to convert, permits complaints by specified relatives, regulates conversions connected with marriage or promises of marriage, and places the burden of establishing that a conversion was voluntary on the person conducting it. It also provides enhanced punishment where the alleged conversion involves minors, women, members of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, or persons of unsound mind.

The breadth of terms such as “allurement”, “undue influence” and “misrepresentation” is likely to be central to the misuse of the law. A law intended to prevent coercive conversion cannot, constitutionally, become a mechanism for policing voluntary religious belief, expression or association.

The concern is particularly relevant because the legislation operates in an area closely connected with individual autonomy, freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practise and propagate religion under Article 25 of the Constitution. This is one of the key substantive points argued by the CJP in its constitutional challenge to the Himachal Pradesh law. Report may be read here.

The speed with which the legislation moved through the state legislature had itself become a point of criticism. Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), in its dissent note, highlighted that the Bill was introduced and passed within days, with limited scope for public consultation or legislative scrutiny, despite the fact that similar anti-conversion laws enacted by other states are already under examination before the Supreme Court. CJP is the lead petitioner in the constitutional challenge to the first batch of such laws passed by five states between the years, 2020-2023. This challenge has been pending in the Supreme Court, despite pleas for interim stays on the most egregious provisions for over five years now. [1]

Details on the interim applications urging stay on the most egregious provisions, filed by CJP on April 16, 2025 may be read here.

In early 2026, while the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of these state laws were listed before the court of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), they were once again deferred. Reports may be read here. Thereafter, first on May 13, 2026 the matters were listed to be heard after which the next date that appears on the Supreme Court calendar is August 12, 2026.

Related:

Allahabad HC flags misuse of UP Anti-Conversion Law, quashes FIR and rebukes ‘mimeographed’ complaints

35 civil society groups oppose Maharashtra’s proposed anti-conversion law, warn of threat to women’s autonomy and constitutional freedoms

‘Faith Is Not a Crime’: Mumbai’s Christians rise against Maharashtra’s proposed anti-conversion bill

Maharashtra’s Proposed Anti-Conversion Law: Manufacturing moral panic to criminalise personal choice

Supreme Court defers hearing in batch of petitions, led by CJP, challenging state Anti-Conversion laws; interim relief applications pending since April 2025v

Maharashtra’s Anti-Conversion Push: How organised street pressure, Hindutva mobilisation and a pending law threaten constitutional freedoms

The post Two FIRs, Four Days In: Pune sees first use of Maharashtra’s controversial anti-conversion law appeared first on SabrangIndia.

New Delhi: On the morning of April 17, 2026, Satyam Verma, a Lucknow-based freelance writer and former journalist, put out a post on his Facebook account, related to the massive fire reported two days ago, on April 15, in Vikas Nagar’s slum area. Hours later, he was arrested by the Noida Police in connection with the workers’ protest case.

Verma seemed angry at the uncertain fate of thousands of residents whose shanties were gutted beyond repair as he wrote: “Where exactly is the government that talks about sabka saath, sabka vikas?  Even as others are coming out to help, the presence of the government, it seems, has been reduced to the polythene spread with the face of Narendra Modi stamped on it inside a burnt jhuggi (shanty).”

Social causes were not the only trigger that nudged Verma to express himself on social media platforms. A scan of his digital footprint also reveals another colourful side to his personality – that of a movie buff. The 60-year-old author was at the helm of an informal group referred to as ‘Lucknow Cinephiles’, which would regularly organise screening of movies followed by a discussion over the main theme.

From The Voice of Hind Rajab, a movie that focused on the plight of a six-year-old girl in Gaza whose desperate call for help to Red Crescent volunteers exposed the human cost of the armed offensive carried out by Israel, to the 2015 film Suffragette, starring Meryl Streep which looked at the struggle of women in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century regarding their right to vote, to the 1980 Bengali classic Akaler Sandhane (In Search of a Famine), which dealt with a filmmaker’s quest to document a famine, and, in the process, unravel the harsh realities confronting ordinary people, it seemed that issues related to human suffering were the centrepiece of Verma’s day-to-day conversations.

However, if one were to go by the over 250 pages of documents related to approval for invoking stringent provisions of the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, against him, submitted by the UP Police to the Noida District Magistrate (DM) Medha Roopam, one would be taken aback by conclusive remarks of the police such as:

“Cyber monitoring trail has revealed that this person who comes from an elite and educated background, whose career has been that of association with media news agencies has given ideological contribution in the form of mental aggression among core group members leading to a volatile situation…

“Ideologue of Marxist thought process, Satyam Verma, in order to provide momentum to workers’ protests against labour codes in Noida industrial area activated his core group members, associated with the Mazdoor Bigul newspaper started in 2010 with its headquarters in Lucknow and Jan Chetna publishing house which publishes his articles based on Marxist ideology with such publicity material being dispatched through Rupesh Roy who is member of outfits such as Mazdoor Ekta Sangharsh Samiti Kulesra Noida, Naujawan Bharat Sabha and Mazdoor Bigul Dasta since 2016 so that a foothold can be established among Noida workers.”

A review of annexures and case diaries that form part of the investigation by the Noida Police in the workers’ protest case shows that implicating journalist Satyam Verma is based on hearsay presented as the testimony of a police informant who won’t be answerable before a court of law. The other ‘evidence’ presented is equally unconvincing – like the exchange of messages in a WhatsApp group presented as a trigger for violence in the testimony of another worker named Mangal, who was in fact part of the group in the hope of finding a better job opportunity. Using these, Noida District Magistrate Medha Roopam launched a sharp attack on Verma as she gave the go-ahead for NSA charges. Her notes reflect that she seemed to believe this was some kind of thought crime, claiming his association with Mazdoor Bigul newspaper and Jan Chetna publication acted as an “ideological catalyst for violence” which was “indirectly abetted”.

In the second part of our special series based on NSA-related documents in journalist Satyam Verma’s case, The Wire accessed annexures included in the 170-page proposal submitted by the Noida Police to the Noida DM’s office on May 12, 2026, and an 81-page dossier submitted as supplementary evidence on May 28, 2026. Here’s what we found after examining the documents and speaking to Verma’s lawyer, friends and colleagues.

1. The police’s theory regarding Verma’s alleged presence at the spot of incident stems from a viral video in which Verma’s identity is established based on a statement by an unnamed mukhbir (police informer), who himself is neither an eyewitness nor related to the case in any manner.
2. Verma is named again in the police diary, in a statement by a factory worker named Mangal Kumar. However, in a telephonic conversation with The Wire, Kumar denied having witnessed any provocative messages in the WhatsApp group under the police’s scanner.
3. Satyam Verma’s “Marxist ideology “and his professional association with the Mazdoor Bigul newspaper have been portrayed by the UP Police as “being indirectly motivated by the banned organization CPI (Maoist) with such an ideology found to have added a momentum to protests in the industrial area in the form of an ideological catalyst”.

Among the writers whose works Verma translated into Hindi was German playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht, who fled Nazi Germany in 1933, and whose writings conveyed the brusqueness of an authoritarian regime. In his satirical poem Article One of the Weimar Constitution, Brecht wrote:

“From the People proceeds the power of the State.

– But where does it proceed to?
Yes, where is it proceeding to?
There’s some place it’s proceeding to.
The policeman proceeds through the station gate.

– But where does he proceed to?
etc.”

Annexure 4(a): Statement by a ‘mukhbir’ and a factory worker

In Case Diary no. 10, dated April 18, 2026, Inspector Raghvendra Singh, posted at Noida’s Phase-2 police station and the Investigating Officer (IO) in the workers’ protest case, recorded two statements both of which were included in the NSA-related documents submitted by the police to Noida DM Roopam, who also happens to be the daughter of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

While one such statement had been attributed to a police informer, the second statement was recorded on behalf of a worker named Mangal. Both these statements have been included as Annexure no. 4(a) in the NSA-related documents.

As reported in part one of this series, the Noida Police had included a list of 17 annexures in its report submitted to the Noida DM on May 12, 2026. These annexures have been cited as pieces of evidence by the UP Police justifying why the NSA had to be invoked in this particular case.

Annexure no. 4(a) has been described by the police as ‘सत्यम वर्मा के अभियोग में प्रकाश में आने वाली केस डायरी (Case diary that brings to light the charges against Satyam Verma)’.

“Today, while we were on a lookout for unknown accused persons in Phase-2 police station area, I showed some viral videos to a mukhbir who then told me that the bald guy as seen in one of the videos, and was wearing spectacles is Aditya Anand. And the person seen behind [Aditya Anand], who is not visible clearly is Satyam Verma; his face is not clearly visible. Mukhbir then further added that he knows and can help in identifying persons associated with the WhatsApp group,” Inspector Singh has been quoted as saying in the case diary.

A mukhbir is a police informer whose identity is not disclosed in official records, and usually provides leads to the local police in connection with an ongoing investigation. While the police can use information provided by a mukhbir to build a case, a mukhbir won’t be part of the trial or be ever held accountable for the information provided.

As reported by The Wire earlier, the police have labelled activist Aditya Anand as the prime accused, with his role as the administrator of a WhatsApp group under probe for allegedly “inciting violence during the workers’ protests”. Anand’s family, on the other hand, maintained that he had in fact posted videos in the same group appealing to people to continue with protests in a peaceful manner.

On the relevance of the testimony of an unnamed mukhbir relied upon by the Noida Police, Supreme Court advocate Kawalpreet Kaur, who is among members of the legal team representing the jailed activists, told The Wire, “The evidentiary value of such a statement is extremely limited. At this stage, it is merely a statement recorded by the investigating agency in the case diary. It is not substantive evidence and, by itself, cannot establish the identity or guilt of an accused during trial.”

“The informer in question was admittedly not an eyewitness to the incident. His statement merely claims that he could identify Satyam Verma from a viral video despite acknowledging that the face is ‘not visible clearly.’ Such identification is inherently speculative and would require independent corroboration through admissible evidence. Courts have consistently held that criminal convictions cannot rest upon conjecture or unverified identification. Moreover, Satyam Verma’s own location records, including call detail records and other electronic evidence, reportedly establish that he was not present at the site of the incident,” she added.

Linking statement by a worker with ‘WhatsApp-initiated violence’

Case Diary no. 10 also included a statement by a worker employed at the Richa Global Company, named Mangal.

Richa Global, with multiple garment manufacturing units in Haryana’s Manesar as well as UP’s Noida, was among the clusters of industrial units whose workers had hit the streets in April demanding that their monthly wage be increased to at least Rs 20,000.

“On April 10, 2026, I got a link in my WhatsApp; upon clicking I joined the Richa Global WhatsApp group  which had Aditya and Rupesh Roy as its admins. In this group, messages were being shared which incited workers to resort to protests while they demanded a wage hike. Some videos which incited the workers were also being shared [in the group],” Mangal has been quoted as saying in his statement to the police.

“Aditya Anand also visited the workers in Phase-2 area and had in an aggressive tone made incendiary speeches before the workers while telling them to continue with the protest. From the workers present there, I had heard that as part of a conspiracy someone by the name of Satyam Verma and Himanshu Thakur had also mingled with the workers trying to incite them,” his statement added.

Contrary to his statement recorded by the Noida Police, when The Wire contacted Mangal Kumar, and he was asked whether any provocative message was shared in the group, he told this reporter, “There was no such thing though a lot of unknown persons were also part of the group. I had joined the group thinking that if I’m out of job it might help me in finding work. There were no other issues as such.”

When asked about whether any of the admins or those in-charge of the WhatsApp group had posted any incendiary message in the days leading up to violence, Kumar told The Wire, “I didn’t know anyone by name or who is the admin, who isn’t. I wasn’t familiar with the members of the group at all.”

Responding to the Noida Police relying on another testimony based on the confessional statement of a worker, advocate Kaur told The Wire, “Firstly, it is again a police-recorded statement made during investigation and is not substantive evidence until the witness appears before the trial court and is subjected to cross-examination. Secondly, the portion stating that Mangal ‘heard from group admins’ that Satyam Verma and Himanshu Thakur were trying to incite workers is hearsay and not evidence. Mangal does not claim to have personally seen Satyam Verma post any message or issue any instructions. Rather, he merely repeats what he allegedly heard from unnamed persons. Such hearsay ordinarily has little or no evidentiary value unless it falls within a recognised exception under the law of evidence.”

In fact, as reported earlier by The Wire, on May 23, 2026, Keshaw Anand, Aditya Anand’s brother, moved the Supreme Court with a petition alleging that “officials of the UP Police were part of the workers’ WhatsApp group ‘Richa Global Noida’ and had an active role in inciting violence”. In a detailed video report published on April 23, The Wire’s reporter Vipul Kumar highlighted the fact that “Sub-Inspector Beena Kaur, posted in Sector-142, Noida, was also part of the WhatsApp group ‘Richa Global Noida’.”

Moreover, the legal team representing the jailed activists maintains that Verma was not a member of any such WhatsApp group. “Available records show that he was not a participant or administrator of the groups connected with the Noida protests. Our criminal law requires proof based on legally admissible evidence rather than suspicion or rumor. Mere assertions attributed to unnamed individuals cannot establish criminal liability,” Kaur told The Wire.

Sudden entry of home ministry’s 2009 notification

A curious entry as Annexure no. 3 (a) in Verma’s NSA case diary is a gazette notification issued by the Union home ministry on June 22, 2009, declaring the “Communist Party of India (Maoist) and all its formations and front organisations as a terrorist organisation” under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Two other factions of the CPI (Maoist), namely the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War and formations associated with the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), had already been declared terrorist organisations in the First Schedule of the UAPA.

But what is the link between a banned outfit designated as a terrorist organisation by the Centre and the Noida workers’ protest case, particularly Verma’s NSA case diary?

As reported earlier by The Wire in Part One, Annexure no. 3 in Verma’s NSA case diary – a document titled ‘An overview of multifront agitation engine RWPI’ described by the Noida Police as an ‘article on the structure of RWPI (RWPI का संरचनात्मक आलेख)’, was a verbatim copy of a 21-tweet-long thread by a right-wing X handle, named Chronology.

It was in this Annexure no. 3 that reference was made to the ‘Delhi Pollution Protest: Maoist Signal’, while alluding to the protests in Delhi against air pollution in November 2025, where FIRs were registered after protesters were seen holding posters stating, ‘From Birsa Munda to Madvi Hidma, the struggle of our forests and environment will go on’ along with slogans of ‘Madvi Hidma amar rahe (Long live Madvi Hidma)’.

Hidma was among the top Maoist commanders killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh on November 18, 2025.

Annexure no. 3 in the NSA case diary reproduces verbatim a tweet from Chronology’s thread, dated April 14, 2026: “During a Delhi pollution protest, RWPI-linked activists raised slogans of ‘Hidma Zindabad’, a chant honouring Madvi Hidma, a CPI (Maoist) commander killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh.”

§

Now here’s where both the Noida Police as well as the right-wing handle Chronology appear to get their facts wrong. In December 2025, 15 days after the Delhi Police arrested 12 students in connection with the anti-pollution protests, a Delhi court, while granting bail to 10 of them, noted that “nothing has been discovered against the accused related to the membership of radical organisations linked to Naxalites”.

As far as the RWPI (Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India) is concerned, after excerpts from the police’ report in connection with the NSA appeared in the online news portal The Print on May 20, 2026, CaRWAN [Campaign for Release of Workers and Activists of Noida] issued a statement on May 24: “We are seeing news reports that are quoting from the Detention Order of Satyam Verma under the NSA, issued by the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar, which has been mechanically formed as a cover-up on the basis of the report submitted by the Inspector-in-charge to the Deputy Commissioner of Police. It is troubling to see reputed outlets like The Print treating this as a genuine source of information and taking its contents at face value, as seen in its 20 May 2026 article: ‘Marxist literature, ‘inciting Gen Z – UP cops’ grounds to detain Noida workers’ protest accused under NSA.’”

“The political commentary, accusing Satyam of subscribing to left ideology, by the UP police is a clear indication that the UP police is not doing any investigation, but acting as a trumpet of the UP government. RWPI is an open legal party which has regularly participated in parliamentary, legislative assembly and municipality elections since 2019. RWPI did not even participate in the protest in Delhi against pollution where slogans in support of Hidma were raised,” the CaRWAN statement added.

Another reference to the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit

A second reference to the banned CPI (Maoist) has also been included in the 13-page police report submitted by Inspector Raghvendra Singh to the Deputy Commissioner of Police at the Gautam Buddh Nagar police commissionerate on May 12, 2026.

Making note of the fact that Satyam Verma has been on friendly terms with Arvind Sinha, Executive Editor of the monthly newspaper Mazdoor Bigul, which the police claimed “provides ideological raw material for inciting dissatisfaction and resistance against labour codes”, the report by the Noida Police further concluded: “The reading material associated with Mazdoor Bigul, while directly seems to be inspired by Marxism, indirectly it seems to have been motivated by ideology of the banned organization CPI(Maoist).”

Do such speculations actually constitute a crime under NSA?

According to Kaur, “The mere possession, circulation or discussion of Marxism or even Maoist literature does not, by itself, constitute a criminal offence. Indian courts have repeatedly distinguished holding ideas from participating in criminal activities. In Arup Bhuyan v. State of Assam (2011), the Supreme Court held that mere membership of a banned organisation, without incitement to violence or involvement in violent acts, cannot attract criminal liability.  Similarly, in Thwaha Fasal v. Union of India (2021), the Supreme Court stated that possession of books, pamphlets or ideological material, or sympathy for a political ideology, cannot by itself establish offences under the anti-terror law. In that case, the accused were arrested for their links to the banned group CPI (Maoist), yet the Supreme Court held that passive interest in an ideology or books does not amount to active participation in the goals of a banned organisation.”

DM Noida’s conclusion based on ‘psychological’ interpretation

On May 12, 2026, the same day that DM Medha Roopam wrote to the UP home secretary apprising the concerned authorities of her decision to invoke the NSA against Verma, she also informed the detenue, through a nine-page letter, of the grounds for his detention under the law.

This is a mandatory requirement under Section 8 of the NSA Act which states: “When a person is detained in pursuance of a detention order, the authority…shall as soon as may be, but ordinarily not later than five days and in exceptional circumstances…not later than ten days from the date of detention, communicate to him the ground on which the order has been made.”

As illustrated in this 2019 piece titled for The Wire by Bhamati Sivapalan and Vidyun Sabhaney, the NSA is popularly known as the law of “no vakil, no appeal, no daleel (no lawyer, no appeal, no argument)”. Since all preventive detention laws “mirror the colonial era 1818 Bengal Regulation in its principles of criminalising dissent”, NSA can also be added to the same list as Defence of India Act, 1962 which “was infamously used against Indians of Chinese ethnicity”.

The reasoning adopted by Noida DM Medha Roopam seems to have taken a cue from Hollywood actor Tom Cruise’s 2002 film, Minority Report, centred around a dystopian set-up in 2054 when a policing unit could foresee a crime and tried to stop it.

At the very outset, Roopam, in her May 12 letter, refers to the nature of involvement as “अप्रत्यक्षतः दुष्प्रेरित किया गया”, which translates to “indirectly abetted” violence during the workers’ protest. The DM’s letter also accuses Verma of “indulging in a form of pseudo writing with undertone of violence on account of being a writer and publisher of the Mazdoor Bigul newspaper”. It continues:

“Since you are among the founding members of RWPI (Revolutionary Workers’ Party of India), a communist who, with the help of books and literature available at the Jan Chetna bookstore acted as an ideological catalyst aimed at preparing a new generation of cadres who are part of such rebel organizations. Both the RWPI as well as Jan Chetna publication have been found to be the main facilitators of violence in Noida as concluded in the investigation.”

The document titled ‘Annexure No. 10’, prepared by the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) and forming part of Verma’s NSA case diary, lists 138 sites across Noida, Central Noida Zone and Greater Noida where protests took place between April 10 and April 15, 2026. While instances of arson were reported from three such protest sites, the LIU report mentioned 33 sites where properties had been damaged.

For the DM, this appears to have been a red flag warranting preventive action.

According to a profile piece published in July 2025 by The Print, “since her appointment was announced, she [Roopam] has been dubbed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s choice” with her top priority then being “the Jewar airport and its completion”.

“This violent protest has created circumstances which will adversely impact forthcoming capital investment in the state’s IT and hosiery sectors while at present Gautam Buddh Nagar has more than Rs 1 lakh crore capital investment across its 21,000 industrial units which generate 6 lakh jobs. Such an environment of industrial growth has been impacted negatively because of irrational, obstinate and violent andolanjeevis like yourself, who owing to their vile mentality are involved in planning civil unrest as was seen in Haryana’s Manesar and Noida industrial unrest,” Roopam’s letter cited as one of the grounds why NSA needs to be invoked.

The nine-page letter signed off by the DM, largely in Hindi, abruptly  switches to English to state that  “violent circumstances are deliberately created such that the hearts and minds of industrial labourers are filled with rebellion which amounts to actions against the state’s investment policy”.

“Narrative making through mass communication with [an] aim to provoking labour class and general public by creating anti state, anti-administration thinking with the motive of disturbing public tranquility,” the letter states in English.

It is, however, not specified in the DM’s letter what exactly those means of mass communication reportedly used by Verma were, and how they are linked with the April violence.

The DM’s letter tends to dwell a bit more on the psychological aspect of allegedly influencing workers, hence the earlier analogy to Tom Cruise’s Minority Report – of mentally mapping someone who has allegedly committed a crime.

The letter concludes with the following observation:

“You tend to encourage such activities which on the very outset may seem like part of a non-violent protest but in fact among the age group of 18-25 years among workers, ideologically they [activities] actually make an individual so agitated and angry that they indulge in collective activities related to the disruption of peace.”

This reporter contacted Noida Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh, but the phone calls went unanswered. The Wire has sent a questionnaire to the Commissioner’s official email ID. This story will be updated as and when a response is received.

The Wire also reached out to District Magistrate Medha Roopam for a response. We were told she was busy in a meeting, and that we could send questions. A questionnaire has been sent at the official email ID of DM Gautam Buddh Nagar. This article will be updated when a response is received.

Courtesy: The Wire

The post ID Based on Anonymous Informant, Sudden Reference to 2009 Home Ministry Notification: Why NSA Case Against Satyam Verma Is Unconvincing appeared first on SabrangIndia.

First: Let us go back to history! About 84 years ago. Mahatma Gandhi and several of our freedom fighters had assembled in Bombay. They had just one goal in mind: Freedom! India had been enslaved under colonial rule since 1757, and it was high time to break free! Gandhi’s call was clear, loud, determined and unequivocal. On 8 August, 1942, at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee, he introduced the resolution to start a ‘Quit India Movement’. The resolution was unanimously passed at that historic meeting. Later, he delivered a fiery speech at Gowalia Tank Maidan (now known as ‘August Kranti Maidan’), which marked the launch of the Quit India Movement. He said, “There is a mantra, a short one that I give you. You imprint it in your heart and let every breath of yours give an expression to it. The mantra is ‘do or die’. We shall either be free or die in the attempt.” The next day, on 9 August, the ‘kranti’ had begun; thousands were out on the streets vociferously demanding that the British should leave India immediately and unconditionally! Most of the leaders, belonging to every strata of society, were arrested. They were fearless! Their struggle, with immense sacrifices, continued till India attained her freedom on 15 August 1947! Today, however, it is freedom struggle @ 2026!

Then to that important night! India was ‘to awake to freedom’, with the clock striking the midnight hour on August 14-15, 1947. The Constituent Assembly to whom power was to be transferred began its session at 11 pm on August 14. After an address by the President, Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, made his now immortal ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech. He called upon the members to take a solemn pledge to serve India and her people. “Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.” Powerful, meaningful words from a visionary statesman! The reality today is freedom struggle @ 2026!

Today, Gen Z and even sections of Gen Alpha are out on the streets demanding an end to corruption (e.g., the NEET paper leaks), for greater transparency and accountability at all levels. The Cockroach Janata Party led by Abhijeet in Jantar Mantar and elsewhere took the nation by storm. It is evidently clear that the youth of our country are not going to take matters lightly any more.  Corruption has to be addressed at every level: demonetisation, electoral bonds, the PM Cares fund, and now the E20 (The E20 Janata Party is on the rise). Where did the RSS and BJP get the enormous amounts of money to put up palatial buildings everywhere?  If the RSS is not a registered body, how do they have access to a mind-boggling amount of money? What about the crony capitalist friends who profiteer at the cost of the poor and by looting the country? What about electoral malpractices: the manipulation of the EVMs and the meticulous disenfranchisement, through SIR, of thousands of legitimate citizens everywhere? Several more questions will continue to be asked. When they had their peaceful ‘March to Parliament’ on 20 July, the youth were tear-gassed, baton-charged, beaten, and pellet guns were used against them. Several were injured. Protests spontaneously erupted all over the country. In Ahmedabad and in other parts of Gujarat, groups of students/youth walked together, singing as though they were on a picnic, shouting slogans like “Modi hatao! Desh Bachao!” In Jharkhand, youth are still on a fast. There is no relenting as the youth of India arise and shout “Azadi! Azadi!”  Speak up now! We will be heard! Stand up now! No more silence. It is freedom struggle @ 2026!

The destruction of the country’s democratic ethos and constitutional framework continues with frightening regularity.  The V-Dem Institute at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg in its ‘Democracy Report 2026’ says that, “India’s autocratization is a slow but systematic dismantling of democratic institutions. The ruling anti-pluralist, Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Modi’s derailing of democracy include deteriorations in freedom of expression and independence of the media, harassment of journalists critical of the government, and attacks on civil society and the opposition. India is classified as an electoral autocracy since 2017.” India continues to be named in the top 10 autocratising countries in the last 10 years; it is placed 105 in the Liberal Democracy Index (LDI). What a terrible disgrace! It necessitates freedom struggle @ 2026!

Some days ago, a District court acquitted a controversial politician in a sexual harassment case filed three years ago by a group of female athletes. Six female wrestlers had accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually harassing them while he was the head of the Wrestling Federation of India. He had denied the allegations. Singh, a former MP from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), wields considerable influence in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most politically crucial state. The allegations against him made global headlines in 2023, especially after police detained the wrestlers as they tried to march to India’s new parliament building in Delhi. For Vinesh Phogat and her co-wrestlers, the struggle is not yet over. Despite having to pay a heavy price, they are determined not to give up.  For our women wrestlers, it is freedom struggle @ 2026!

In the latest 2026 Environmental Performance Index, India is ranked 176 out of 177 countries! What a terrible shame. The effects of climate change have wreaked havoc on the country. At the receiving end are the poor and the marginalised who suffer very much. Government projects favour their crony capitalist friends, providing them with a license to loot, plunder and rape the environment; the continued use of fossil fuels is a case in point. The Environment is in a shambles! The destruction of precious forest lands and biodiversity, to cater to so-called ‘development’ projects, contributes immensely to the climatic changes one experiences today. Sections of the corporate sector and particularly the mining mafia have no qualms of conscience in depleting precious natural resources, with the sole desire of profiteering. The Adani-owned ‘Greater Nicobar Project’ is a terrible disaster in the making. Adani is also planning the takeover of Mumbai’s salt pans. For those who care for our common home, it is freedom struggle @ 2026!

In the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2026, India is ranked 102 out of 123 countries, with a level of hunger classified as “serious”. Millions in our country still live below the poverty line and suffer from want, hunger, deprivation and without daily access to roti, kapda aur makaan. The country still does not have any official relevant, reliable, updated data with regard to poverty. Millions want to break away from the shackles of poverty. It is for them, the freedom struggle @ 2026!

India today yearns for freedom! For every citizen to live in dignity and equity, in harmony and in peace, in truth and in justice, in acceptance of the other and in the celebration of pluralism. To preserve, protect and promote Constitutional values, the democratic ethos, the right to dissent, freedom of speech and the secular fabric of the nation. Freedom from untruth, deceit, lies and ‘feku-isms’. Freedom from manipulated, selective and biased history. Freedom from hate and violence, from rape and killing, from extortion and corruption, from uniformity and monoculturalism, from authoritarianism and subjugation

The average citizen of India yearns for freedom from the D-Gang dada-giri of this regime (through demolition, displacement, discrimination, division, demonisation, denigration, delisting, delimitation). The cry is: freedom for all! The Adivasis, Dalits and OBCs, for the minorities and the marginalised, for women and the other Genders, for the small farmers and the indigenous coastal people, for the casual labourers and the migrant workers, for the excluded and the exploited, the human rights defenders and the truthful, objective INDIA’S media. They all demand the freedom to be fearless and transparent citizens! As India yearns for that total freedom, we pray in the words of Tagore, from his ‘Gitanjali’, “into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. 

For all: freedom struggle @ 2026!

In 2007, Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote this timeless and relevant poem

Pity the nation whose people are sheep

And whose shepherds mislead them

Pity the nation whose leaders are liars

Whose sages are silenced

And whose bigots haunt the airwaves

Pity the nation that raises not its voice

Except to praise conquerors

And acclaim the bully as hero

And aims to rule the world

By force and by torture

Pity the nation that knows

No other language but its own

And no other culture but its own

Pity the nation whose breath is money

And sleeps the sleep of the too well fed

Pity the nation, oh pity the people

who allow their rights to erode

and their freedoms to be washed away

My country, tears of thee! Sweet land of liberty!

How true of India today! Hope, however, never dies for we, the people of India, it is ‘freedom struggle @ 2026!’

August 10, 2026

(The author is a human rights, justice, reconciliation and peace activist/writer)

Related:

The Revolution has begun….!

“The Emperor is Naked!”

The RSS and the Freedom Struggle

The post India’s freedom struggle @ 2026 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Issued on Quit India Day, the letter gives the Sangh until August 14—a week before Independence Day—to act, warning that “silence is complicity.”

The Remarks That Sparked Outrage

Between July 24 and 26, Mohandas published a series of videos on his YouTube channel Pathrika. In the July 26 video, he described in detail how he would handle the student protests at Jantar Mantar if he were “in charge”:

“I would impose curfew over about a 4-square-kilometre area around Jantar Mantar. I would announce over loudspeakers, asking the crowd to disperse. I would make the announcement three times. Then I would open fire. People would scatter and run. Some people would die, some would survive, and some would be left permanently disabled. Within about four hours, the situation would be under control. The bodies would be collected and taken to hospitals… This is a solution. Clean.”

Of the women among the protesters, he said:

“Rapes will happen, mass rapes… there are girls who like rape… there are people who like rapes, especially, leftist, secular, democratic, proletarian class of people… When mass rapes happen there won’t be any complaints, because these are the people who like rape.”

Mohandas has not denied speaking these words, instead calling them “satire” and complaining that clips were taken out of context.

The Man and His Sangh Links

The letter notes that Mohandas served as state convener of the BJP’s Intellectual Cell in Kerala and as the party’s television spokesperson. He was General Secretary and later Vice-President of Bharatiya Vichara Kendram, the RSS-affiliated “think tank” in Kerala, and managed RSS-linked publications. The ALIFA letter states that the RSS “groomed this man, and given him numerous platforms for forty years”.

Following the controversy, the RSS distanced itself from Mohandas. Senior Sangh functionary K.B. Sreekumar said in a statement: “T.G. Mohandas’s comments on the recent protest are his personal thoughts. He is not an RSS official at any level. RSS doesn’t agree with his views and they should be condemned in every highest possible manner”.

The BJP’s Kerala unit also distanced itself, with general secretary Dr J. Pramila Devi calling Mohandas a “free thinker” while maintaining that the party does not endorse his statements.

‘The Machinery Exists’

The letter draws a sharp contrast with the BJP’s swift action against Nupur Sharma in June 2022, when the party suspended its national spokesperson within a day of diplomatic protests from Gulf nations over her remarks. “The machinery exists. It moved within hours when there was a political expediency to act,” the letter states. “The students, youth and women of this country are waiting to know whether they and their cause matter as much.”

Legal Action Underway

The Kerala Police’s Cyber Cell has registered an FIR (Crime No. 95/2026) against Mohandas following complaints by student organisations including the SFI, AIYF and AISF. The FIR invokes Sections 192 and 353(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, and Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act. Police have alleged that the videos were uploaded and circulated on July 24 and 25 with the intention of “disturbing public tranquillity”.

Four Demands, One Week

The ALIFA letter places four demands before the RSS and BJP:

1. A written and public condemnation of Mohandas’s statements by name, and immediate severance of all platforms and courtesies extended to him by Sangh Parivar organisations.
2. A statement from the Sarsanghchalak’s office affirming that women, youth and citizens who protest are entitled to dignity and constitutional rights.
3. Pro-active support for the legal process against Mohandas, with the letter noting that the Supreme Court’s directions in Tehseen Poonawalla (2018) require registration of hate speech cases without waiting for complainants.
4. Takedown of the videos in question, with certified copies preserved for investigation.

The letter concludes: “If this August 15 passes in silence, we will read the silence as an answer… Silence is complicity.”

Courtesy: CounterView

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According to an investigation by Newslaundry, the Uttar Pradesh government spent ₹6,811.94 crore on advertising and publicity between the financial years 2017-18 and 2024-25, averaging ₹2.32 crore every day. The publication, citing state budget documents, reported that this exceeds the Centre’s average spending on publicity under the Narendra Modi government, estimated at roughly ₹1.5 crore per day over the last 11 years.

The expenditure was made through the state’s Information and Public Relations Department. More than 83 percent of the total, around ₹5,658 crore, was spent under the head of “advertising and visual publicity”, covering advertisements in newspapers, television and digital media.

The spending increased steadily after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath assumed office in March 2017. Publicity expenditure stood at ₹294.86 crore in 2017-18, increased to ₹330 crore in 2018-19, and ₹481.67 crore in 2019-20, before dipping to ₹392.88 crore during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21. It then rose sharply to ₹1,134.31 crore in 2021-22 and peaked at ₹1,420.03 crore in 2022-23, an assembly election year. Spending remained above ₹1,300 crore in both 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Besides advertising, the department spent ₹896.64 crore on publications such as booklets and pamphlets, ₹220.49 crore on field publicity, ₹20.32 crore on film production, ₹11.46 crore on community radio and television, and ₹7.73 crore on photo services.

For the current financial year, 2025-26, the Uttar Pradesh government has budgeted ₹918.83 crore for the Information and Public Relations Department, including ₹705.14 crore for advertising and visual publicity alone. If the full allocation is utilised, the department’s expenditure since 2017-18 would cross ₹7,730 crore, according to the Newslaundry analysis.

The report also highlights the government’s increasing use of digital advertising. According to documents accessed by Newslaundry, campaigns were placed on platforms including Asianet News, OneIndia, Amar Ujala and ShareChat, with individual contracts worth several lakhs of rupees. The publication further reported that repeated Right to Information applications seeking beneficiary-wise details of advertising expenditure were either rejected or remained unanswered.

The investigation notes that publicity spending is not limited to the Information Department. An RTI response cited by Newslaundry showed that the Uttar Pradesh Department of Industries and Enterprise Promotion spent around ₹60 crore on publicity between 2024-25 and 2025-26, including approximately ₹12 crore during the Prayagraj Kumbh. Documents reviewed by the publication also showed a ₹70 lakh agreement with media platform YourStory to produce promotional content on the state’s “One District, One Product” initiative.

₹550 crore spent on PM’s foreign visits since 2021

In a separate development, the Union government informed the Rajya Sabha that over ₹550 crore has been spent on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overseas visits since 2021. These figures were provided by Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita in a written reply to questions raised by Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and V. Sivadasan.

The government stated that expenditure on the Prime Minister’s foreign visits amounted to approximately ₹36 crore in 2021, ₹55 crore in 2022, ₹93 crore in 2023, ₹109 crore in 2024, and over ₹180 crore in 2025. In 2026, expenditure has already reached ₹74.58 crore, although the Ministry clarified that several figures remain provisional pending settlement of bills.

Among the visits for which expenditure has been compiled this year, the Norway leg of the Prime Minister’s five-nation tour in May 2026 accounted for the highest spending at ₹17.46 crore. The figures also include visits to countries such as Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand undertaken in July.

Responding to questions on the purpose of these visits, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that high-level visits by the Prime Minister strengthen India’s bilateral and multilateral partnerships and facilitate cooperation across sectors including trade, investment, technology, defence, energy and resilient supply chains.

The Ministry also informed Parliament that 316 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed during the Prime Minister’s foreign visits since July 2021. It further stated that India received USD 381.8 billion in Foreign Direct Investment between April 2021 and December 2025.

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The post ₹6,812 crore on UP publicity, ₹550 crore on PM’s foreign visits: Official data reveals government spending patterns appeared first on SabrangIndia.

His life story is full of contradictions. He emerged from Delhi’s politically charged theatre culture and was associated with the Left, but later developed an intense hostility towards leftists. He has himself described his decision to play a part in the politically controversial Jahangir National University as being driven by resentment rather than conviction and subsequently apologised for it.[1]

There is a similar contradiction in the way he talks about relationships, women and responsibility. Mishra has publicly admitted to cheating on his wife and has spoken about being emotionally absent and irresponsible during the early years of his marriage. He has also spoken about making obscene calls to women while drunk and acknowledged behaviour that he himself considered deeply inappropriate.

The point isn’t that a person’s private mistakes automatically invalidate their political opinions. They don’t. People can change, grow and genuinely repent.

The problem begins when someone turns their own personal journey into a source of moral authority over society, while refusing to interrogate the power structures, prejudices and contradictions embedded in their worldview.

And yet, somewhere along the way, Piyush Mishra has become something of a sweetheart of the young, progressive podcast circuit. He is presented as the rebellious, uncompromising, revolutionary intellectual, the older, irreverent voice who supposedly says what others are afraid to say. In the process, his history of misogynistic behaviour and his increasingly right-leaning political positions often seem to disappear from the conversation. The rebel is celebrated; the contradictions are merely a side note. There is also something deeply uncomfortable about the cultural archetype he represents: the brilliant, troubled, self-confessional male artist whose excesses are romanticised as evidence of his genius, while women are expected to absorb the consequences of those excesses with patience, forgiveness and understanding.

Mishra’s artistic talent is real. His self-awareness about some of his failures may also be real. But self-confession isn’t the same thing as political introspection.

And then comes Jharkhand.

This contradiction becomes particularly visible when Piyush Mishra enters the Jharkhand student protest.

A student movement is, at its core, about young people demanding accountability, dignity, opportunity and a future that isn’t determined by the whims of those in power. It is about challenging structures, not surrendering to personalities.

So his presence in the Jharkhand protest raises an uncomfortable question: what exactly does he represent there? If the movement claims inter-sectionality, shouldn’t that lens apply to the men it celebrates too?

If the protest is about challenging patriarchy, hierarchy, privilege and the normalisation of power without accountability, then elevating a celebrity whose own public narrative is marked by admitted infidelity, misogynistic behaviour and ideological contradictions sits uneasily with the politics of the movement.

The issue isn’t whether Piyush Mishra is allowed to speak. Of course he is. The issue is what his presence symbolises.

There is an additional question worth asking here. Mishra did publicly support the Jantar Mantar student protest, condemning the violence and saying that the government should have opened a dialogue with the students earlier. But he was not physically present at Jantar Mantar, where the violence against students was severe enough to move an empathetic heart to action. In Jharkhand, by contrast, he travelled to Ranchi, joined the students in person and sang Aarambh Hai Prachand at the protest site. He has said that watching interviews with the students and seeing their pain moved him to join them.

So the question is I’d keep it as an open-ended question rather than implying an answer:

So the question is: what made his solidarity more visible in Jharkhand? Does the difference in the governments being confronted have anything to do with it?

And perhaps the sharper question is for the progressive men, at least those who celebrate his presence at the protest: can a movement that seeks to challenge hierarchy and privilege afford to simultaneously romanticise the very contradictions it claims to resist? And why are those same contradictions disqualifying when they belong to people they oppose, but fascinating, forgivable or even revolutionary when they belong to a man they admire?

Perhaps the real test of progressive politics is whether we are willing to apply the same scrutiny to ourselves and the people we admire as we do to those we oppose.

(The author, is a branding and design strategist with over 25 years of experience across leading advertising agencies. She has worked with the Congress Party for the past six years)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

[1] Piyush Mishra played the character of “Guru Ji” and sang the promotional track “Main Nahi Manta” for the controversial political drama film Jahangir National University (JNU), which was released on June 21, 2024. Following the film’s release, Mishra publicly offered an unconditional apology for taking on the role, admitting that signing the project without reading the complete script stemmed from his past opposition to communist ideologies

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