Ideas Behind Bars

Jailed Academics Campaign

Since 2014, dozens of Indian academics, students, public intellectuals and civil liberties activists have been arrested on outrageous charges of sedition, incitement of mob violence, Maoism and involvement in conspiracies. The crackdown on citizens for speaking out and defending marginalised communities, as well as the wider crackdown on dissenting marginalised peoples, is an alarming and disturbing indication of the crumbling of democratic institutions and practices in the country.

InSAF India strongly condemns the repression of academic freedom in India by the Indian state and its representatives and we campaign for their release. We note with deep concern that several of the arrested academics belong to oppressed caste and minority backgrounds. Many have been active as educators in raising awareness about the damage done by developmental and corporate-friendly policies to rural communities and the urban poor, Dalit and Adivasi communities in particular.

Our BK-16 campaign aims to situate this case in, and through it also challenge, India’s broader carceral politics. For more details, please click on the button ‘Political prisoners in the context of India’ below.