The carceral state of India: Looking through the eyes of political prisoners

The rise of authoritarianism in India is fairly well known among progressive circles around the world. However, the extent and magnitude of state repression and its ties to religious supremacy, corporate land grabs, mining and the militarisation of borders remains invisible to most. This workshop will spotlight the lives of four activists from different parts of the country, who have been or currently remain incarcerated for their critical writing, research and work with grassroots communities. These are the late Jesuit Father Stan Swamy (Jharkhand), indigenous land rights and feminist activist Suneeta Pottam (Chhatisgarh), student activist Umar Khalid (New Delhi), and journalist and civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha (Kashmir). Through interweaving the stories of their lives and their activism, participants will learn about the state-corporate-military-nexus and its impacts on the most marginalised communities and the environment in four different regions of India. Participants will learn about the strategies of resistance and mobilisation and visions of collective liberation proposed by these activists, some of whom have been kept behind bars for over six years as undertrials. The story of their lives and their incarceration offers lessons on the interwoven-ness of struggles for social and ecological justice.
The presentation concludes with a discussion about transnational dimensions and connections and asks participants to generate ideas for international solidarity actions. Participants are also invited to write postcards to the incarcerated.