Mumbai: A book discussion scheduled Thursday featuring scholar and civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde at Mumbai’s famous Kala Ghoda festival was cancelled allegedly on orders of the Mumbai Police.
Scroll editor Naresh Fernandes was to moderate a discussion titled ‘Incarcerated: Tales from Behind Bars’ also featuring author-journalist Neeta Kolhatkar, who penned the book, ‘The Feared: Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners,’ on 5 February.
Teltumbde was scheduled to speak about his book, ‘The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir’—an in-depth account of his experiences behind bars—in the session.
But after the event was publicised on social media, a section of social media users raised questions about it. The accounts questioned the organisers and the Maharashtra government asking them why they were promoting and collaborating with events that promote ‘anti-national’, ‘urban naxals’ like Teltumbde.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Maharashtra tourism department, and UNESCO were the primary collaborators for this year’s edition. Private companies and the Mumbai Police were the supporting partners.
The festival organisers informed the participants late night on Tuesday via email that the event was cancelled, people aware of the development said, adding that they were also instructed to delete all social media posts, pictures and discussions related to the event.
“This ‘cancel culture’ is prevailing across sectors. It is unfortunately happening for quite some time now. Earlier, they would not call us but now they are calling and cancelling the events,” Kolhatkar told ThePrint. “You don’t need to be intelligent to see through the developments and it doesn’t speak well of anyone who tries to do this.”
An annual weekly event in Mumbai, Kala Ghoda festival showcases arts and literature with sessions featuring music, theatre, dance, and other performances. This year, the event is scheduled to be held from 31 January to 8 February.
ThePrint reached festival director Brinda Miller via email and official landline number regarding the cancellation of the session. The Kala Ghoda Association was also contacted via email and the Mumbai Police through calls. This report will be updated as and when a response is received.
Teltumbde was arrested in April 2020 in connection with the 2018 Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
He spent over two years in jail, before the Bombay High Court granted bail to him in November 2022. It was during his time in jail that the activist came up with his memoir.
“It is a pity they cancelled the session. Citizens need to know about the conditions of our prisons. We were going to talk about political prisoners who are undertrial. My book was not going to talk about one particular person. But about 11 political prisoners from emergency to post emergency period,” Kolhatkar said.
There could be vested interests to those who wanted to cancel the session, she said.
“But the fact is that he (Teltumbde) was a political prisoner who went to prison and that he wanted to talk. But mine was not only about him but 10 others as well. I think the citizens of this country should know the story of prisons and prisoners. By asking to cancel this event, what are they fearing? So my book stands vindicated. There are fears. Why the fear? What is that they don’t want to come out? This is my question to everyone who is opposing.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Mumbai and the banality of bigotry—it all starts with food