Bhima Koregaon, the BK-16 and cracks in Indian democracy

ON 6 JUNE 2018, Indian police raided the homes of numerous human-rights activists and lawyers, arresting five individuals. Among them were the activist and journalist Sudhir Dhawale, taken from his home in Mumbai; the activist Mahesh Raut, the lawyer Surendra Gadling and the academic Shoma Sen, all arrested in the town of Nagpur; and the activist Rona Wilson, picked up from his home in Delhi. 

This was the first round of arrests in what would come to be known as the Bhima Koregaon, or “BK” case. Between 2018 and 2020, 16 individuals were taken into custody. Besides the first five, the others include the Delhi University professor Hany Babu, the journalist Gautam Navlakha, the poet Varavara Rao, the trade unionist Vernon Gonsalves, the scholar Anand Teltumbde, the activist Sudha Bharadwaj and the lawyer Arun Ferreira. Three members of the Kabir Kala Manch, a Pune-based cultural troupe known for its protest music and street plays against casteism, religious fundamentalism and state oppression – Jyoti Raghoba Jagtap, Sagar Tatyaram Gorkhe and Ramesh Murlidhar Gaichor – were also arrested. The Jesuit priest and activist Stan Swamy, arrested in 2019, died in custody at the age of 84 on 5 July 2021.