CASR STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE CRIMINALISATION OF TISS STUDENTS. WE UPHOLD ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND SOLIDARITY WITH POLITICAL PRISONERS

 

Date: 15 August 2026

CASR STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE CRIMINALISATION OF TISS STUDENTS. WE UPHOLD ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND SOLIDARITY WITH POLITICAL PRISONERS

The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) strongly condemns the escalating investigation by the Mumbai Police against students, former students and professors of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in connection with an October 2025 programme commemorating the late Prof. G N Saibaba.

The arrest of a former TISS student, the issuing of notices to professors over their communications with students, and the police scrutiny of routine academic fieldwork demonstrate a deeply disturbing pattern in which students, teachers, academic spaces, political expression and even reading material are increasingly being placed under police surveillance and criminal investigation.

What is particularly alarming is that the investigation is being expanded to include alleged possession or downloading of books and literature which the police describe as reflecting “Maoist ideology”.

*READING A BOOK IS NOT A CRIME*

CASR unequivocally rejects the attempt to equate reading, possessing, downloading or discussing political literature with participation in a criminal conspiracy.

The Supreme Court of India has already addressed this question in clear terms.

In Vernon Gonsalves & Anr. v. State of Maharashtra (2023), concerning the Bhima Koregaon case, the Supreme Court held that mere possession of literature, even if it inspires or propagates violence, does not by itself amount to a “terrorist act” under Section 15 of the UAPA or constitute an offence under Chapters IV and VI of the Act.

This principle is crucial. A democratic society cannot criminalise people merely because they possess books containing ideas that the State considers objectionable. The police must establish an actual criminal act and the legally required connection between an individual and that act. Merely finding books, PDFs, WhatsApp messages or academic material cannot substitute for such evidence.

*UMAR KHALID AND SHARJEEL IMAM ARE UNDERTRIAL PRISONERS — DEMANDING THEIR RELEASE IS NOT A CRIME*

CASR also strongly rejects the attempt to criminalise students for allegedly expressing solidarity with Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam are undertrial prisoners. They have not been convicted of the offences for which they have been incarcerated. Their cases remain before the courts and their guilt or innocence must ultimately be determined through a fair trial. Both have also been students and scholars whose political views and activism have been at the centre of public debate.

The demand “Release Umar Khalid”, “Release Sharjeel Imam”, or “Release all political prisoners” is a political demand. It is an expression of solidarity and an opinion about the use of criminal law and prolonged incarceration. It cannot automatically be transformed into an offence against the State. The Supreme Court's January 2026 decision denying bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam did not convert demands for their release into criminal acts, nor does a judicial decision denying bail extinguish the constitutional right of citizens to criticise that decision or demand their release.

*A WIDER PATTERN OF SELECTIVE POLICE TARGETING*

The TISS case cannot be viewed in isolation. Across different states, police authorities have increasingly responded to student protests, public demonstrations, posters, placards and solidarity campaigns for political prisoners by initiating criminal proceedings or threatening protesters with investigation.

Recently, Bengaluru Police registered an FIR after a woman allegedly displayed placards supporting Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam during a student protest at Freedom Park.

This demonstrates a disturbing pattern: the mere display of a poster, the raising of a political slogan, or an expression of solidarity with an imprisoned person is being selectively treated as suspicious depending upon the political content of that expression.

If citizens can publicly demand the release of people convicted by courts, they must certainly be permitted to demand the release of undertrial prisoners whose trials have not concluded. The criminal law cannot become an instrument for deciding which political opinions are permissible. The State cannot claim that democracy permits protest only when the protesters agree with the government.

*UNIVERSITIES CANNOT BECOME EXTENSIONS OF POLICE SURVEILLANCE*

The reported scrutiny of mandatory TISS fieldwork is especially disturbing. Students of social sciences are required to travel to communities and locations precisely to understand their political, social and economic conditions. Treating such academic field visits as suspicious because of the places visited or the subjects studied threatens the very foundation of social-science education.

A student researching marginalised communities, political movements, labour, caste, land, displacement, state violence or social conflict cannot be expected to obtain police clearance for the subjects they study.

Academic research is not a police interrogation. A university is not a surveillance centre. A field visit is not a conspiracy. The targeting of professors merely because they communicated with a former student also raises serious concerns about academic freedom and the confidentiality of academic relationships.

*FROM SAIBABA TO TODAY’S STUDENTS — CRIMINALISING DISSENT MUST STOP*

The irony of the entire investigation is profound. The students gathered to remember G N Saibaba, a professor and human rights defender who was once convicted under the UAPA but was subsequently acquitted by the Bombay High Court. To commemorate a person, read his poems, discuss his ideas or question the circumstances surrounding his incarceration cannot itself be treated as evidence of criminality.

Students have historically been at the forefront of democratic movements in India. Universities have been spaces where governments, political parties, social structures and prevailing ideas are questioned. If students are criminalised for displaying posters, professors are questioned for communicating with students, academic fieldwork is investigated and books are treated as incriminating material, then the problem is no longer confined to one TISS event. It is a direct assault on the democratic character of education itself.

*CASR DEMANDS*

The Campaign Against State Repression demands:

1. Immediate release of the arrested former TISS student and an end to the criminalisation of student political expression.

2. Withdrawal of notices and harassment of TISS professors based merely on their communications with students.

3. An immediate end to the police scrutiny of routine academic fieldwork and research activities.

4. No criminal prosecution merely on the basis of possession, downloading, reading or discussing political literature, in accordance with the Supreme Court's ruling in Vernon Gonsalves & Arun Ferreira v. State of Maharashtra.

5. Stop treating reading books and literature as a criminal act.

6. Stop criminalising slogans, posters and peaceful expressions of solidarity with Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam and other political prisoners.

7. Repeal the UAPA and other draconian laws that facilitate the prolonged incarceration and criminalisation of dissent.

CASR reiterates that a democratic State cannot criminalise an idea merely because it dislikes the idea, a book merely because it dislikes its contents, or a slogan merely because it challenges the State. The State may disagree with a political demand. It may contest an argument. It may defend its policies in public debate. But it cannot use the police and criminal law to decide what students may read, what professors may research, whom citizens may support, or which political prisoners people may demand to be released.

READING IS NOT A CRIME.

DISSENT IS NOT A CRIME.

SOLIDARITY IS NOT A CRIME.

DEMANDING THE RELEASE OF UNDERTRIALS IS NOT A CRIME.

DEFEND ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

DEFEND THE RIGHT TO DISSENT.

RELEASE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS.

REPEAL UAPA.

Campaign Against State Repression (CASR)

Organising Team:

(AIRSO, APCR, ASA, BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, bsCEM, CEM, COLLECTIVE, CRPP, CSM, CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity Movement, IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, NAPM, Nazariya Magazine, Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People's Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Samajwadi Lok Manch, Bahujan Samajwadi Manch, United Peace Alliance, WSS, Y4S)