The academic and anti-caste activist Hany Babu has been detained without trial in India for five years in appalling and degrading conditions. Babu is one of sixteen writers, scholars and activists, known as the BK-16, targeted under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), over alleged links to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). They are accused of ‘involvement in inciting violence’ at a public event held on 31 December 2017 aimed at promoting the rights of Dalits and other marginalised communities. The following day, riots broke out between Dalits and Hindu nationalists during celebrations marking the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon, a key cultural event for the Dalit community. Babu has repeatedly applied for bail, including on medical grounds, without success. The latest hearing, due to take place on 12 August at Mumbai High Court, was postponed without notice until 8 September. 

Babu, an associate professor of language and linguistics at Delhi University and an advocate of greater protections for marginalised languages, has regularly used his writings to highlight the relationship between human rights and linguistic plurality. On 10 September 2019, police raided his home without a warrant, confiscating his laptop, phone and two books on caste. On 28 July 2020, he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency and sent to the notorious Taloja Central Jail, where he has been held since.

None of the BK-16 detainees has been tried, depriving them of the opportunity to prove their innocence in court. Of Babu’s fifteen co-accused, nine have been granted bail. Several BK-16 detainees, including Babu, have suffered from ill health in prison. In May 2021, after contracting a severe eye infection, Babu