The politics of imprisonment in Seema Azad’s 'Unsilenced': The jail diary of an activist

By Harsh Thakor* 

Unsilenced – The Jail Diary of an Activist by Seema Azad is a powerful first-hand account of life behind bars and an indictment of India’s prison system. It documents the author’s two-and-a-half years of incarceration under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a period marked by fabricated charges and judicial delays. The book offers a vivid and unsettling portrait of systemic injustice, corruption, caste and gender discrimination, and the harsh realities of prison life.

Azad, a journalist and activist, was arrested in February 2010 along with her partner, Vishwa Vijai, while returning from the Delhi World Book Fair. The memoir traces her experiences in Naini Central Jail, where she chronicled daily life, the struggles of inmates—many of them Dalit, Adivasi, and Muslim women—and the institutionalised neglect of basic rights. Her writing brings to light the squalid conditions in Indian prisons: contaminated food, inadequate healthcare, broken infrastructure, and the constant demand for bribes from prison officials.

The book goes beyond personal suffering to explore broader social and political themes. Azad links her imprisonment to a pattern of state repression, where dissent is criminalised under draconian laws like UAPA. She also examines how colonial-era practices and hierarchies persist in modern prisons, making them spaces of social exclusion rather than reform. Her portrayal of children growing up within prison walls—some born there, others brought in with their mothers—offers a poignant commentary on deprivation and lost childhood.

Each chapter blends observation with introspection. From her initial interrogation to her reflections on fellow prisoners, Azad conveys both the brutality and the resilience that define life in confinement. Her literary references to figures like Bhagat Singh and Pablo Neruda reflect her ideological grounding and the strength she draws from revolutionary thought.

The concluding section captures her release and the transformation the experience brought to her worldview. Azad argues that prisons, rather than reforming individuals, perpetuate cycles of oppression and criminalisation rooted in an unjust social order. Her narrative aligns with broader human rights critiques of carceral systems, echoing the question posed by Angela Davis: “Are Prisons Obsolete?”

Unsilenced is not merely a personal memoir; it is a political document exposing the failures of India’s justice and penal systems. Seema Azad’s diary stands as both testimony and resistance—a reminder of the courage required to remain human in dehumanising conditions.

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*Freelance journalist