Teltumbde-edited volume examines contemporary rights challenges

By Harsh Thakor* 

‘Whither Human Rights in India,’ edited by Anand Teltumbde, is a wide-ranging collection of essays examining India’s human rights landscape over recent decades. The volume surveys major issues including majoritarian politics, state responses to dissent, inequality among Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims, restrictions on civil liberties, judicial functioning, hate speech, and the situation of vulnerable communities. While highlighting the perspectives of public intellectuals such as Father Stan Swamy and Professor G.N. Saibaba, it compiles assessments of how democratic rights have been experienced, contested, and curtailed.

The anthology has been received as a significant contribution for readers seeking to understand the challenges faced by marginalised groups and the legal and administrative frameworks shaping civic life. Contributors including Harsh Mander, Teesta Setalvad and others discuss the implementation of laws such as the UAPA and their impact on activist networks. The essays adopt critical approaches to state policy, economic decisions and institutional behaviour, and together offer a panoramic view of human rights debates in India. The volume argues that current developments represent not simply continuity with previous patterns but mark a departure from earlier phases, contributing to systemic constraints on rights and citizenship.

Across the collection, contributors situate current developments within historical and ideological roots of the Indian state, contrasting constitutional commitments with contemporary political and administrative practices. Themes include the rise of majoritarian politics, heightened state violence, impunity across institutions, and the disproportionate targeting of minorities. The book also addresses the functioning of the judiciary, hate speech, demolitions, development models, and socioeconomic inequality, and includes analysis from commentators such as Gautam Navlakha, Kalpana Kannabiran and others. Particular attention is paid to the use of security laws and the shrinking space for activism, including experiences faced by the editor himself.

The first part of the volume includes seven essays examining state practices and expanding securitisation, narratives such as “Urban Naxal,” executive-led policing responses, judicial decisions, and economic and policy models often associated with the ruling establishment. The second part offers nine accounts focusing on violations experienced by minorities, including Muslims and Christians, and the social and political consequences of targeted discrimination.

In his introduction, Anand Teltumbde outlines a long historical trajectory, tracing the emergence of human rights in India from colonial rule, the influence of liberal thought on social reform, and the articulation of rights during the freedom struggle. He revisits the constitutional framing of rights in 1950 and notes the contradictions that persisted even in early decades. Teltumbde reviews policies of early governments and argues that contradictions within the Nehru period—including preventive detention and political interventions in Kashmir and Kerala—generated tensions that persisted. He extends the analysis through the Emergency and subsequent administrations, identifying economic reforms as drivers of both opportunity and deepening inequality. The introduction characterises communal violence, including the demolition of the Babri Masjid and events in Gujarat, as part of political shifts that reconfigured state–society relations. It further examines changes in media, civil society, security institutions and legal frameworks in the contemporary period. Teltumbde concludes with concern about public disengagement from rights protections and the normalisation of restrictive policies.

Individual contributors explore related themes. 

Kalpana Kannabiran discusses state practices and impunity; Ajay Gudavarthy and G. Vijay examine the framing of civil society actors; Mihir Desai reflects on judicial protections; Subhash Gatade analyses demolition practices; and Teesta Setalvad assesses the so-called “Gujarat Model” in terms of economic and social consequences. Gautam Navlakha writes from his experience as an undertrial and questions legal processes, and Harsh Mander observes the escalation of hate speech. Aakar Patel contextualises the experience of Muslims; Vineeth Srivastava interrogates the language, symbols and institutional patterns associated with contemporary nationalist politics; and Teltumbde analyses Dalit rights and constitutional protections. Further chapters examine prisoners’ rights (Vernon Gonsalves), violence and legal measures affecting Christian communities (Lancy Lobo), discrimination against Muslims (Irfan Engineer), implementation gaps in child protection frameworks (Mahruk Edanwala), and restrictions on LGBTQIA+ rights (Bittu KR). 

The compilation aims to document multiple dimensions of rights concerns in India and provide analytical reference points for readers and researchers engaging with developments in the past decade.

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*Freelance journalist