Demonstrations were held in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Brighton on 26 September in solidarity with individuals detained in India under what organisers described as a politically motivated conspiracy case, according to a statement issued by the Joint Committee to Stop Repression in India (JCSRI).
The protests demanded the scrapping of a case brought by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Lucknow, which the campaigners described as "bogus." According to the statement, three people — Priyanshu Kashyap, Ajay Kumar and Shiv Kumar — are being held without trial, while around 40 others have faced raids, harassment or intimidation, including students, human rights activists, labour organisers, lawyers and anti-fascist campaigners across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and beyond.
The statement said Kashyap, described as a PhD scholar and labour organiser of Adivasi background, has been detained for more than a year, while Ajay Kumar, described as a lawyer and anti-displacement activist, has been held for about two years. Campaigners also called for the release of Vishal Singh, a documentary filmmaker they said has been detained for a year and was recently hospitalised with life-threatening conditions following alleged medical neglect in custody.
In London, around 30 demonstrators gathered outside the Science Museum, which has accepted sponsorship from the Adani Group, the Indian conglomerate. Speakers at the protest drew a connection between Adani's operations and the detention of the activists, some of whom the organisers said had campaigned against displacement linked to the company's coal projects. Protesters distributed leaflets, displayed banners calling for the detainees' release and for the museum to drop Adani as a sponsor, and chanted calls for a boycott of the institution.
In Birmingham, 11 protesters marched across the University of Birmingham campus under a banner bearing a portrait of Bhagat Singh, whose birth anniversary the statement said fell on the same day. Participants included student anti-militarisation and left-wing groups, as well as members of the Indian Workers' Association.
In Manchester, demonstrators from student and labour solidarity groups assembled outside the University of Manchester, distributing leaflets to passersby and drawing comparisons between the situation in India and what speakers described as a broader global crackdown on anti-war and socialist movements, citing recent arrests in Turkey. In Sheffield, four activists displayed a banner featuring the detainees' faces at several university locations, while in Brighton a banner was shown at a busy town-centre road and at a local skatepark, where demonstrators discussed the case with young people.
The statement also referenced other causes, including solidarity with the "Filton 26," a group of people imprisoned in Britain following a protest, and announced plans for a further demonstration on 20 November opposing what organisers called imperialist war preparations.
Rights Group Condemns 'Continued Harassment' of Labour Rights Activist
The demonstrations took even even as the human rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) condemned the alleged continued harassment of labour rights activist Shiv Kumar and his family by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the 2023 Lucknow Conspiracy Case. In a press statement issued on September 29, 2026, the rights group detailed recent incidents of intimidation and called for an immediate halt to what it described as unlawful surveillance and pressure tactics.
According to the statement, NIA officials visited Kumar’s residence on September 25 while he was absent. The rights group alleged that the officials did not present a warrant or prior notice, but instead questioned Kumar's father and brother, the latter of whom reportedly suffers from a serious psychological condition. The statement further claimed that the officials confiscated and searched the father’s mobile phone without consent before returning it. Additionally, CASR reported that officials visited the office of Kumar’s organization and threatened the landlord over renting premises to labour activists, prompting the landlord to subsequently ask the group to vacate the property.
The activists identified the visiting officials through CCTV footage, noting that one individual is believed to be associated with the Lucknow Conspiracy Case investigation. CASR has demanded an independent verification of the identities and authority of all personnel involved. The rights group contextualized these recent events within a broader pattern of state action against Kumar, noting that he was detained for approximately 60 hours by the Delhi Police Special Cell in March 2026. That detention prompted the Delhi High Court to seek an explanation from the police via habeas corpus proceedings. Subsequently, in April 2026, the NIA issued Kumar a notice regarding the Lucknow case.
The statement also referenced Kumar’s history of activism with the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan in Haryana and previous allegations of state harassment, including claims of custodial torture and injuries sustained during his arrest in the 2021 farmers' movement. Citing concerns raised by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, CASR argued that investigative powers are being misused to create sustained pressure on the activist and his associates. The organization has formally demanded that authorities cease all harassment, disclose the identities of the visiting officials, conduct an independent investigation into the alleged intimidation, and quash the underlying FIR, which CASR maintains is being used to target democratic movements.
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