India

India

Image of the flag of India against a blue sky

What You Need to Know

Even after 78 years of independence, India retained many colonial-era laws that restricted freedoms and, over the years, added more such laws, weakening its democracy.

Detained writers face politically-motivated legal charges for their writing on politics, caste, ethnic and religious minorities, and language, and journalists face detention and charges for their reporting. 

Dozens of writers have endured online harassment, physical threats, lawsuits, or other forms of intimidation for their views, including expressing the perspective of ethnic minorities. 

Individual Cases

  • P. Varavara Rao

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    A renowned Telugu poet and leftist intellectual, Rao has been imprisoned by multiple governments for his viewpoints. In August 2018,… More


  • Arun Ferreira

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    In August 2018, Ferreira was arrested and detained on politically motivated charges of incitement to violence along with other leftist… More


  • Prabir Purkayastha

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    Purkayastha is the founder of NewsClick, an independent news website, and a public intellectual. In October 2023, the NewsClick offices… More


  • Arundhati Roy

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    Winner of the Man Booker prize and a longtime activist, Roy reported in August 2019 that a court had ordered… More


  • Fahad Shah

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    Shah, a Kashmiri editor and columnist, was arrested in February 2022 for publishing “anti-national content.” After being held for 22… More


Read more >>

Amitava Kumar, “Delhi February,” 2021

India at 75

To mark India at 75, PEN America reached out to authors from India and the Indian diaspora to write short texts expressing what they felt. The authors hold a spectrum of political views, and may be in disagreement about much else, but they are united in their concern for the state of Indian democracy. 

Advocacy

  • Letter to President Droupadi Murmu on India’s 75th Anniversary of Independence

    Monday August 15
  • Letter: Indian Government Must Review Decision to Revoke Writer’s Overseas Citizenship Status

    Wednesday November 13

Experts