Writers at Risk Database

Kureepuzha Sreekumar

Malayalam poet Sreekumar was targeted by right-wing protestors on his way home from making a speech in which he criticized Hindutva groups for their stance on the construction of… More

Writers at Risk Database

Arundhati Roy

Winner of the Man Booker prize and a longtime activist, Roy reported in August 2019 that a court had ordered Delhi police to issue a First Information Report against… More

Nandini Sundar

In 2016, Sundar, a writer, academic, and activist, was accused with nine others of murdering Shamnath Baghel, who had formerly filed complaints against Sundar for supporting Maoists and inciting… More

Writers at Risk Database

Nayantara Sahgal

Sahgal, a prominent novelist, was disinvited from delivering a speech at the 92nd annual meeting of a Marathi literary conference after organizers became concerned about a possible political backlash… More

Writers at Risk Database

Anand Teltumbde

Leading public intellectual and Dalit activist Teltumbde was charged with inciting caste violence in the village of Bhima Koregaon in 2018, though reports indicate police initiated the conflict. He… More

Writers at Risk Database

Aseem Trivedi

Trivedi launched the campaign Cartoons Against Corruption in 2011. In January 2012, he was charged with sedition and defamation in connection with his cartoons and spent the majority of… More

Swathi Vadlamudi

Vadlamudi was charged with hurting religious sentiments after posting a cartoon on Twitter that alludes to far-right Hindu demonstrations calling for the release of suspected perpetrators of the gang-rape… More

Hafiz Ahmed

Hafiz Ahmed is one of the “Miya” (Bengali-language Muslim) poets charged in July 2019 after the online publication of his poem, "I am Miya," which authorities claimed promoted sectarian… More

Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi

Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi

In August 2015, Kalburgi, an epigraphist and academic, was shot at close range on his doorstep and died shortly after. He had reportedly upset the Lingayat and Hindutva groups… More

Damodar Mauzo

When investigating the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, police investigators received intelligence that Mauzo, a writer, was another potential target. Goa police have provided him with a security… More