Anand Teltumbde book discussion dropped from Kala Ghoda Festival after online backlash, organisers cite police request

Sources in the Mumbai Police said that while permission had been granted for the Kala Ghoda festival overall, details of the individual guests at the several events being held had not been screened. The particular event invite had a banner of Maharashtra government and Mumbai police while the guest was someone who had been arrested by the state police which was not appropriate. This was communicated to the festival authorities following which the event was cancelled, the source said.The source added that no notice had been given and the issue was communicated informally.

However, an email sent by the organisers on Tuesday night, a copy of which has been seen by The Indian Express, informed the speakers that the discussion had been cancelled, citing a request from the police.

The event description on the KGAF website said: “What does it mean to lose one’s freedom for an idea? Drawing on political prisoners’ narratives, Anand Teltumbde, Neeta Kolhatkar and Naresh Fernandes discuss how imprisonment becomes both a site of punishment and profound reflection.”

The discussion was learnt to have been first proposed by the organisers in November 2025 and finalised in December. It was originally scheduled for February 8 but was advanced to February 6 after Teltumbde informed the organisers of a personal commitment.

After the revised date was circulated online this week, the event drew trolling on social media. Later on the night of February 3, the organisers informed the speakers that the discussion had been cancelled, citing a request from the police. A follow-up email asked participants to delete social media posts related to the event.

“I genuinely don’t know what transpired. The situation is utterly ridiculous. The event was originally scheduled for February 8, but since I had to travel to Bhopal for a wedding on February 7, I requested a reschedule, which the organisers were happy to accommodate. When they began circulating a post informing people about the new date, the Mumbai Police asked for the event to be cancelled. This is what I have been told,” Teltumbde said.

He said the decision was difficult to understand as his book, The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir, had already been published and discussed at public forums. “It has been discussed publicly, reviewed extensively by the press, and read by many. We have held larger events around it before, including one recently at the Press Club, all of which took place smoothly and without any issues,” he said.

An academician, author and former IIT professor, Teltumbde was arrested in April 2020 in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case and was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in November 2022. While granting bail, the court observed that “the seizure of the incriminating material does not in any manner prima facie lead to draw an inference that appellant Teltumbde has committed or indulged in a terrorist act as contemplated under Section 15 of the UAPA.”

“It is a pity that organisers have succumbed to the pressure of a few right-wing trolls and the police, according to the sudden developments that took place overnight,” said Neeta Kolhatkar, author of The Feared: Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners. “These stories need to be told, the citizens need to be informed, and the organisers have sadly deprived them of that. This cancel culture is not a good precedent for our democracy.”

This year marks the 26th edition of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. Its collaborators include the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the Maharashtra Tourism Department and UNESCO. Supporters listed by the festival include the Maharashtra Police and the Mumbai Traffic Police.

With inputs by Mohamed Thaver