Professor Hany BABU

Image Credit: Kamalvengara/WikkiCommons

On 5 December 2025, after spending more than five years in detention due to accusations of links to the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and of ‘inciting violence’, scholar and anti-caste activist Hany Babu was released on bail by the Bombay High Court, which cited his prolonged detention without trial (see Case Lists 2021-2025). However, Babu remains subject to stringent bail conditions, including restrictions on his movement that prevent him from visiting his elderly mother. 

Babu, detained on 28 July 2020, is one of the BK-16—writers, scholars and activists, including poet  Varavara Rao (see above), who have been targeted under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Babu’s family issued an appeal asserting his innocence.  

Babu joins a growing number of BK-16 activists now released on bail. None of the BK-16 has been brought to trial amid concerns that some evidence may have been tampered with or planted, leaving them unable to establish their innocence.  

He was held in grossly inadequate conditions in the notorious Taloja Central Jail. In May 2021, he was repeatedly denied medical treatment for a severe eye infection, which eventually required hospitalisation. On 15 December 2022, he underwent surgery at his own expense following a loss of vision. In June 2024, PEN International raised concerns about his detention conditions in a submission to the UN Human Rights Committee, the body that oversees compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  

Hany Babu, born on 16 August 1966, is an associate professor of language and linguistics at Delhi University and a leading advocate for anti-caste justice and the protection of marginalised languages. He has used his writing to highlight human rights and linguistic plurality.  

Image Credit: Kamalvengara/WikkiCommons