On March 12, 2026, at least ten activists in the Indian capital of Delhi were abducted by the Indian Old State. These forced disappearances occurred the same day as the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) held a public meeting in solidarity with Surendra Gadling, an activist defending Adivasi (Indigenous) rights who has been held in harsh prison conditions for nearly eight years. The Fascist Hindutva State regularly uses the tactics of mass repression and brutal torture to attack the Indian revolutionary mass movement.
The disappearances were coordinated and sudden. In the case of two mass activists, Ilakkiya and Shiv Kumar, they were on their way to meet with another activist to discuss plans for the upcoming Anti-Imperialism Week. However, before they could hold this meeting they were stopped by what are believed to be plainclothes officers of the State, and forced into an unmarked car. The two have not been seen since. That same night, an activist named Manjeet disappeared after leaving the CASR event for Surendra Gadling. It is believed that he was forcibly disappeared in the same manner as the other two. Additionally, at least seven activists were taken by Delhi Police on the night of Friday the 13, from the office of the student organization Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM). The full list of activists taken is:
- Baadal, of the Forum Against Corporatization And Militarization (FACAM)
- Ehtemam Ul-Haque, of FACAM
- Manjeet, of the Majdoor Adhikar Sangathan (MAS)
- Shiv Kumar, of MAS
- Ilakkiya, of BSCEM
- Akshay, of BSCEM
- Gaurav, of BSCEM
- Rudra, of BSCEM
- Drishti, of BSCEM
- Kiran, of BSCEM
Several of these activists have been arrested by the Indian State before. Shiv Kumar was previously arrested during the major farmers’ protests in north India in 2021, where in custody he, along with activist Nodeep Kaur, was illegally detained and tortured, leaving lasting injuries to this day. Ilakkiya, Kiran, and Akshay were all previously arrested last year during environmental protests at Delhi’s India Gate. Ehtemam Ul-Haque, Badal, Rudra, and Gaurav were additionally abducted and tortured by Delhi Police last summer in a similar manner to this week’s abductions. In the face of these abductions, the Campaign Against State Repression has raised the following demands:
- Immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of Ilakkiya, Shiv Kumar, and Manjeet
- Assurance of their safety and physical well-being
- Immediate access given to legal counsel and communication with their families
- Accountability from the authorities for these unlawful actions
As of now, a petition of habeas corpus has been filed in the Delhi High Court, which is to be heard tomorrow on March 15. Until then, the state of the activists is completely unknown, and the history of the Indian state’s unlawful imprisonment, torture, and fake encounters draws a worrying picture of what these ten may be facing right now. Proletarian Internationalism demands that we support the struggles of revolutionaries around the world in the face of brutal repression. We call on all genuinely internationalist forces to join us in calling for the ten activists to be surfaced and released immediately. This call should be integrated into the broader FACAM campaign for solidarity actions and events in support of the Indian Revolution on March 28th.
SURFACE ILAKKIYA, SHIV KUMAR, MANJEET, AKSHAY, DRISHTI, RUDRA, KIRAN, GAURAV, BAADAL, AND EHTEMAM!
STOP OPERATION KAGAAR!
SCRAP SURAJKUND SCHEME!
