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Alpa Shah’s The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon and the Search for Democracy in India tells the story of the sixteen people accused in the Bhima Koregaon–Elgaar Parishad case through their lives, work and the questions their arrests raise about democracy and dissent. The phrase “imprisoned as terrorists, without trial” needs qualification: the accused faced serious allegations, not a finding of guilt, and an Indian Express report dated 4 February 2026 said charges had not been framed and the trial had not begun.
What Alpa Shah’s book is about
The Incarcerations: Bhima Koregaon and the Search for Democracy in India is an account of the case commonly known as Bhima Koregaon or Elgaar Parishad–Bhima Koregaon, and of the sixteen accused often called the BK-16. Shah’s author page describes them as human-rights defenders, among them professors, lawyers, journalists and poets. The book follows their life histories and the issues they worked on, including matters affecting Adivasi, Dalit and Muslim communities.
That framing is Shah’s interpretation of the case, not a court’s assessment of the accused or their work. The book uses the arrests as a lens through which to consider dissent and democracy in India.
What the accused were alleged to have done
OR Books describes charges connected to allegedly inciting violence at a New Year’s Day commemoration in 2018, as well as allegations of waging war against the state and conspiring to kill the prime minister. These are allegations, not findings that the accused committed those acts. The publisher’s description and Shah’s author page also discuss claims of hacking and the planting of electronic evidence; those claims, too, should be understood as part of the book’s account and associated research, not as facts established at trial.
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Naomi Klein’s endorsement on the publisher’s page calls the book “A gripping and rigorous crime story about the murder of a once thriving democracy.” That is an endorsement of the book, not a judicial conclusion about the case.
Trial and custody status reported in February 2026
An Indian Express report updated on 4 February 2026 said charges had not been framed and the trial had not started. It reported that fourteen of the sixteen accused were out on bail, Surendra Gadling remained in custody, and Father Stan Swamy had died in custody in 2021. This is a dated journalistic status report, not an independently verified court-docket update; it should not be treated as the case’s status after that date.
Where to find the book
OR Books lists a paperback edition (ISBN 9781682195185) and an ebook edition (ISBN 9781682195192). Read the full book title and author details on the OR Books catalog page.
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A 2025 article in the Socio-Legal Review considers Shah’s book alongside How Long Can the Moon Be Caged by Suchitra Vijayan and Francesca Recchia, and Sudha Bharadwaj’s From Phansi Yard: My Year with the Women of Yerawada. The review places these works in conversation around incarceration, caste, gender, labour and resistance, while their forms and emphases differ: Shah’s is an account centered on the case and the accused’s histories, while Bharadwaj’s title foregrounds lived prison experience. A London School of Economics event page records a discussion of Shah’s book on 26 March 2024.
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