The civil rights movement in India has emerged as an autonomous voice in defense of civil liberties and democratic rights of our people. The Peoples Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi, is one such organisation. It came into existence in 1977 as the Delhi unit of a larger national forum, PUCLDR, and became PUDR on 1 February, 1981.
Remembering Stan Swamy (26 April 1937 – 5 July 2021)
The state penalized Stan Swamy under the UAPA, a punishment that precipitated his death in judicial custody. Stan Swamy was framed, fettered, and finally forced towards a fatal illness under due process of law called the UAPA. The charges levelled reveal the state’s deep prejudice against an upright activist who spent decades in building and empowering Adivasi rights against historic neglect and exploitation.
Prior to his incarceration, his failing health was well known, but he was not granted even medical bail let alone regular bail. The NIA and the prison authorities refused to acknowledge the deterioration that he suffered in prison, and they failed to uphold his rights as a prisoner, a right to decent health care and facilities.
Stan’s persecution under the law offers an understanding of how many others have been similarly punished by the state for their dissenting politics.
Read: Framed to Die: The Case of Stan Swamy at Framed_to_
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Latest Press Statements
Release of two reports concerning mohalla violence and politics of communal state actions in Nand Nagri and Uttam Nagar
On February 17, 2026, around 5.30 pm, a 41-year-old man, Umardeen was shot dead near the Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Nand Nagri’s Block B by Sunil Sardar, a resident of the same block. A driver by profession, Umardeen supported his wife and five children in a small,...
नंद नगरी और उत्तम नगर में मोहल्ले की हिंसा की वारदातें और सरकारी कार्रवाई में सांप्रदायिक राजनीति से जुड़ी दो रिपोर्ट जारी
17 फरवरी 2026 को शाम करीब 5:30 बजे, नंद नगरी के ब्लॉक B में सर्वोदय बाल विद्यालय के पास, उसी ब्लॉक के रहने वाले सुनील सरदार ने 41 साल के उमरदीन की गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी। उमरदीन पेशे से ड्राइवर थे और नंद नगरी के ही पास के ब्लॉक C में एक छोटे से किराए के घर में अपनी...
श्रमिक विरोध प्रदर्शनों का अपराधीकरण बंद करें; हिरासत में लिए गए और गिरफ्तार किए गए सभी लोगों को रिहा करें
पीपल्स यूनियन फॉर डेमोक्रेटिक राइट्स (पीयूडीआर) उत्तर प्रदेश पुलिस द्वारा श्रमिकों, सामाजिक कार्यकर्ताओं, छात्रों, पत्रकारों और कलाकारों की गिरफ्तारी और हिरासत पर गहरी चिंता व्यक्त करता है। यह गिरफ्तारी अप्रैल में मानेसर, फिर नोएडा और एनसीआर के अन्य हिस्सों में भड़के...
End the Criminalisation of Workers’ Protests; Release All Those Detained and Arrested
People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) expresses deep concern over the arrests and detentions of workers, along with social activists, students, journalists, artists by the Uttar Pradesh police as part of the increasing efforts to criminalize the workers’ protest...
Stop Communal Demolition and Ostracism in Uttam Nagar
PUDR strongly condemns the MCD’s demolition of parts of a property belonging to a Muslim owner-accused on April 30, 2026, in Uttam Nagar’s JJ Colony. The owner is an accused in the killing of Tarun Bhutolia and is currently in judicial custody. Importantly, the...
Latest Publications
नन्द नगरी में उमरदीन की हत्या
समाज में आमतौर पर होने वाले आपसी विवादों/ झड़पों या मतभेदों को साम्प्रदायिक राजनीति के लिए चारागाह बनाने की दो मिसालें है- नंद नगरी और उत्तम नगर हस्तसाल जे जे कालोनी की घटना। साम्प्रदायिकता का मुख्य औजार लोगों को एक दूसरे के साथ घुलने मिलने की सामाजिक प्रक्रिया को...
उत्तम नगर में संवैधानिक मशीनरी के साम्प्रदायिकरण की मिसाल
समाज में आमतौर पर होने वाले आपसी विवादों/ झड़पों या मतभेदों को साम्प्रदायिक राजनीति के लिए चारागाह बनाने की दो मिसालें है- नंद नगरी और उत्तम नगर हस्तसाल जे जे कालोनी की घटना। साम्प्रदायिकता का मुख्य औजार लोगों को एक दूसरे के साथ घुलने मिलने की सामाजिक प्रक्रिया को...
Delhi 1984: The Long Aftermath – 41 Years of Criminal Injustice, Apathy, and Struggle of Survivors
The anti-Sikh violence in Delhi that followed the assassination of the then PM Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984, resulted officially in 2733 persons murdered though unofficial figures were much higher. It lasted between 31 October and 10 November, 1984, with the...
Bhima Koregaon Poster Campaign: State’s Capacity to Create Laws for Targeting and Silencing Dissenters
16 champions of people rights have been implicated in the BK Case since 2018 They include lawyers, journalists, academics, cultural artists, a poet and a priest In 2021 Father Stan Swamy died while in jail Nine are out on bail but face stringent conditions Six...
Insecurity By Law: A Critique of the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill in the Context of India’s Banning Regime
The Maharashtra Assembly has passed the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill (Mh SPSB) 2024, exactly a year after its initial tabling. Projected as a measure to curb the spread of Naxalism in urban areas, the Bill grants sweeping powers to the government to ban...
Latest Prison projects
Testimony of Atikur Rahman
On October 5, 2020 the UP Police detained the four—social activist Atikur Rahman, journalist Siddique Kappan, student Masud Ahmed and Alam, the driver—at Mant Toll Plaza PS, a little before Mathura. They were arrested on their way to Hathras to show solidarity with...
Living Inside Tihar
This piece is a glimpse into the everyday life of people living in Tihar jail in Delhi and how they access to the most basic daily requirements. It is based on a series of interviews by PUDR in the months with three persons about their time in Tihar’s undertrial ward....
Testimony of Prashant Rahi
Prashant Rahi spoke with PUDR on a series of phone calls following his release from prison in March 2024. His testimony, reproduced with only stylistic edits, draws attention to the multiple challenges of incarceration in prisons and the presence/absence of judicial...