Academia

A book by activist Umar Khalid, based on his doctoral thesis on the history of tribal societies under British rule, has been removed from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune library to avoid “any misunderstanding or unrest”, the institute said on Monday.

Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power, released earlier this year, examines the history of Singhbhum’s tribal societies under British rule and is based on Khalid’s PhD thesis at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Khalid has been in jail for over six years without trial in the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case. Human rights organisations have criticised his prolonged incarceration without trial, while critics of the government have described him as a “political prisoner”.