Sudhir Dhawale interview: ‘The law remains blind to injustice even with the blindfold gone’
The writer spent six years and seven months in jail before receiving bail in the Bhima Koregaon case.
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On January 24, when Sudhir Dhawale walked back into the narrow lane in the Mumbai neighbourhood of Govandi where he lived until he was arrested in June, 2018, young men welcomed him with the beat of the dhol.
His neighbours then marched in a celebratory procession to a statue of BR Ambedkar 100 metres away. Dhawale garlanded the statue and gave a short speech about the importance of safeguarding Dalit rights. And just like that, he said, his life returned to normal.
That day, activist and writer Dhawale, aged 56, and researcher Rona Wilson had been released on bail from Taloja prison in nearby Navi Mumbai, six years and seven months after the police arrested them on charges of inciting caste violence in Bhima Koregaon village near Pune on January 1, 2018. One person died in the clashes.
Sixteen academicians, writers, activists and lawyers were arrested in the case. Nine of them have received bail so far.
Dhawale said the prison gave him time to write. He authored five books while in jail. Two of them have already been published.
After the death of 84-year-old Jesuit priest father Stan Swamy in July 2021, who was a co-accused in the case, Dhawale also turned to poetry.
Sitting in his office in Govandi a...
