A book discussion at Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda Arts Festival featuring activist Anand Teltumbde was cancelled on police orders, organisers said on Thursday.
Organisers informed participants that the event, titled “Incarcerated: Tales from Behind Bars”, had been called off following directions from the Mumbai Police and asked them to remove social media posts related to the programme.
The discussion was to feature Teltumbde and writer Neeta Kolhatkar, author of The Featured: Conversations with Eleven Political Prisoners, and was to be moderated by journalist Naresh Fernandes.
Teltumbde was arrested in connection with the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case, in which authorities alleged a conspiracy to incite caste violence near Pune. He is currently out on bail and has written several books, including The Cell and the Soul: A Prison Memoir.
The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, an annual cultural event, began on January 31 and runs until February 8. Its collaborators include the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the Maharashtra tourism department and UNESCO. The Maharashtra Police and Mumbai Traffic Police are listed among the festival’s supporters.
Festival director Brinda Miller declined to comment.