Activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha named joint winners of new 2020 Shakti Bhatt Prize

Activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha have been named the joint winners of this year’s revamped Shakti Bhatt Prize, formerly known as the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. While Teltumbde has authored over two dozen books, Navlakha wrote Days and Nights in the Heartland of Rebellion in 2012 and retired as editorial consultant of the Economic & Political Weekly. Published in 2018, Teltumbde’s The Radical in Ambedkar: Critical Reflections, established BR Ambedkar as the most powerful advocate of equality and fraternity in modern India, whereas in Days and Nights in the Heartland of Rebellion, Navlakha presented an account of the fortnight he spent in Bastar, where the Maoists run their people’s government, the Jantana Sarkar.

Additionally, the Shakti Bhatt Foundation announced that Teltumbde’s award will be collected by his wife, Rama Teltumbde, who is the grand-daughter of BR Ambedkar. The award includes a trophy and cash prize of Rs 2 lakh. Both Teltumbde and Navlakha were arrested on 14 April this year in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case which was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by the Centre in January. The activists were booked initially by Pune Police following violence that erupted at Koregaon-Bhima there. According to police, the activists made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements at the Elgar Parishad meet held in Pune on 31 December, 2017, which triggered violence the next day. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)