The story of a political prisoner’s coming of age as a student activist in India

Keeping Up the Good Fight is the story of a young man’s political coming of age and his experience as a student activist and scientist incarcerated by two authoritarian regimes in India, half a century apart.

On September 25, 1975, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi called for a strike to protest the expulsion of Ashoklata Jain, an elected student union member. Three months earlier, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had declared a state of Emergency. It was the second day of the strike and the campus was tense. A black car rolled up near a group of students. A few plainclothes cops got out, and abducted one of them: The student spent the next year in jail. Almost fifty years later, on February 9, 2021, the founder of an online news portal saw his home and offices raided for 113 hours straight, ransacked by officers from the Enforcement Directorate. Nearly two years later, on October 3, 2023, the Delhi Police Special Cell reappeared. The founder of the news portal and his colleague were remanded to custody under the dreaded Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

That student journalist and scientist, Prabir Purkayastha, tells his own story with wit and humor, as he engages with some of India’s most pressing social, political and economic issues across the decades—and remains committed to “keeping up the good fight.”

The story of a political prisoner’s coming of age as a student activist in India

Keeping Up the Good Fight is the story of a young man’s political coming of age and his experience as a student activist and scientist incarcerated by two authoritarian regimes in India, half a century apart.

On September 25, 1975, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi called for a strike to protest the expulsion of Ashoklata Jain, an elected student union member. Three months earlier, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had declared a state of Emergency. It was the second day of the strike and the campus was tense. A black car rolled up near a group of students. A few plainclothes cops got out, and abducted one of them: The student spent the next year in jail. Almost fifty years later, on February 9, 2021, the founder of an online news portal saw his home and offices raided for 113 hours straight, ransacked by officers from the Enforcement Directorate. Nearly two years later, on October 3, 2023, the Delhi Police Special Cell reappeared. The founder of the news portal and his colleague were remanded to custody under the dreaded Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

That student journalist and scientist, Prabir Purkayastha, tells his own story with wit and humor, as he engages with some of India’s most pressing social, political and economic issues across the decades—and remains committed to “keeping up the good fight.”

The story of a political prisoner’s coming of age as a student activist in India

Keeping Up the Good Fight is the story of a young man’s political coming of age and his experience as a student activist and scientist incarcerated by two authoritarian regimes in India, half a century apart.

On September 25, 1975, the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi called for a strike to protest the expulsion of Ashoklata Jain, an elected student union member. Three months earlier, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had declared a state of Emergency. It was the second day of the strike and the campus was tense. A black car rolled up near a group of students. A few plainclothes cops got out, and abducted one of them: The student spent the next year in jail. Almost fifty years later, on February 9, 2021, the founder of an online news portal saw his home and offices raided for 113 hours straight, ransacked by officers from the Enforcement Directorate. Nearly two years later, on October 3, 2023, the Delhi Police Special Cell reappeared. The founder of the news portal and his colleague were remanded to custody under the dreaded Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

That student journalist and scientist, Prabir Purkayastha, tells his own story with wit and humor, as he engages with some of India’s most pressing social, political and economic issues across the decades—and remains committed to “keeping up the good fight.”