India – CASR Strongly Condemns Arrest of ZPSC President Mukesh Malaud by Punjab Police
We hereby share a statement issued by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR).
Mukesh Malaud was arrested by the Punjab Police at Nizamuddin railway station in Delhi while returning to Punjab after attending an Ambedkar Mission programme in Maharashtra. The arrest is linked to several old cases in Sangrur district, including a 2014 case related to a ZPSC-led agitation in Balad Kalan village that demanded Dalits’ legal one-third share of panchayat land.
Police also cited a case connected to a planned protest on May 20 at Bir Eswan village, where ZPSC demanded distribution of 927 acres of land of the former Jind Riyasat among landless Dalits under the Land Ceiling Act. Although Malaud was not present at the protest, police said he had given the call for it. Over 400 activists were detained during the agitation, and Malaud has now been arrested in this case as well.
Mukesh Malaud is a prominent leader of the Dalit land rights movement in Punjab. As President of the ZPSC, he has been spearheading a peaceful and democratic struggle by Dalits and landless people for their lawful rights over village common lands. This movement has consistently exposed entrenched caste oppression and the systematic denial of land rights to Dalit communities.
The manner of his arrest—outside Punjab, lacking transparency, and carried out through coordinated action of intelligence agencies and special police—reveals a deliberate attempt to crush democratic dissent. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has adopted the very methods of repression it once claimed to oppose. On the question of democratic rights, there is no difference between the AAP government in Punjab and the BJP-led governments elsewhere. When people assert their rights, governments across party lines unite to use state power to silence resistance.
This arrest is not an isolated incident. In the past, several members and leaders of the Zameen Prapti Sangharsh Committee have been arrested and targeted with false and fabricated criminal cases solely for their legitimate struggle for land rights for landless Dalit families. The repeated use of police cases, arrests, and intimidation reflects a consistent pattern of criminalising a democratic mass movement instead of addressing its just demands.
Rather than implementing land reform laws and ensuring justice for landless communities, the Punjab government has chosen repression, harassment, and coercion. The arrest of Mukesh Malaud is clearly aimed at weakening the growing land rights movement and spreading fear among activists and marginalised communities. Such actions constitute a grave violation of democratic norms and fundamental rights, including the right to dissent, organise, and struggle for justice.
The Campaign Against State Repression demands:
Immediate and unconditional release of Mukesh Malaud
Withdrawal of all false cases against ZPSC members and activists
An end to repressive tactics against Dalit and landless people’s movements
We call upon all democratic forces, civil society organisations, and concerned citizens to raise their voices against this injustice and stand in solidarity with the Dalit land rights struggle in Punjab.
Campaign Against State Repression
Organising Team
(AIRSO, AISF, APCR, ASA, BASF, BSM, Bhim Army, BSCEM, CEM, Collective, CRPP, CSM, CTF, DISSC, DSU, DTF, Forum Against Repression Telangana, Fraternity, IAPL, Innocence Network, Karnataka Janashakti, LAA, Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Mazdoor Patrika, NAPM, Nazariya Magazine, Nishant Natya Manch, Nowruz, NTUI, People’s Watch, Rihai Manch, Samajwadi Janparishad, Samajwadi Lok Manch, Bahujan Samajwadi Manch, United Peace Alliance, WSS, Y4S)
