Unwritten Lives

It has been five years since renowned Delhi University linguistics professor Hany Babu was arrested on 28 July, 2020. He is being held without charge in India’s notorious Taloja Central Jail on the outskirts of Mumbai. Here his former student takes a roll call to remember his name, because “naming is work we do for one another.”

Khayam Turki is not merely a political prisoner. He is a turning point, demonstrating how President Kaïs Saïed’s authoritarian rule has transformed Tunisia from the beacon of the Arab Spring to the laboratory of democratic disillusionment ignored by Europe.

When a DNA test revealed the author’s Roma heritage, he travelled to one of Europe’s largest Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) gatherings—Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria—to learn more about this unique historic event.