What is ‘Andolanjivi’? Allahabad HC asks while hearing challenge to NSA detention of journalist Satyam Verma

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday (October 8, 2026) asked what the term “Andolanjivi” means and how it found its way into an NSA detention grounds signed by Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Medha Roopam against journalist Satyam Verma, an accused in the April 2026 Noida workers’ protest.

“Where does this term ‘andolanjivi’ come from?” Justice Atul Sreedharan asked the Additional Advocate General representing the Uttar Pradesh government. The court further questioned how such a word entered an official document.

The bench also came down heavily on the authorities asking how a person’s ideology, reading material or organisational ties could, on their own, form a valid basis for preventive detention.

The questions came during the hearing of Mr. Verma’s plea challenging the DM’s May 12 detention order, along with the State government’s approval and confirmation orders. He has sought quashing of the orders, his immediate release and compensation for alleged illegal detention. The bench of Justices Sreedharan and Achal Sachdev reserved its order on 8 October.

According to the detention grounds, a copy of which is with The Hindu, Mr Verma is a founding member of the Revolutionary Workers Party of India (RWPI) and the publisher and writer of Mazdoor Bigul. It alleges that he acted as an ideological instigator who indirectly incited Noida’s industrial workers to violence, arson and vandalism. It claims he planned the unrest at a March 22, 2026 meeting in Karawal Nagar, Delhi, that affiliated members added 883 workers to messaging groups used for bulk incitement, and that he was present at the hotspot on April 10-11.

It also says copies of Mazdoor Bigul, books of writings inspired by Mao Zedong and other “objectionable anti-democratic-system documents” were recovered from his office, and calls his contribution to inciting the violence “directly evident” from this material.

The order further alleges that the April 13 violence hit more than 100 companies, burned over 50 vehicles, injured police and civilians, jammed highways for hours and caused a loss of ₹3,000 crore. It claims he targeted workers aged 18 to 25, deters investment, and would repeat such acts if released on bail.

The order describes him as one of the “illogical, stubborn, violent andolanjivi persons” whose “warped ideology” it blames for the unrest. The original Hindi reads: “Aap jaise atarkik va hathi hinsak andolanjivi vyaktiyon ki kutsit vichardhara ke chalte…”

The term was popularised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who used “andolanjeevi” in a Rajya Sabha speech on February 8, 2021 about the 2020-21 farmers’ protest. It is used to refer to professional protesters or people who thrive on agitations.