Studio Nilima's journey to restorative justice and social change in Assam

In the culturally complex and politically nuanced landscape of Assam, Studio Nilima has been in pursuit of justice, cultural exploration, and social reform inside correctional homes for the last seven years.

For Abantee Dutta, the Co-founder and Managing Director of the organisation, the core vision of this work has been the championing of restorative justice—a concept that seeks to address harm by understanding its root causes and involving affected communities in the healing process. 

Dutta’s dedicated focus on transformative justice, intersectionality and community engagement in a punitive criminal justice system stems from experiencing the close effects of incarceration in her own house. Dutta’s father, Nilay Dutta, worked with residents through active dialogue and radical listening, including all members of the prison ecosystem in the conversation.

Leading him into this work was his own experience of incarceration as a student at the age of 17 and a human rights activist and lawyer at 40. “We grew up in a lot of deprivation because of my father’s incarceration. My mother, Dr. Biju Dutta Choudhury, became the only earning member of the family,” Dutta tells SocialStory. “It was very difficult to resist and be seen as resistors of the State, and then eventually be called traitors by the same people… that does different things to your identity. The idea of home has never been settled for me,” she adds.

While technically, Assam is home for Dutta, it also symbolised a place that came with a lot of trauma.  These circumstances propelled her to think of the reasons beyond the evident harm that was committed by someone to explore how and why the harm manifested in society and the structural causes behind it.

“The obvious answers were poverty and the under-resourced, conflict fatigued society of Assam, that struggled with unemployment and chronic mental distress,” she says. “A lot of people who get involved in narcotic crimes, for instance,are people who come from very vulnerable communities, having no money for basic survival, and get incarcerated for becoming carriers. The  law on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) being so strict, they are not even entitled to bail,” says Dutta. 

These problems that stem from the unique sociopolitical challenges of Assam naturally propelled the Studio Nilima her team to listen to incarcerated people and their families, and understand what they needed.

Founded on the principles of empathy and intersectionality, Studio Nilima’s work intersects the realms of law, history, and community engagement, creating a space where meaningful discourse and actionable change meet.

A focus on restorative justice

Unlike the conventional punitive approach, Studio Nilima’s projects often highlight the disparity in how justice is perceived and administered, in the complex landscape of Assam. This approach aligns with Dutta’s belief in contextualising trauma and acknowledging how it manifests not only psychologically but physically within individuals and communities.

She explains, “The trauma of conflict is embedded not just in history books but in the very bodies of the people who have lived through it. Addressing this requires more than legal remedies; it calls for a holistic understanding that bridges intellect and somatics.”

Dutta recalls poignant anecdotes that capture the essence of Studio Nilima’s work. One such story involves Faruque, a former inmate whose release brought to light the somatic toll of years in confinement. “When I first shook his hand, I realised the years of rough labour etched into his skin,” Dutta shares. 

Another case involved a Boro woman imprisoned for carrying narcotics, an act driven by the desperation of providing for her children. These stories illustrate that punitive action without understanding the root causes is a cycle doomed to repeat, a realisation that drives Studio Nilima’s focus on addressing the structures behind societal issues.

Studio Nilima’s legal aid and awareness building programme Pratidhwani, has extended to prisons in 10 districts in Assam and reached out to 1,778 inmates.

Pratidhwani works to improve the already existing legal services mechanism that the State runs through its district legal services authorities. Studio Nilima’s team engages with the system to brainstorm trial strategies, defence strategies, getting in experts including outside lawyers, and also build capacity at the district level. 

“The basic level of intervention is providing effective representation .  We  do appeals ourselves. We have an in-house team in Guwahati. In the Supreme Court too, we have a dedicated network of lawyers with whom we interact on a daily basis, and  pursue cases in the Supreme Court. 

In addition, we also look at strategic litigation, for example, the fact that Mental Health Review Boards - which are actually the basic unit of the Mental Health Care Act - was not implemented  in Assam for a very long time; we had to file a Public Interest Litigation, and got them running,” says Anubhab Atreya, litigation manager at Studio Nilima. 

Studio Nilima’s art-based programmes are also integral to its holistic approach to justice and community engagement in Assam. These initiatives are designed to explore and express the complex interplay between culture, identity, and justice through various art forms. 

The organisation's projects often incorporate visual art, storytelling, and performance to create platforms for dialogue and healing. One significant outcome of these initiatives is the creation of a music album with poems written by residents and performed by musicians from across Assam.

Being ‘context-specific’ 

Assam, with its intricate fabric of ethnicities and historical conflicts, presents unique challenges to justice. Studio Nilima’s work underscores the importance of recognising the region’s multifaceted identity. “Assam is not just Guwahati; it is an amalgamation of various marginalised communities, each with its own stories and struggles,” says Dutta.

Through conflict mapping, Studio Nilima has revealed how different districts face distinct issues—whether it's narcotics trafficking or socio-economic marginalisation—emphasising that justice solutions must be tailored to these local realities.

For instance, in areas like the Rabha and Tiwa communities, whose struggles are seldom represented in mainstream narratives, Studio Nilima has brought attention to how deeply localised marginalisation intersects with broader state and national issues.

Dutta points out that the kind of individuals that they meet in Assam’s prison system are different from the mainland. She adds one may meet former dissidents who find themselves in the prisons, owing to the fact that there are cases still going on against them when they took up arms against the State. She also adds that certain prisons, designated as detention centres, were used to house individuals perceived as non-citizens. 

“As per the notification from the Government of Assam, prisons became detention centres for illegal migrants and boys from juvenile correctional homes - which is against the law,” she says. There are also instances where we interact with boys under the age of 18 who are often housed in the prisons for being in conflict with the law. 

“We can cannot even say that Guwahati prisons would be representative of Assam's prisons, because there are many districts like, for instance, in the remote areas like Hailakhandi, Diphu where the demographic mix and the needs of the residents  would be very different from those in Guwahati, or in the Central Jails,” says Atreya.

“It is more complex than the simple narrative that there is only overcrowding or only mental health issues. Yes, there are these issues, but there are so many nuances to these issues that get missed out,” says Atreya.

Practical challenges and systemic barriers

Despite its dedication, Studio Nilima’s efforts often encounter systemic challenges. The organisation has mapped out prisons and observed the stark differences between central and district jails in Assam.

District facilities frequently suffer from inadequate resources, making it challenging to maintain humane conditions for residents. “Many prisons are so under-resourced that even basic sanitation and medical needs remain unmet,” Dutta points out, adding that residents often face compounded and cumulative trauma due to their poor socioeconomic conditions.

Conversations with prison staff reveal a shared struggle. Underpaid and overworked, staff often form unexpected solidarities with residents, reflecting a shared sense of being overlooked by a system that prioritises punitive measures over reformative efforts.

Studio Nilima’s projects also expose gaps in policy, particularly in how reforms are devised without consulting those most affected. “The prison system in Assam, as in many parts of India, operates under a hierarchical mindset,” Dutta observes. “For real change to happen, the system must embrace a consultative approach involving legal experts, social activists, including prison officials and the incarcerated community.”

Through public forums, discussions, and ongoing legal services, Studio Nilima seeks to bridge this gap. Their work, marked by collaboration and deep community involvement, is setting the stage for policies that reflect the complex reality of Assam’s justice landscape.

Studio Nilima is working towards  justice that is inclusive and empathetic, something Dutta believes will occur when the realms of law, history, and community engagement meet to create a space where meaningful discourse and actionable change meet.