Building Blocks of a Digital Caste Panopticon: Everyday Brahminical Policing in India

In August 2022, in the southern Indian state of Telangana, an American dream came to fruition: the completion of a sprawling, state-of-the-art headquarters for policing and surveillance. Located in the heart of Hyderabad, the state’s capital, the structure—christened the Integrated Control and Command Centre—is proudly described by the Telangana Police Department as the Indian equivalent to the New York City Police Department’s 1 Police Plaza. Comprised of five enormous twenty-story glass buildings, this “world-class construction” is the first of its kind in India—a prestige value not lost on the ruling political party in the state, which has wasted no time mobilizing it as a public symbol of the long struggle for an independent state of Telangana...