The recent incident in Dantewada wherein the Maoists killed 76 CRPF jawans has triggered a heated debate about the establishment on one side and the naxalites on the other. One section calls for strong action against the naxalites, even calling them terrorists and urging the use of armed forces against them, while others defend the action of the naxalites to the extent of justifying it. Hours and hours have been spent...

Days after the biggest Maoist attack, in which 76 security personnel were killed in Dantewada, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asserted that firm action would be taken against those challenging the authority of the state, but, in a careful moderation, added that one could not overlook the fact that Left-wing extremism flourished in underdeveloped areas. Singh's observations on the naxal issue came at a gathering of the country's top bureaucrats on...

There will be no census exercise in several hundred villages in Chhattisgarh which have been rendered out of bounds for government officials by naxalite groups. District administrations of Jagdalpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur and Kanker, all part of undivided Bastar which was once one of the largest districts in the country, have informed senior officials in Raipur that it will be difficult for them to carry out the census exercise — counting...

A MARRIAGE hall in Kolkata is packed with 1200 of India’s poorest citizens. They have trekked here from all over West Bengal, from remote forests and dingy alleyways, from Howrah, East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas. They have come because there is a story to tell, a brutal story that may otherwise never be told. Finally, there are people willing to hear. These people may never bring justice; may never be...

naxalites are India's worst human rights offenders, says a new report on Torture in India. But Maoist supporters maintain that the naxals are fighting for survival. A report on Torture in India has made the startling revelation. The Asian Centre for Human Rights says that the Maoists are the worst violators when it comes to torture. For the first time ever, a top human rights group in India has accepted...