-The Hindu   Stating that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's stand on the Maoist situation in the State reeked of “opportunism, duplicity, indecisiveness and vagueness,” Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Surya Kanta Mishra said here on Saturday that in the last four months she had done irreparable damage to the situation. Addressing a public rally at Jhargram during the day, Ms. Banerjee said that she had fulfilled her promise of...

-The Hindu   West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should clarify whether her earlier utterances that there were no Maoists in the State were “correct or wrong,” said Biman Bose, chairman of the State's Left Front Committee here on Sunday, a day after she set a seven-day deadline for the extremists in the Jangalmahal region on her offer of talks on condition that they give up their arms. “They [the Trinamool Congress] had...

“When anyone tries to recruit you into terrorism, hand him over to the police” The All India Ulama & Mashaikh Board (AIUMB) on Sunday gave a call to Sunni Muslims across India to reject and rebuff hardline Wahabism so that Islam could return to its tolerant, Sufi roots: “When an extremist turns up at your door seeking your support, when anyone tries to recruit you into terrorism, hand him over to...

Why were two tribals and the Essar group framed by the Chhattisgarh police? Why are Soni Sori and Linga Kodopi being systematically silenced? This chilling story of one family reveals more about India's Naxal crisis than any official document can. AS I sit to write this, at 12.20 pm on 4 October 2011, an SMS pops up on my phone: “Soni Sori has been arrested by the Delhi Crime Branch.” The...

-The Hindu   “My government will respect people's views on the issue” Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday assured the people living in the vicinity of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project that her government would act in such a manner as to respect their views on the issue. “I will be one among you on this issue,” she said, addressing a campaign meeting for the local bodies elections here. Later answering questions from journalists...