Not satisfied with a probe ordered by the Chhattisgarh government, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to immediately take over the investigation into the incidents of violence that occurred in March in Morpalli, Tadmetla and Timmapuram villages in Dantewada district or its neighbouring areas. A Bench of Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and S.S. Nijjar, in an order on a writ petition filed by Professor Nandini Sundar...

Chhattisgarh must disarm SPOs, probe their alleged crimes In a blow to both the Chhattisgarh government and the Centre, the Supreme Court has declared illegal and unconstitutional the deployment of tribal youth as Special Police Officers — either as ‘Koya Commandos', Salwa Judum or any other force — in the fight against the Maoist insurgency, and ordered their immediate disarming. The ruling — issued on Tuesday by Justices B. Sudershan Reddy and...

-The Hindu   CM: adopted Maoist tactics during June 22 protest “Also associated with ULFA front organisations” Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday alleged that the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) led by the arrested RTI activist and farmers' leader, Akhil Gogoi, had links with Maoists. Mr. Akhil Gogoi was arrested in connection with the June 22 incidents in the city during a protest programme seeking halt to eviction of city hill settlers led...

  Can we agree in this country on a floor of human dignity below which we will not allow any human being to fall? No child, woman or man in this land will sleep hungry. No person shall be forced to sleep under the open sky. No parent shall send their child out to work instead of to school. And no one shall die because they cannot afford the cost of...

The episodes of violence in land acquisition by the government, as witnessed recently in Bhatta-Parsaul in Uttar Pradesh and in other states earlier, occur because patterns of violence are inbuilt into the process. Despite a bill pending in Parliament since 2007, there has been little effort by political parties to evolve a consensus on acquisition of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. The law as at present and also the provisions...