-The Hindu     The practices concerned are most widespread in South Asia and in South Asian diasporas. The European Parliament's recent resolution circumvents India's contention that caste oppression does not constitute racial discrimination. On October 10, the 766 members of the European Parliament, who represent just over half-a-billion people in 28-member-states, passed a historic resolution recognising caste-based discrimination and discrimination based on work and descent as a violation of human rights and an...

-The Hindu Despite accounting for 21.1% - 1.53 crore - of the State's population, Madhya Pradesh's Adivasis are not a force to reckon with in State politics. There are a total of 46 tribes in MP, three of which are classified as ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups'. Bhils and Gonds form more than 70 per cent of the ST population. Kols, Korkus, Saharias and Baigas make up more than 20 per cent. Traditionally...

-The Hindustan Times Lakshmanpur Bathe: Lakshman Rajvanshi has a question for the Patna high court: "Did we murder our own families, including kids not even two months old?" A landless labourer from Lakshmanpur Bathe in Arwal district of Bihar, Rajvanshi was reacting to the court acquitting 26 upper caste persons accused of massacring 58 Dalits, including 27 women and 10 children, while he stood terror-struck behind a wall on December 1, 1997. Rajvanshi...

-The Indian Express Manual scavenging laws will need to be supported by better sanitation policies. The recent passage of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill by Parliament is a welcome, long-overdue step in the right direction. The bill replaces the outdated and rarely implemented 1993 law, which purported to abolish manual scavenging. It has been passed primarily due to a sustained campaign by thousands of former women...

-The Hindu Even if labourers wish to clear the loan, their employers won't accept it Hassan (Karnataka): Even as the issue of bonded labour in Ragimaroor village in Arkalgud taluk is fresh in public memory, it has come to light that 27 people are allegedly being forced to work as bonded labourers at a quarry in Malladevarapura village in Hassan taluk. The labourers chip away rocks from dawn to dusk for a paltry...