A group of people, with placards showing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, staged a demonstration in Delhi a few days ago against Anna Hazare's proposals on the Lokpal and the methods used by his team. More often than not, Dalits look with suspicion on any attempt to tamper with the Constitution. Team Anna has, however, suggested that its Lokpal bill would benefit Dalits more than anyone else. This led me to look...

-IANS   Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and scheduled tribes have come down in a span of nine years (2001-2009) according to statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the Rajya Sabha was informed Thursday. 'The cases reported in 2009 were 38,849, while there were 39,017 cases reported in 2001. During the nine years, the total number of cases reported were 318,661,' Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment D. Napoleon said...

The Gandhi topis, the non-violent crowds, the banners and other symbols of protest, including tonsuring of heads, meditating mendicants, patriotic songs and fervour and, of course, the fasts, are seen as a throwback to the days when the Mahatma exerted enormous and unquestioned moral authority over the ruling government, political leaders and the populace. Most references to the “revolution” started by Anna Hazare and his group, now immortalised as Team...

-The Hindu   The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has issued summons to Leela Samson, chairpersons of the Central Board of Film Certification, to appear before it on August 8 in connection with the upcoming Bollywood movie ‘ Aarakshan ' (Reservations). Commission has called Ms. Samson to examine whether the movie violated any provision of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, Sameer Bhujbal, MP and son of prominent Maharashtra...

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government’s proposed land acquisition law, a politically sensitive and critical piece of legislation that could potentially remove a big roadblock to industrial investment, aims to address rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R), providing safeguards for both land owners and livelihood losers, while clearly defining the “public purpose” for which land can be acquired by the government. “This draft Bill seeks to balance the need for facilitating land acquisition...