Wajahat Habibullah, chairperson, National Commission for Minorities, speaks to Kavita Chowdhury on reservation for Muslims, the RTI Act and the controversy over withdrawal of AFSPA in Kashmir. You had recently visited Rajasthan. In Bharatpur district’s Gopalgarh village, some members of the minority community, Mev Muslims, were killed and the state administration was accused of mishandling the matter. What is your view? A communal riot is an unpardonable crime. The state government has taken...

The special court that sentenced 31 people for burning 33 Muslims to death in Sardarpura, Gujarat, did not find enough evidence to support the prosecution’s conspiracy theory. This was one of the reasons the defence argued successfully for life sentences for its clients, held guilty of murder and rioting. Principal judge S C Srivasatava’s 1,024-page judgment explained why seven incidents from 2002 — some of which the prosecution cited in 2008...

The special court that sentenced 31 people for burning 33 Muslims to death in Sardarpura, Gujarat, did not find enough evidence to support the prosecution’s conspiracy theory. This was one of the reasons the defence argued successfully for life sentences for its clients, held guilty of murder and rioting. Principal judge S C Srivasatava’s 1,024-page judgment explained why seven incidents from 2002 — some of which the prosecution cited in 2008...

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told the people of the Maoist-hit areas of Purulia district on Friday that “you shall get whatever you ask for, provided you don't support the Maoists.” “You shall have colleges, schools, hospitals, stadia, sports academies and even a medical college. Whatever you ask for, we shall provide it. But you must make only one promise — you will not support the Maoists,” she said, addressing...

By the end of this year, one in every 10 Indians will be an Internet user, making the country the third-largest Internet market in the world after Chinaand the United States.  At the end of December, 121 million Indians will be accessing the Internet at least once a week to check emails, chat or log on to a social network, a survey has found. India is adding Internet users at the...