-Pratirodh Bureau Activists led by Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar have alleged that the much awaited Land Acquisition Bill was actually a "diluted version" of the Standing Committee's recommended bill. The activists under belonging to various groups, including National Alliance of People’s Movements, National Forum of Forest people and Forest Workers, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti and Sangharsh claimed that the "positive" position taken by the Standing Committee had been diluted by the...
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Riots & the bogey of Bangladeshis-Banajit Hussain
-The Hindu During the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded in Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Chirang districts of the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) and the adjoining Dhubri district, we have witnessed the tragedy of nearly 400,000 people belonging to the Bodo and Muslim communities being forced to move to 273 temporary refugee camps. These people will stand internally displaced, scarred and traumatised for months to come, if not years. So far, it...
More »This land is my land-Garga Chatterjee
-The Friday Times How are demographics changing in Assam and Bengal? And what does this mean for 'indigenous' communities? Garga Chatterjee considers the argument for territorial purity The Assam state of the Indian Union has seen violence flare up suddenly from July 6th. With more than 40 people reported dead and upwards of one and a half lakh displaced in a week, the Kokrajhar riots between Bodos and Muslims have again brought...
More »A distraught tribal: The genesis of Assam ethnic violence
-The Economic Times Ethnic conflict in Assam, like in some other parts of the north-east is decades old, but has increased in frequency since the late 1970s. An extremely militant agitation ostensibly to throw out 'foreigners' , but targeted more generally against all non-Assamese people, gripped the state from 1979 to 1985 . It was led by the All-Assam Students Union (AASU). One of the factors that gave the agitation ground support was...
More »Parliament disrupted over black money
-IANS Both Houses of Parliament were disrupted on Monday as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members noisily demanded that black money stashed abroad be brought back to the country. In the Rajya Sabha, BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu raised the issue when zero hour began. Criticising the government, he said: "Even the CBI director has raised the issue, which shows the seriousness of the issue. With that money we can solve several problems...
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