-The Pioneer The Congress Core Committee on Saturday went into a huddle for over 3 hours and decided to hold the UPA coordination committee meeting on Monday - a demand made by its ally NCP too recently - to finalise its strategy on Food Security Bill, which remains stuck in Parliament. The Core Group also deliberated on the vexed Telangana issue which is threatening to take a heavy toll on the party...

-Outlook The Maoists want a military conflict as it brings more adivasis into their fold. The Indian state's best bet is in ensuring that it wins over the aam adivasis to its side.   May 25th's condemnable attack by the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army, which ended up killing and injuring over 50 people from Congress politicians to migrant adivasi labourers, cannot be understood without recognising the Maoist party's explicit political aims. These...

-The Economic Times DANTEWADA: With both the Congress and BJP advocating an intensification of the military campaign against the naxals, and the UPA government at the Centre even committing more troops to Chhattisgarh, local development in the state could become a casualty in the crossfire. "An outside force is less capable of discriminating between naxals and villagers," says Vishwa Ranjan, former director general police, Chhattisgarh. Such an intensification will result in greater...

-The Hindu     The killings of Mahendra Karma and his colleagues call not for retributive violence but for a deeper reflection on the discontent among the tribals of central India and their dispossession In the summer of 2006, I had a long conversation with Mahendra Karma, the Chhattisgarh Congress leader who was killed in a terror attack by the naxalites last week. I was not alone - with me were five other members...

-CNN-IBN New Delhi: Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has spoken out strongly against intellectuals who "romanticise Maoists". While admitting there is need for focused development in the tribal areas, he said there is no possibility of a dialogue with Maoists as they don't believe in Indian democracy. "You can have a dialogue with people who want to have a dialogue. Maoists are not here for tribal welfare," Ramesh said. While speaking exclusively...