-The Indian Express On December 26, the house of Abdul Rafeeq was razed by the administration who came looking for suspects in the stone-pelting incident caught on video the previous day. Officially, the demolition was carried out as the structure was allegedly illegal. New Delhi: The manner in which the a house was demolished in Begum Bagh, a Muslim-dominated locality in Ujjain, a day after a Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha rally was...

-Article-14.com Uttar Pradesh uses the National Security Act against cow-slaughter suspects. In Gujarat, killing a cow attracts life imprisonment. In recent times, a constitutional reference to agriculture and animal husbandry—from which these laws flow—manifests itself mostly in violence against Muslims. Exclusive extract from a new book The chronology of the various pieces of state legislation shows that cow protection laws have become harsher in India over time. And the meaning of the...

-The Indian Express The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Shikha, who was handed over by the Etah CJM to Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on December 7. Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court has observed that a 21-year-old Hindu woman, who is married to a Muslim man, “has a choice to live her life on her own terms”. She has now reunited with her husband. In an order passed on December...

-Hindustan Times The anti-CAA protests, the defiance of migrants, and now the farmers’ stir show that the everyday practice of democracy is a powerful corrective in the face of arbitrary and unilateral State decisions Three events defined India’s political landscape in 2020. The protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the migrant labour crisis that unfolded as workers defied lockdown orders and asserted their rights, choosing to walk home in the face...

-Article-14.com An apple tree takes a decade to mature. In Kashmir's Budgam, thousands were cut in 24 hours, as the government—in its rush to evict Muslim tribals from land they have used for generations—held back a protective forest law and ignored a Supreme Court stay. Kanidajen, Budgam: On a cold November morning, Abdul Gani Wagay was home when he heard that men with axes had come to cut his precious apple trees,...