-The Telegraph Hyderabad: Thousands of Bastar tribals have fled to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh since Sunday to escape the security forces' combing of areas around the Sukma-Jagdalpur road following Saturday's ambush. Although exact figures are not available yet, Andhra district officials say some 10,000 to 15,000 people - mostly tribals but including some middle-class traders - have entered the Khammam and Warangal districts through Bhadrachalam, Chintoor and Venkatapuram. "This is the worst time for...

-The Indian Express   maoists say target was Karma, demand pullout of forces Raipur: Claiming responsibility for Saturday's attack on the Congress convoy in Bastar which claimed 24 lives, the CPI (maoist) said on Tuesday that the killing of senior party leaders was the "necessary revenge against the UPA's fascist Operation Green Hunt, which is being run in connivance with several state governments". "The primary aim behind this attack was to kill Mahendra Karma...

-Live Mint Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said the committee's recommendations will be accepted New Delhi: A government committee has recommended issuing below-poverty-line (BPL) cards to all 4 million households in 22 backward districts that are affected by the maoist insurgency. The committee, set up by the rural development ministry, also recommended the inclusion in another 34 such districts of households that are headed by a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe member,...

-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...

-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...