-The Telegraph   The Malom neighbourhood, which witnessed the killing of 10 civilians leading to Irom Sharmila’s 11-year fast, rose in union today to lend a voice to the Iron Lady against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. Mass sit-ins were held in various parts of the state to mark the beginning of the 12th year of Sharmila’s fast, demanding scrapping of the “draconian law”. Police dispersed a group of students who staged...

‘Government afraid of civil society groups' Irom Sharmila, whose fast will enter the 12th year on Saturday, was produced on Friday in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal East, on the completion of her one-year detention. The law under which she is detained permits the authority to detain her for one year at one go. As she refused to break her world-record fast she was remanded in judicial custody for...

We must not allow the pain and suffering of the Sikh victims to be transformed into a political instrument to mute calls for justice for the ‘other' victims of similarly orchestrated massacres. More than a quarter century on, not much remains of ‘1984' — shorthand for one of the largest pogroms in India's postcolonial history when thousands of Sikhs were massacred in retribution for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination — in...

Memories of the killer cyclone of 1999 continue to haunt Parvati Maiti every time the sky turns overcast. Today, it’s been exactly 12 years since the massive cyclone swept through the state, killing and leaving thousands homeless. However, the 52-year-old woman from Ambiki village, who lost her husband and elder son to the super cyclone, is yet to receive the compensation amount of Rs 3 lakh against the two casualties in her...

Why were two tribals and the Essar group framed by the Chhattisgarh police? Why are Soni Sori and Linga Kodopi being systematically silenced? This chilling story of one family reveals more about India's Naxal crisis than any official document can. AS I sit to write this, at 12.20 pm on 4 October 2011, an SMS pops up on my phone: “Soni Sori has been arrested by the Delhi Crime Branch.” The...