RAJINDER SACHAR is one of India’s renowned civil rights activists. A former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Sachar has done pioneering work in enabling a legal framework to assist hundreds who stand accused by the police across India for waging war against the State, many of them with little or dubious evidence. Though 87 years old, Sachar continues to work tirelessly with one of India’s key rights groups,...

Free from harvesting Palvinder Singh is a happy man. This year his wheat harvest was up to his expectation and as a gesture of thanks giving, he, along with other farmers of a village near Sirhind are offering sweet water to people. He says this year his input cost was less and output more, which means he has made a profit of more than Rs 10,000 from his one acre...

In another case of 'honour killing', a woman was murdered on Wednesday in Punjab's Tarn Taran district by her family for marrying against their wishes, police said. Her mother-in-law was also shot dead. The newly-married woman, Gurleen Kaur, bled to death after being attacked with swords at her home in Bahmaniwala village, about 25 km from here. The family also chased her terrorised husband through the streets and fired at...

More thought needs to be given to the kind of data generated and its practical implications.  Yesterday when the census enumerator visited, I asked him how he felt about the current debate on counting caste in the census: “Not comfortable at all”, he said, “I don't even like asking whether someone is SC/ST or Other, leave alone what their caste is.” But, he added, “caste is an inescapable reality of...

The number of cases in which the totally unconstitutional caste panchayats have openly defied the law of the land by issuing illegal diktats has increased manifold. In Haryana today, rapid capitalist transformation is accompanied by a regressive feudal consciousness. As education and political awareness spread among Dalits, women and backward sections, alongside there is a massive consolidation of caste (khap) panchayats in defence of the status quo. The number of cases...