P. Chidambaram today took on civil society organisations for showing sympathy towards Maoists by training guns at social activist and writer Arundhati Roy. “If the CPI (Maoist) overthrows the established authority and seizes power, will they allow any Human Rights organisation to function in this country? Will all those, who write 33-page articles, be allowed to write 33-page articles? Will there be a magazine to publish a 33-page article?” the Union...

A MARRIAGE hall in Kolkata is packed with 1200 of India’s poorest citizens. They have trekked here from all over West Bengal, from remote forests and dingy alleyways, from Howrah, East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas. They have come because there is a story to tell, a brutal story that may otherwise never be told. Finally, there are people willing to hear. These people may never bring justice; may never be...

Naxalites are India's worst Human Rights offenders, says a new report on Torture in India. But Maoist supporters maintain that the Naxals are fighting for survival. A report on Torture in India has made the startling revelation. The Asian Centre for Human Rights says that the Maoists are the worst violators when it comes to torture. For the first time ever, a top Human Rights group in India has accepted...

By the end of the third day (i.e. 11th April, 2010) of the The Independent People’s Tribunal that took place at Constitutional Club between 9 and 11 April, 2010, Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Sawant, while concluding, said that participatory democracy has been lacking in India. Democracy can never be equated with elections only. The jury during the 3-day long People’s Tribunal heard the testimonies of a large number of...

The Cabinet on Thursday cleared the long-pending Prevention of Torture Bill for introduction in Parliament with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh strongly backing the proposed law despite some misgivings that such a law could demoralize security forces after the Dantewada killings. Though enacting the law is a step towards ratification of the UN convention against other cruel, inhuman punishment and degrading treatment, and has been pending for some time now, the...