Many poverty-hit tribals in Chhattisgarh are asking why they shouldn't become Maoists and take up arms, pointing to the latest incident in which two civilians were branded rebels and shot dead by police. The traumatised residents of the Koleng area of Bastar district are at a loss over the killings of their co-villagers by police early this week and say the two had simply gone to collect rations for others from...

Deshmukh protected Congress MLA's family member from normal process of law: Bench ‘Cases involving misuse of public office for private gains shake people's confidence'Taking serious view of the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh (currently the Union Industries Minister), interfering in a criminal investigation against a family of a Congress MLA, the Supreme Court on Tuesday imposed an exemplary cost of Rs.10 lakh on the Maharashtra government.A Bench comprising...

Thirteen Dalit families living under an open sky for the past two months at Satpuda village in Chittaurgarh district of Rajasthan after their houses on the government's surplus land were destroyed by the people of dominant castes have demanded action against the culprits and land allotment under the ongoing “Prashasan Gaon Ke Sang” (administration with villages) campaign. Influential people of Satpuda demolished the houses of Meghwal and Kalbelia Dalits settled for...

That women and children are the worst sufferers during any armed conflict has been proved again by a recent study conducted by the West Bengal Women's Commission (WBWC) on women victims of Maoist violence in the State's Jangal Mahal region. It was found that the atrocities often go unreported and unaccounted, or are misrepresented by a section of society. Based on the study, the WBWC appealed to the Maoists to abjure...

Last week's column, “The plight of Dalits and the news media” (October 25, 2010), has generated a lively and interesting response from several readers. The column was about the prioritisation of the tasks before the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes (NCSC) by its new Chairman, P.L. Punia (not P.J. Punia as erroneously mentioned in the column.) The concern of most who wrote was over the failure of successive governments...