Police claim it's suicide, but medical report establishes signs of torture On the day Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh addressed a public gathering to mark the creation of Sukma district, carved out of Maoist-affected Dantewada, a custodial death in the Sukma police station underlines the difficulty in winning over a disaffected tribal populace in the backdrop of a violent counterinsurgency campaign. Podiyam Mara of Kondre village died in the police station on...
More »SEARCH RESULT
With Wing Clipped by Smruti Koppikar
A desperate state is making Maoists out of innocents Arun Ferreira smiles easily. The four years and eight months of incarceration, as an alleged Naxalite/Maoist, sit lightly on the 40-year-old quintessential Bandra boy. Released on January 5 from Nagpur Central Jail—acquitted in 10 of the 11 cases and bailed in one—Ferreira is taking his time to readjust to his life with family and friends in Mumbai. He must build anew...
More »Five years on, Nandigram feels forgotten & betrayed
-IANS Five years after a movement that catapulted it into the national spotlight and spelt the beginning of the end of the 34-year Left rule, Nandigram is still counting the losses of the bloody anti-land acquisition movement. Development is at a standstill and many of those who had been at the forefront of the movement and lost their family members say they were used as cannon fodder against the mighty Left, which...
More »Dignity denied even in death for Vrindavan widows by Aarti Dhar
Bodies taken away by sweepers, cut into pieces and disposed of in jute bags The bodies of widows who die in government-run shelter homes in Vrindavan are taken away by sweepers at night, cut into pieces, put into jute bags and disposed of as the institutions do not have any provision for a decent funeral. This, too, is done only after the inmates give money to the sweeper! This shocking fact has...
More »Explain RTE violation, rights panel tells school
-The Times of India State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) members on Friday sought an explanation from the principal of Carmel Convent School, BHEL for an alleged violation of Right to Education (RTE). The action comes a day after parents of standard V students complained that a teacher subjected them to mental torture. The SCPCR directed the school principal to "create awareness" among primary class teachers. On Thursday due to...
More »