Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday demanded an immediate ban on an alleged practice in Karnataka in which Scheduled Caste people are made to roll on used food plates made of leaves in the belief that it will cure skin diseases.Continuing with this tradition for the treatment of skin diseases was inhuman, humiliating and derogatory, Ms. Mayawati said in a statement here, and demanded that a ban be imposed...

For the Human Rights Day in 2010 the Asian Human Rights Commission presents the reports on the state of human rights in eleven countries in Asia; Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea and Sri Lanka. The general picture that emerges is one of the failures of the states to carry out their obligations for the protection of people.Serious defects are evident in the area...

Over 50 per cent quota for women challengedThe Gulbarga Circuit Bench of the Karnataka High Court has stayed elections to the Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat till further hearing on a petition filed by three persons from Aland taluk challenging the reservation of seats for women exceeding 50 per cent of the total number of seats.The reservation of seats announced for the Jidga and Chinchansur zilla panchayat constituencies has also been challenged.Interim...

In a bid to re-target and empower the Dalit population — especially in States like Uttar Pradesh, which is bound for Assembly elections in 2012 — the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, under its new chairman P.L. Punia, has decided to organise camps to apprise Dalits of their legal rights.According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, these awareness camps will be held in all divisions and mandals of...

To ensure a free and fair trial, the Supreme Court has transferred a trial relating to mayhem of Dalits allegedly by upper Caste Hindus in Haryana’s Hisar district in April to a special court in Rohini in Delhi. A Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly ordered the transfer on Wednesday “to ensure that the trial is free from any fear or pressure from any quarter”. The...