-CNN-IBN New Delhi: Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has spoken out strongly against intellectuals who "romanticise Maoists". While admitting there is need for focused development in the tribal areas, he said there is no possibility of a dialogue with Maoists as they don't believe in Indian democracy. "You can have a dialogue with people who want to have a dialogue. Maoists are not here for tribal welfare," Ramesh said. While speaking exclusively...

-The Hindu     The killings of Mahendra Karma and his colleagues call not for retributive violence but for a deeper reflection on the discontent among the tribals of central India and their dispossession In the summer of 2006, I had a long conversation with Mahendra Karma, the Chhattisgarh Congress leader who was killed in a terror attack by the Naxalites last week. I was not alone - with me were five other members...

-The Telegraph Hyderabad: As rights groups accused the anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum of atrocities on Chhattisgarh's villagers, its founder Mahendra Karma kept insisting his only aim was to "liberate" the tribals from the rebels' tyranny and propaganda. The future of the government-backed vigilante group, which still survives unofficially despite a Supreme Court order to disband it, now looks bleak after the Maoists killed Congress tribal leader Karma yesterday. The Salwa Judum (whose name...

-The Telegraph Shillong: Perhaps for the first time, the South Garo Hills district administration has ordered all coal mining activities in the district to be stopped following deaths in mining areas caused by negligence. South Garo Hills deputy commissioner Chinmay Gotmare issued the order on Monday under Section 133 CrPC, which pertains to removal of nuisance. While issuing the order, Gotmare observed that it has been made to appear to him that coal...

-The Telegraph The Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh has jolted the security establishment, which was till recently celebrating recent successes against the rebels. Union home ministry sources said the massacre would go a long way in repairing the shattered morale of Maoist cadres, who were on the defensive following a coordinated blitzkrieg by the central and state police forces. Sustained security operations in the past three years had reduced the 39-member central committee of...