Those that have governed in tribal areas must share the responsibility for the negligence of the adivasis. The proposals for a multi-lateral dialogue should be set in that context.  There has been a flurry of concern as also vituperation over the activities of the Maoists in the forests that are mostly home to tribal society. There is a confrontation between the state and this society through the intervention of the...

A DOZEN men, women and boys, some no older than 15, milled about their rough tents as twilight fell in a remote forest clearing. Some were in lungyis and T-shirts; others wore fatigues, with bolt-action Enfield rifles slung on their shoulders and bandoleers around their waists. Comrade Vijja, a burly man with a bottlebrush moustache, sat with some of his troops around a cooking fire, sipping sweetened tea. He sounded...

Civil society” is a very loaded term. First of all, it implies that all those that are not part of it, are somehow uncivil, or possibly not part of society. Secondly, the use of the term implies that those covered by the term — and, truthfully, usually using it about themselves — have some particular worthiness that makes them able to more efficiently determine society’s direction than other members of...

A fact finding team of many civil society organizations has reported widespread occurrences of murders, tortures and cases of police atrocities in Chhattisgarh in the name of combating Naxalism. It is also being alleged that in the name of their own security, journalists are being stopped from going to so called “combat zones” where security forces have launched an Operation Greenhunt to flush out armed Maoists.  Fifteen members of the...

The Special Public Distribution System, covering the supply of commodities such as toor dhal, urid dhal and palmolein, is being trimmed. Rava and maida will not be supplied once the available stocks of the commodities are exhausted. Alternatively, emphasis will be given to supplying fortified Atta. The Special Public Distribution System was launched in the State on April 14, 2007. The government has decided to keep the prices of toor...