-The Hindu   Modhvadia quotes from then Ahmedabad police chief's deposition in letter to SIT P.C. Pande, Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad during the Godhra and post-Godhra violence of 2002, deposed before the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission in August 2004 that the decision to transport the charred bodies of Godhra victims to Ahmedabad was “taken at the top level of the government.” Further, looking to the “sensitive” and “tinderbox-like” situation in Ahmedabad, he himself...

A well-established nexus between coal smugglers, Maoists and a section of police has ensured illegal mining is a thriving trade in the coal belt and it was no different in Bokaro today, barely 24 hours after a cave-in led to the death of five women at Jhungurghuttu, just about 400 metre away from Chandrapura police station. According to an intelligence bureau report, coal mined illegally from areas in Chandankyari, Chandrapura and...

Interview with Teesta Setalvad of Citizens for Justice and Peace. TEESTA SETALVAD, through her organisation Citizens for Justice and Peace, has been at the forefront of the fight for justice for the victims of the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. She has also worked extensively on many other issues affecting minority communities in the State. In this interview to Frontline, she speaks about Chief Minister Narendra Modi's new tactics and the marginalisation...

-The Telegraph   A routine road trip from Ranchi to Dhanbad was enough for an aghast senior functionary of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to pull up Jharkhand for illegal mining and exploitation of tribals at the hands of the coal mafia. A source told The Telegraph that NHRC secretary-general Rajiv Sharma had visited the state in January. “On a drive from Ranchi to Dhanbad, he saw tribal children pushing coal-laden cycles uphill. It...

His crime: he complained of corruption in rural job guarantee scheme Dhuraram Kuldiya, former Sarpanch of Somalsar Panchayat in Nohkha teshil of Bikaner district, did not sign an SOS he sent to Rajasthan Chief Secretary on Monday in the form of a letter. Instead, his son Bhanwarlal inked it. Not that Dhuraram is illiterate. Admitted to a private hospital here in the State capital now, he cannot use his hands for both...