Farmer suicides are endemic, who knew? Chances are no one’s heard about Azad’s death in Bachlapur village though Lalitpur, where the Congress, the BSP and the SP are in a battle for votes, is only 15 km away. Farmer suicides aren’t an ele­c­t­ion plank and parties prefer trading corruption cha­r­ges. Rahul Gandhi’s much-touted Bundelkhand dev­e­lo­pm­ent authority proposal remains just that. More than 500 committed suic­ide in the Bundelkhand region last...

In a macabre act of caste violence, a Dalit youth in Saniyana village was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon and had his arm nearly chopped off for drinking water from an earthen pot belonging to an Upper Caste family. While doctors have stitched up his arm, the police arrested one Rajender of Daulatpur village and booked him under SC/ST Act. Police sources said that Pappu first inquired about the caste of the...

Former plant director backs demands for compensation and jobs Agitating residents of villages in the vicinity of the Kaiga atomic power station have got support from unexpected quarters. The former project director of the plant, Paramahamsa Tewari, who helped to set up the installation in the early 1990s, has expressed support for the demands of the ‘struggle committee of villagers within five km of Kaiga plant,' whose protest at Karwar entered the...

All social communities have a history that is experienced, or perceived, or both. Communities survive and sustain themselves on these histories. When political forces try to mobilise these communities, they usually do so by exploring their history and then giving it a political meaning that suits their agenda. In the beginning, when the political party is new, it gives space and respect to the small histories of each community that...

Dalit families in Kalanahundi Village, 5km from Chamarajanagar town, have threatened to convert to Buddhism, to protest against the alleged discrimination by upper-caste Hindus.  The District Federation of Dalit organizationshave planned a mass 'Buddha dhamma deeksha' programme in the village in the last week of February, when hundreds of dalits in the district, including Kalanahundi dalits, are anticipated toembrace Buddhism.  However, additional SP K H Chandrashekar said that the jathra that was...