-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 Hindu New York: Dayamani Barla was presented with the first ever Ellen L. Lutz Indigenous Rights Award by Cultural Survival, an indigenous peoples' rights organisation The Big Apple is renowned as the home of investment banks, glitzy fashion shows and other 21st-century tributes to prodigious wealth accumulation. But on Thursday it played host to a powerful symbol of Indian Adivasis' struggle against oppression, Jharkhand activist and journalist Dayamani Barla. On a rainy...

-The Hindu Bhopal: Madhuri Krishnaswamy, leader of Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) which works for health and labour rights in south-western Madhya Pradesh, was remanded in judicial custody for a fortnight on Thursday. Ms. Krishnaswamy, popularly called Madhuri Ben, and four others were summoned by Judicial Magistrate First Class D.P. Singh Sewach in Barwani in connection with a 2008 case of rioting and assaulting a public servant. The police had filed a closure...

-New Indian Express THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The much-touted Kurumba Package for the primitive tribals, which the government said would be executed without delay, has caused concern among the tribals. While the tribal leaders point out many flaws, including the non-inclusion of tribals in the team implementing the package, the government says that it would be implemented only as per the recommendations of ‘Ooru Kootam' (tribal hamlet meetings). Various Adivasi organisations alleged...

-The Business Standard Eminent personalities and activists, including Justice V R Krishna Iyer and historian Ramachandra Guha, today appealed to the government to ensure a speedy trial of tribals, who are accused of being Naxals or helping them. In an open letter, they said the failure to ensure justice for Adivasis is a grave blot on India's human rights record. "Not only are we as a nation committed to democracy and...