At the Independent People's Tribunal in Delhi last year, a young tribal man, Lingaram Kodopi, had a question: "My family is well off, but they [security forces] accuse me of being a Naxalite. Why can't we adivasis wear a good watch or drive a car without being picked up by the police?" In September 2009, 10 men with AK-47s entered Kodopi's home in Sameli, Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. They wanted to know...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Pranab note links Chidambaram to 2G price decision
-The Hindu Leaning heavily on a secret note on 2G pricing prepared by the Union Finance Ministry and sent to the PMO with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's approval, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to order a CBI probe against Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram for his role in the sale of valuable spectrum at throwaway prices. The 25 March 2011 document, written by P.G.S Rao, Deputy...
More »Row over poverty line by Sanjay K Jha and Basant Kumar Mohanty
The Planning Commission’s new definition of poverty widely criticised as being unrealistic has caused disquiet in the UPA, with Congress leaders privately dubbing the benchmarks insensitive and ally NCP publicly slamming them as an “insult to the poor”. Congress leaders believe the figures, under which anyone spending more than Rs 32 a day in urban areas and Rs 26 in villages will not be considered poor and hence will not be...
More »Chhattisgarh coal blocks a test case for acquiring tribal lands by Aman Sethi
This wedding season, anxious grooms from Parsa and Ghatburra, two villages in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, were offered financial assistance from an unlikely source. Adani Mining Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, was handing out loans to all those who could prove that the money would be spent on marriage arrangements. “A company official took us to the bank, opened accounts in our names, and gave us cheques for Rs....
More »Price of saving a life: 21 months in jail by Javed Iqbal
‘It is correct that... Kopa Kunjam tried to save me from the Naxalites,’ said Jhadi Nagesh in the sessions court of Bijapur, Bastar. Maoists kidnapped two men on June 2, 2009. One, Punem Hoonga, was killed the other, Jhadi Nagesh, was released. On December 10, Kunjam was arrested for the murder of Hoonga, who the Maoists killed. Nagesh, the man who was released unharmed by the Maoists, testified in court that...
More »