South Asia Citizens Web

Those that have governed in tribal areas must share the responsibility for the negligence of the adivasis. Violence is a dead end even for the Maoists. When practised by the state on its own citizens, its collateral damage is unacceptable in a democracy. The proposals for a multi-lateral dialogue should be set in that context.

Spokesmen of Maoist extremism have recently expressed regret for beheading a police officer and explained their actions as a defence of the oppressed. Their comrades’ brutality, they say, is an aberration. They cite instances of state violence to justify actions they claim are undertaken in self-defence. There is more to this than meets the eye. Maoist theory holds that India is a semi-colonial polity with a bogus constitution that must be overthrown by armed force. The comrades view all their actions as part of a revolutionary war. Their foundational documents declare armed struggle to be “the highest and main form of struggle” and the “people’s army” its main organisation. In war, morality is suspended and limits cast aside. War also results in something the Pentagon calls “collateral damage”. Is it true that Naxalite brutality is only an aberration?

On behalf of the Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sanghathan (BGPMUS) and the Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti (BGPSSS), we the undersigned are baffled and shocked over the UPA and the Congress Party’s silence regarding the 25th anniversary of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

Almost 400 Indian fishermen continue to languish in Pakistani prisons despite having completed their prison terms. Their release has been hampered by tensions in the relations between their country and neighbouring Pakistan.

This paper visits the issue of domestic violence in India and explains why the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2006 was enacted, what ends were intended to be served and what gaps in the existing legal framework it was intended to plug.