FOUR organisations, (Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch, Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Mahasabha, Campaign for Survival and Dignity and Bharat Jan Andolan) with lakhs of members from adivasi communities have written a letter to Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, seeking his intervention to stop the attacks on tribals and forest dwellers by the central government. Below we reproduce the letter:We are writing to express our deep concern at the active attempt to attack the rights of tribals and forest dwellers by your government.

THE CPI(M) has condemned the decision of the TRS government in Telangana to demolish a 150-year-old heritage structure and construct a new secretariat building at Erra Manzil. CPI(M) state secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram said the funds earmarked for the construction of the new secretariat building should be used for various welfare schemes. Buildings in the old secretariat are fully equipped for smooth functioning of the state legislature and administration, he added.The high court too pulled up the state government.

A FIVE member ‘fact finding’ team including Prakash Viplav and Sufal Mahto, state secretariat members of CPI(M),  AIDWA leader Rangowati Devi and secretaries of Sariakela and East Singhbhum district committees of CPI(M) in  Jharkhand state, visited Kadamdih village under Sariakela Kharsawa district and met family of Mohammad Tabrez Ansari. Tabrez Ansari who was just 22 years old, he was killed by a mob a few days ago. This is the 18th mob violence victim in Jharkhand in last three years.

A CONSULTATION meeting was held at Vijayawada on ‘Crimes in the name of Honour and Tradition (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill’ on June 29 by the KVPS AP state committee, an affiliate of the Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch. Advocates of AP High court, leaders of KVPS and other dalit organisations attended the meeting that was presided over by Potturi Suresh Kumar. Sunkari Rajendra Prasad, member of AP Bar Council and one of the five member team that drafted the bill has explained in detail the salient features in it.

AS we go to press, the state election commission of Tripura might declare the schedule for the election to the three tier panchayat bodies of the state. But the record of the last 15 months of the BJP-IPFT rule in the state puts a big question mark about whether the polls will be free and fair. The undemocratic manner of functioning of the state election commissioner too has added to the worry. The readers of this column are well aware how all the elections, including the election to the West Tripura Lok Sabha seat, post March 3, 2018 since the BJP-IPFT government assumed office have been r