THE manner in which the tableaux presented by certain states for the Republic Day parade on January 26 has been rejected by the centre reveals a lot about the mindset of the BJP rulers. 

The rejection of the tableaux of the state governments of Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu shows the deep contempt for federalism and the socio-cultural traditions of the freedom struggle. 

EVEN two weeks after the hate-mongering dharma sansad in Haridwar on December 17 to 19, where calls were given to attack Muslims and eliminate them by mass murder, there has not been a single arrest.  The first FIR lodged had only one name, that too of a Muslim who converted to Hinduism.  Subsequently, after another FIR was filed, four more names were added including that of Yati Narsinghanand, the organiser of the event.

THE Karnataka anti-conversion bill passed by the legislative assembly is a direct attack on the rights of religious minorities and religious freedom. Such laws have been passed in other BJP-ruled states like Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and earlier in Gujarat.  Though named as `Freedom of Religion Act’, these laws do the opposite of curbing the fundamental right provided in Article 25 of the constitution to “freely profess, practice and propagate religion”. 

THE killing of 14 civilians in Mon, Nagaland by a special force of the Assam Rifles has brought into sharp relief the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), a lawless law that enables the security forces to act with impunity, which has led to atrocity after atrocity on the civilian population in the North-East.  Eight young men, who were coal miners, were travelling in a van when they were ambushed by a special force, who were purportedly targeting armed insurgents.  The killing of six of the miners led to protests by the local people, which resulted i

THE farce enacted in the name of municipal elections in Tripura has led to the BJP “winning” 329 of the 334 seats in the 20 urban local bodies, including the Agartala municipal corporation.  Of these, 112 seats were won unopposed by which seven local bodies were captured without a contest.