THE National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), in a statement issued on March 31, has said that it extends its wholehearted support and solidarity to the protest being conducted by disabled persons owing allegiance to various disability rights organisations in Tamil Nadu against the willful violation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, whose core principle is equality and non-discrimination.the last four days hundreds of disabled persons have been arrested in Chennai and kept under detention by the Tamil Nadu police for staging a protest against the rejection

THE results of the Tripura elections have revealed the unholy nexus between conservative tribal identity politics and the RSS led Sangh Parivar. The results show that the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) won 8 out the 9 seats it contested in alliance with the BJP. Out of the 20 Scheduled Tribe seats in the state, 18 were won by the BJP-IPFT alliance. In addition to this, the BJP and the RSS effectively used the regional ‘tribal parties’ in Meghalaya and Nagaland to expand its political domination of the region.

ON this January 30, Mahatma Gandhi’s Martyrdom day, Karnataka witnessed a historic event. Over two lakh people in over 160 district and taluk centres all over Karnataka formed human chain between 4.00 to 4.10 PM to defend “Karnataka for Harmony”.  People from all walks of life - writers, artists, intellectuals, religious leaders, secular political leaders, lawyers, workers, peasants, students, youth, women participated in the human chain enthusiastically. People belonging to minority communities participated in big numbers.

A DELEGATION from the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) met the minister of minority affairs, Mukthar Abbas Naqvi on January 5.They submitted a memorandum seeking the removal of certain provisions contained in the guidelines issued by the Haj Committee of India that virtually bar persons with disabilities from undertaking the Haj pilgrimage.The minister assured that he would issue an advisory to the Haj Committee of India to review the guidelines and “bring it in conformity” with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

THE CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee has, in a statement issued on January 2, called upon all democratic and secular minded people in the state to extend their full support to the joint Maharashtra  bandh call on January 3, the birth anniversary of Savitribai Phule. The bandh has been called by various Ambedkarite and Left groups to denounce the January 1 attacks by casteist and communal forces on lakhs of dalits who had gathered at Bhima Koregaon in Pune district to pay homage to martyrs on the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in which the hated casteist Peshwa rule was def