AN 'invisible' government is ruling the coastal Karnataka. The 'visible' government is at their beck and call.  The flag-bearers of this 'invisible' government or Hindutva vanguard decide with whom a girl from their community may or may not associate. They have absolute authority to punish any Muslim boy seen in public with a Hindu girl. In such cases, the Muslim boy is assaulted and humiliated in any way they please. The Hindu girl, too, is insulted, manhandled and threatened, all in order to protect her ‘honour’.

THE Malekudiyas, a tribal community inhabiting the Western Ghats in Karnataka, were never so angry. Their anger this time has surpassed the anger they felt when they were prevented from collecting forest produce, when they lost land in the name of a national park, even when police branded them as Naxalites and shot their youth. Belthangady town in Dakshina Kannada district trembled as a militant and angry demonstration of the Malekudiyas in hundreds, along with democratic-minded people marched to the taluk office. The demonstration was organised by the CPI(M) and some mass organisations.

IN the early hours of July 10, the dead body of Dodda Veeresh Gudisali was found by the side of a railway track at the outskirts of Koppala, Karnataka. He was a dalit from Marakumbi village of Gangavathi taluk. He was an important witness in the case pertaining to the incident of atrocity on dalits that occurred at Marakumbi, a year ago. He was about 45. He has left behind him his wife and two sons. A death note is said to have been recovered which suggests that he committed suicide.

A JOINT meeting of the Indian School of Women’s Studies and Development and Apne Aap (an organisation against the trafficking of children) was held on June 10, 2015 in Delhi to consider the different aspects of the Child Labour Amendment Act, 2015. The proposed amendments to the Child Labour Act are one amongst the many labour reforms being enacted by the corporate backed Modi government. They seek to allow children to work in the entertainment and family based enterprises after their school hours.

THE second state conference of Tamilnadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caretakers (TARATDAC) was held in Kovilpatti from June 22-24. The conference started with a rally and public meeting on June 22 in the evening. Brinda Karat, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member participated in the rally and addressed the public meeting.  In her speech, she congratulated all the members, cadres and leaders of the organisation for the big struggles that had been carried out during the last three years to assert the rights of the differently abled persons.