'Last year, when the Supreme Court ruled that women of menstrual age could enter the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala despite a proscription against this, the Kerala government led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) decided to prove its social crusader credentials by backing women who wanted to exercise their constitutional rights to visit the shrine... But all it took for the Left government to forget about constitutional rights was one election.
'The Bengaluru Police registered a case of sedition on Wednesday against former Karnataka Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy, along with 23 other Congress and JD(S) politicians and nine police officials for protesting outside the Income Tax Department Office in Bengaluru ahead of the Lok Sabha elections...
'Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the national trade union affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has come out against the government’s labour reforms, saying the proposed law against the interest of workers. The government tabled the Industrial Relations Code, 2019 in the Parliament on Thursday. The Bill seeks to offer a slew of benefits to industries by curtailing compliance burden as well as employee benefits.
'Amitbhai Jerambhai Parmar, a dalit RTI activist and social worker was attacked reportedly by men belonging to upper caste while he was returning to his home at Khopala village in Gadhada taluka, Botad. At around 2.30 pm on November 25, Parmar was attacked by at least three men, who left him grievously injured. Parmar who has undergone surgery on his right hand at Bhavnagar civil hospital is awaiting surgery for his legs—fractured due to the attack. An FIR was filed at the Gadhada police station after Parmar was admitted to the hospital.
'The rampant use of the draconian National Security Act (NSA) by the Uttar Pradesh government, which is being used a weapon for harassment, has consumed one more life in the state. In an incident that went largely unreported nearly a month ago, a dalit man allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison in Shabbirpur village under Badgaon police station of Saharanpur district. His family family members claimed that he was depressed over not being able to produce himself in the court regularly... “Sonu used to work in someone else's farm. There was no money to feed the children.
'An owner of a residential property in Vasna area of the city was forced to withdraw plan to sell his house to a Muslim after members of the co-operative society objected to it, on the ground that it would lead to a drop in property prices in the area. The members of Samarpan Society raised objections on the basis that the provisions of the Disturbed Areas Act does not permit the sale of a property to a Muslim in a Hindu-dominated area and vice versa until each immediate neighbour of such property consents to the deal. Police were present in the area to ensure law and order...'
'The Prime Minister’s Office under Narendra Modi reportedly ordered for rules about electoral bonds – which the Centre itself had notified just two months earlier – to be broken in March 2018, ahead of assembly elections in six states. The broken rules, Nitin Sethi reports for HuffPost India, were first called an ‘exception’ but quickly turned into the norm. The report is based on government documents obtained under the Right to Information Act by transparency activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retired)...
'The police here have registered an FIR against an Aligarh Muslim University professor for sharing posts on social media that allegedly hurt the morale of the security forces in the Valley. The FIR cited an “inappropriate post” in which the assistant professor, whose husband is based in Kashmir, referred to the communication blackout in the Valley immediately after the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. “Sach mein sampark toot jana kitna khatarnak aur dukhad hota hai, chahe Chandrayaan ho ya Kashmir,” the post said on the “pain” caused by losing contact.
'A writ petition challenging mass sedition cases against Adivasis in Jharkhand’s Khunti district has been filed in the state High Court. The petition, filed in August by lawyer Sunil Vishwakarma on behalf of a newly formed village organisation called the Adivasi Nyay Manch, has asked for the cases to be transferred to a special investigation agency. As reported by Scroll.in, at least 10,000 Adivasis who participated in the Pathalgadi movement have been charged with sedition in 14 FIRs filed by the district police in 2017 and 2018.
'The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has expressed displeasure over the release of 13 convicts in connection with the Melavalavu massacre case, and has directed the Tamil Nadu government to produce before it copies of the government orders pertaining to their release, ANI reported... In the village of Melavalavu, Madurai, following the election of a Dalit to the village council presidency, members of an upper caste Hindu (Kallars) group murdered six Dalits in June 1996.
