By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* On Thursday September 20, four people were killed in Maryland, US in a workplace mass shooting spree; it was the third workplace shooting in the US in less than twenty –four hours. Earlier that day in Uttar Pradesh, India killed two men in an “encounter” after “inviting” journalists to watch. … More United Nations Declaration on Human Rights should have a separate article on ‘Right to Peace’

A fact-finding team consisting of senior academics Bela Bhatia and Jean Drèze, and activists Soni Sori, Lingaram Kodopi visited Phulpad village of Dantewada district following the news that people were beaten up by Maoists. They found that villagers are caught between pressure from the Maoists, on one hand, and government authorities, on the other. A … More Caught between Maoist terror, government pressure, villagers be allowed choose how they want to live

A fact-finding team — comprised of Kuldeep Verma, Birbal (Dalit Vikas Sangathan Sirmaur), Sukhdev Vishwapremi (Centre for Mountain Dalit Rights), Advocate Sanjay, Rajkumar (National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights & National Dalit Movement for Justice), Raja Velu from Human Rights Defenders Alert and Manshi Asher from Kangra Citizens Rights Group — is in the process … More Murder of Himachal Pradesh Dalit RTI activist result of caste-based discrimination in Shillai region

Forty eight retired civil servants, in an open letter to the Prime Minister, have said that simultaneous raids and arrests of several rights activists falls in a “pattern designed by the current dispensation to tag any dissident or critical intellectual activity as anti-national or seditious or supportive of secession and terrorism.” Text: We are a … More Hope PM will not permit trampling of Fundamental Rights of those who work for the rights of poor

A memorandum for Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, was submitted to Resident Commissioner, Maharashtra Sadan, New Delhi, by civil society activists, following a protest meet organized by the National Alliance of People’s Movement (NAPM). It has demanded immediate stopping of unlawful police raids and arrests of activists, even as revoking false charges imposed against … More Govt must stop profiling, criminalisation human rights activists as Urban Naxals or Maoists

By KC Sachin* It is extremely dangerous to be a Dalit in India. In the early hours of 20 May 2018, Mukesh Vaniya was flogged to death. His crime? Revealing his Dalit identity and then refusing to clean and collect scraps as ordered to by complete strangers. The act was captured on video and widely circulated. Mukesh … More Serious lack of accountability for hate crimes against marginalized communities of India

Senior environmentalist Leo Saldanha on behalf of the Coalition for Environmental Justice in India has prepared a draft note seeking comprehensive investigation into the murder of Ajit Naik and forces behind the cycle of violence. It has invited endorsements* from rights activists, and is proposed to be to be sent to the Chief Minister of Karnataka … More Ajit Naik’s murder: Urgent need to investigate forces behind cycle of violence in Karnataka