'If Manipur is divided on ethnic lines, similar demands will come in other states also.'
Besides the bills, the government has listed the first batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2023-24 for presentation, discussion and voting during the session.
'For the first time in this country, perhaps the first time anywhere, we are going to use backwardness index.' 'It is a fundamental shift in the discourse in the country's social justice.'
The opposition Congress has decided to support the bandh in protest against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's 'failure' to control the situation in the north-eastern state, a party spokesperson said on Saturday.
The government has to specify what it intends to do with caste census data. It will be closely tracked if the government would simultaneously move towards removing the present 50% bar on reservations using means which are permitted in law. If this is not done, the entire exercise will become meaningless and could boomerang on the BJP, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'If you look around the world at people of colour, religion, caste, sexuality or any of the marginalised communities, we are always talking in numbers.' 'We are always assigning them a statistic.' 'That is an easy way to assuage your urban guilt. Because you hide your apathy with hollow sympathy.' 'We are, in a way, making them invisible.'
The TDB has decided to appoint 19 lower caste people, including 18 belonging to the scheduled caste and one from the scheduled tribe
Post-mortem examination reports of 10 Kuki-Zo youths killed in an alleged gunfight with CRPF in Manipur have revealed that they sustained multiple fatal bullet injuries, with most of them fired from behind. The reports also noted that the youths were in camouflage and khaki dresses when they were brought for autopsy. The incident has raised concerns about the circumstances surrounding the deaths and the ongoing ethnic violence in the state.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said that the central government has not enumerated caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in census since Independence.
A young Dalit woman was allegedly thrown into a hot cauldron of a jaggery-making unit for protesting against molestation in the Budaun district, police said on Sunday.
The CBI has so far registered eight cases which include two related to alleged sexual assault on women in Manipur.
The entire census and NPR exercise is likely to cost the government over Rs 12,000 crore, the officials said.
The home minister said the central forces deployment will be increased, if required, and that they should be deployed strategically to restore peace and tranquillity in the state, according to an official statement.
The ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur has claimed 258 lives since May last year, the state government's Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh said on Friday.
The deportation of Indians from the United States, deaths in the Maha Kumbh stampede and the joint Parliamentary committee report on the Waqf bill were among the issues that led to heated exchanges and some disruptions in an otherwise smooth first part of the Budget session that ended on Thursday.
Six people -- three women and three children -- belonging to the Meitei community had gone missing from a relief camp in Jiribam after a gunfight between security forces and suspected Kuki-Zo militants that resulted in the deaths of 10 insurgents on November 11.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has reviewed the security situation in Manipur for the second consecutive day, directing officials to focus on restoring peace and order in the state. The situation has been volatile following protests and violence after the recovery of bodies of women and children. Shah also ordered the deployment of 5,000 paramilitary troops to assist the state government in handling the situation.
According to the officer, the accused has confessed to the killings and said that he had an affair with the teacher's wife for 18 months which went sour later, leading to him shooting the family.
The reservation policy requires a fresh relook and new methods are needed for the uplift of people belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Schedule Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), Supreme Court judge Justice Pankaj Mithal said on Thursday.
Representatives from Kuki-Zo communities said their demands have crossed the point where they wanted President's rule to be imposed in the state, and now they see a Union Territory with legislature on the lines of Puducherry carved out of Manipur as the only solution to the ongoing strife.
However, Rajya Sabha being a continuing chamber is not subject to dissolution, and bills introduced and pending in this House remain on the live register, unless withdrawn by the government.
The incident occurred at Ningthoukhong Kha Khunou and the victims included a man and his 60-year-old father.
NCST acting vice-chairperson Ananta Nayak said they have also received complaints against a politician, which they would include in their report to the President, the official added.
A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a man to 20 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a minor girl in 2021, relying on the deposition of the six-year-old victim and other prosecution witnesses.
The Question Hour in Lok Sabha has been disrupted every day since March 13.
The mob also tried to snatch weapons from the police, forcing them to fire at the crowd. No casualty was reported so far, the sources said.
The protest started at 6 am on Tuesday with the blockade of the old National Highway 6, which connects Kolkata to Mumbai, at Khemasuli in Kharagpur Local police station area by Kudmi Samaj West Bengal, they said.
President Droupadi Murmu, in her address to the nation on Republic Day, advocated for the "One Nation One Election" initiative, emphasizing its potential to enhance governance and reduce financial burdens. She highlighted the government's efforts to eliminate remnants of colonialism, citing the replacement of British-era criminal laws with modern alternatives. Murmu also lauded India's economic progress, stressing the importance of inclusive growth and social welfare. She urged citizens to remember the sacrifices of freedom fighters and reaffirmed the significance of the Constitution in guiding India's journey towards a prosperous and equitable future.
Sharma's letter comes at a time the Congress has intensified its demand for a nationwide caste census and promised to carry out the exercise if elected to power in the Lok Sabha elections.
While data can empower communities, it reinforces identities, making local politics more caste-centric, with decisions increasingly contested on the grounds of representation.
Such dynamics could lead to shifting alliances and, in the worst case, local governance getting paralysed as each group demands proportional power-sharing, explain Amitabh Kundu and Mehebub Rahaman.
The court directed the CBI to investigate allegations of crimes against women and forcible land grabbing in Sandeshkhali and submit a comprehensive report to it on the next date of hearing.
'Digital courts will alleviate congestion in traditional courts.'
According to the latest data, the CBI has so far registered 27 cases handed over to it by the state police -- 19 cases of crime against women, three related to an armoury loot by a mob, two of murder and one each of rioting and murder, kidnapping and general criminal conspiracy, sources aware of the developments said.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwla and Manoj Misra, however, agrees to hear as many as 10 petitions of the Bihar government against the Patna HC verdict.
Manjhi's political journey took a dramatic turn when, in 2014, he was unexpectedly anointed Chief Minister by Nitish Kumar, who had resigned after a disastrous Lok Sabha election.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has cancelled his election rallies in Maharashtra and is returning to Delhi due to the volatile situation in Manipur. The home minister is likely to hold a meeting to review the situation in the northeastern state, where irate mobs have set fire to the residences of several BJP and Congress legislators. The incidents follow a series of killings and abductions by militants in the state.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan made some strong observations against the state while hearing a plea filed by Lunkhongam Haokip that he was suffering from piles and tuberculosis and was not taken to hospital by jail officials despite having severe backache.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Gujarat on Tuesday announced 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies like panchayats, municipalities and civic corporations on the basis of a commission's report, paving the way for polls in these self-governing institutes.
A government school teacher, his wife and two daughters were allegedly shot dead at their rented accommodation on Thursday, over a month after the family lodged a first information report (FIR) against a man saying he would be responsible if something untoward happened to them, police said.
Over 93 per cent of these children have been admitted to the nearest school, Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
