A Dalit student at Delhi University's Shaheed Bhagat Singh College has filed a police complaint alleging that its principal hurled casteist slurs and assaulted him after he was falsely accused of sending obscene messages on the official WhatsApp group of his department. The student, a third-year BA Hindi Honours student, claimed the incident caused him mental trauma and defamation. He has also written to the University Vice-Chancellor and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, seeking action against those involved. The principal has denied the allegations, claiming the student was being manipulated by a faculty member against whom an inquiry is underway.
The Congress will launch a nationwide campaign against the repeal of the United Progressive Alliance-era rural employment legislation Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on January 5, similar to the pushback against the three farm laws which eventually forced the Narendra Modi government to rollback its decision, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
The alleged honour killing of a Dalit IT engineer in Tamil Nadu has sparked outrage and demands for a separate legislation to handle such incidents. Allies of the ruling DMK are calling for action after the murder of Kavin Selvaganesh.
As outrage mounted over the death of a 19-year-old Dalit student, the Himachal Pradesh government on Saturday suspended an assistant professor booked on charges of sexually harassing her and announced an inquiry into allegations, including those of ragging and cast related abuse of the victim, while the University Grants Commission also set up a fact-finding committee.
Police have registered a case against journalist Siddique Kappan and 10 others in connection with a solidarity event held in Kochi condemning the arrest of journalist Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek.
Authorities in Chittapur, Karnataka, have denied permission for an RSS route march citing potential disruption of peace and law and order, amidst rising tensions and counter-protests.
The Bombay High Court has upheld the suspension of a Dalit PhD student from the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) for allegedly participating in a politically motivated protest against the central government's policies. The court found that the student's participation in the protest, under the banner of TISS' student organization, brought disrepute to the institute.
A Haryana Police ASI allegedly committed suicide, leaving behind a video and note accusing a late IPS officer of corruption. The incident follows controversy surrounding the officer's death and allegations of caste-based discrimination within the police force.
A 28-year-old revenue officer (lekhpal) in Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, died by suicide a day before his wedding, allegedly due to excessive work pressure related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The incident has triggered protests and accusations of harassment by revenue staff.
'The worst part is that after the attack on December 9, the Dehradun police refused to register an FIR for the murder.'
'Raj Thackeray is working at the behest of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.'
The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The high court directed the petitioners to file a fresh petition to the district collectors along with the route of the march.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance appeared to register a landslide victory in Bihar, opening up impressive leads in more than 180 of the state's 243 assembly seats, with early trends also indicating that the saffron party was on track to post its biggest tally.
As many as 101 people were sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Koppal district, Karnataka, for setting on fire the hutments of the Dalit community.
The power of Santosh hinges on the script, enhanced by Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar's performances, observes Deepa Gahlot.
'Our politics is transparent -- it's about ensuring farmers don't die by suicide, about ensuring agriculture remains viable, about ensuring food security for the nation.' 'If that's politics, then yes, we do politics.'
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal opposes including Marathas in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota, citing limited reservation available for existing OBC communities and warning of potential protests if their share is reduced.
'When the BJP wanted the election to focus on 'ghuspathiya' and promises that look like pies in the sky, we forced them to talk about jobs, giving free 125 units of power, and addressing women's indebtedness.'
'The Congress has faded and fighting for survival.'
This divergence is likely to intensify political dynamics both within the party and across the state, particularly as the opposition Mahagathbandhan -- comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, and Left parties -- has been aggressively protesting the SIR and demanding its immediate scrapping.
'Without our support Nitish Kumar wouldn't have become chief minister.' 'After the government was formed we became ministers, but our agenda remained the same: Amit Shah had promised reservation for Nishads.' 'He wouldn't listen, so we went to UP and contested 52 seats in the 2022 elections. He didn't like the idea of rebellion.' 'He saw that this man, coming from Bombay, is very sharp. He's made four MLAs now, tomorrow he'll make 40. A time will come when they will make it 125.' 'They bought our MLAs and ousted us from the government.'
The panel, headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, had called Patkar to hear her views on the implementation and effectiveness of the land acquisition law enacted by Parliament when the Congress-led UPA government was in power in 2013.
'Talking about boycotting polls is simply a move to galvanise party leaders, workers, and supporters for the big political fight.'
'If the BJP had its way, it would sideline him in favour of someone else. But that's not feasible. There is no vote catcher in Bihar for the BJP.'
'What attitude has spawned such gruesomeness in the state of Saint Tukaram, Saint Dnyaneshwar, and great leaders like Chhatrapati Shivaji, Chhatrapati Shahu, Phule and Ambedkar?'
The Cyberabad police that investigated the case informed the court that Rohith Vemula did not belong to Scheduled Caste and that he was aware of it.
The Congress party in India has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being "anti-Dalit" after a BJP leader sprinkled Ganga water at a Ram temple in Rajasthan to "purify" it following the visit of a Dalit Congress leader. The incident has sparked outrage among the Congress, with party leaders calling it an insult to Dalits and a reflection of the BJP's alleged casteist ideology.
'Arundhati Roy is like a ballerina performing on a high wire, cool, supremely at ease but conscious of all the adoring eyes on her,' notes P Vijaya Kumar.
The Congress party has voiced its opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, calling it a 'Tughlaqi process'. The party stated that all options are open for the INDIA bloc to collectively decide on the issue.
'And then the people who call themselves great nationalists, I can bet you that 99 per cent of them are dodging taxes, have sent their kids to America, or are doing everything to make sure that what goes on in this country doesn't affect their personal wealth or their whatever bull*&$%.'
So far, more than 20 youths have attempted suicide during the ongoing protest.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has launched a 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar to advocate for fair elections and protect voting rights, alleging irregularities in electoral rolls and accusing the BJP of attempting to disenfranchise voters.
'The moment they fall foul of the party in power, they become unsafe. Then nobody can guarantee their safety.'
Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ashish Shelar attacked the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi ahead of his upcoming visit to Maharashtra and sought an apology for his remarks on 'reservation ' and 'Veer Savarkar'.
'Both the DMK and ADMK are equally to blame.' 'When the question is violence against Dalits, they don't take measures to protect Dalits.'
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday condemned the violence in West Bengal's Murshidabad district following the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, accusing the opposition of instigating the violence. He also criticized the opposition for their alleged silence over the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh and emphasized the BJP's commitment to protecting Hindus.
Haryana: Dalits force shop owners to down shutters
The Narendra Modi government will purchase all farm produce at minimum support price, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.
