Five pledges for dalit shakti
Martin Macwan's Dalit Shakti Kendra in Gujarat provides vocational training to dalit youth. More importantly, it gives them a sense of identity
Zagor, the Goan festival of communal amity, under threat
Will the centuries-old zagor tradition, in which Hindus and Christians jointly celebrate the harvest, be destroyed by commercialisation and communal forces?
The Haji Malang shrine: Whose God is it anyway?
The popular shrine of Haji Abdur Rehman Shah Malang near Mumbai, where Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and other communities have worshipped together for generations, is being contested by fundamentalist Hindus and Muslims
Shirdi is losing its Sufi traditions
In the temple town of Shirdi, Moharrum is no longer celebrated alongside Ram Navami, a practice begun by the Sufi saint Sai Baba. The cracks in the town's legendary amity between Hindus and Muslims are beginning to show
Consent cannot be manufactured by guns
Protestors have gathered on the road to the Kalinganagar industrial area in Orissa. The bodies of four of those killed in police firing on January 2, are laid out here. This on-the-spot report records the seething anger against the industries that are usurping the lands, livelihoods and basic rights of adivasi farmers
Penalising clients of sex workers: Pros and cons
Will the amendments to the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act proposed by the government protect sex workers from exploitation at the hand of clients and police, or will it end up making them more vulnerable?
Barbers continue their fight for dignity in Orissa
On October 4, human rights activist Baghambar Patnaik was arrested by the Orissa government for leading over 300 lower caste Bariks (barbers) in a silent protest against inhuman treatment by the upper castes
The mining mafia calls the shots
In the stone quarries of Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh, women and children work for as little as Rs 2 and 2 kg of wheat a day. Here there are villages peopled only by the widows of men who have died of lung disorders or mining disasters. But the local administration denies that child labour, bonded labour or exploitative practices exist in its jurisdiction
Detained for serving meals to 'militants'
Hundreds of women are picked up by the police and imprisoned under the draconian Prevention Of Terrorism Act, often under frivolous charges
Caste wars simmer as defiant barbers refuse to wash the feet of 'upper castes'
In Puri district of Orissa, the 'lower caste' Bariks (barbers) will no longer wash the feet of upper-caste families at social events. They will no longer perform other caste-driven occupations. The ' upper caste' farmer Khandayats refuse to accept this defiance of the social order and have retaliated with a social and economic boycott. Manipadma Jena travelled to the villages where the caste war has been simmering since 2001