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“Rath Prabharis” to Nodal Officers: Will the Name Change help in depoliticising Bureaucracy?
The latest incursion by the Modi 2.0 government, in galvanising officers from India’s central administrative service to showcase it’s government schemes, on the eve of five state elections and six months before the 2024 general questions raises serious questions of constitutional proprietary and overreach; as crucially it flags the question on why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its widely eulogised mantle of electoral prowess, would after nine years in power, need this additional crutch!
Barabanki prison celebrates the revered month of Ramzan!
Is it possible to change the dynamics of a prison through religious harmony? Barabanki jail sets a benchmark for such ideals!
Hate Offender: BJP state VP, Vikram Pawaskar uses abuse and intimidation against Satara’s Muslims, wants “Hindu Rashtra”
Accused of organising and stoking violence against Muslims in Satara (August-September 2023), SabrangIndia tracked down BJP’s Vikram Pawaskar. On September 15, as communal conflict was stoked over controversial social media posts in the western Maharashtra town, widespread destruction of minority property, the death of one Muslim man, with several others being injured resulted. Our investigation unearthed a previous history of hate speech that are attributable to this party functionary
Modi Govt backs down from dubbing IAS Officers ‘Rath Prabharis’, EC notice follows
Officers have now been instructed to participate in Prime Minister Modi's yatra on November 15 and the union government has backed down from this campaign in the five poll-bound states. Merely stating that these public servants won't be called "rath prabharis" may not work, given the sharp opposition that the government’s plans have been met with; ECI issued a notice to the union government on the issue also yesterday, after a former IAS officer, EAS Sharma lodged a complaint
Maharashtra: 13 lakh construction workers will be denied Rs 1 mid-day meals from Nov 1
Mid-day reports that a March 2019 scheme of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Udhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena) is now being summarily scrapped, without consultation by the Eknath-Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government
Muslims, victims of targeted violence in Pusesavali, Satara: Fact-finding report
Demanding an impartial probe into the September 10 incidents in western Maharashtra, this detailed report by the Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), also investigates how a derogatory social media post on Allah was created and used in ‘tit for tat’ tactics to further communal polarisation; on September 15, citizens of Mumbai and Maharashtra had demanded compensation for Nurul Hassan Shikalgar and a judicial probe; Satara police had found that the August 2023 social media post attributed to a young Muslim was posted by another
From Karnataka to Rajasthan, Dalit lives remain in danger
Despite achieving historical milestone globally, the Dalit community faces violence throughout the country, Sabrang India reports
India: Criminalisation of protests, police action against supporters of Palestine
Over the past weeks, innumerable protests – some impromptu, many by Muslim organisations and a few by rights organisations – have been organised across many big and small cities in India. These protests, largely peaceful, have raised citizen’s voices against what is seen as Israel’s siege and relentless bombing of Gaza. Indian law enforcement authorities from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh (UP) to Delhi have however, in many cases taken “action.”
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Hate Speech
Punjab & Haryana High Court refuses anticipatory bail to journalist accused of provocative, communal statements against Purvanchal community
Justice Sumeet Goel cites prima facie digital evidence, seriousness of hate-motivated speech, and the need for custodial interrogation
Rights
Six Days Behind Bars After Bail: Patna High Court orders ₹2 lakh relief, flags state-wide pattern of illegal detention
Court rejects “festival holiday” defence, directs IG Prisons to fix systemic lapses and ensure jail superintendents comply with court orders
Communal Organisations
The Politics of Processions: How the Sanatan Ekta Padyatra amplified hate speech in plain sight
As the Sanatan Ekta Padyatra traversed 422 village panchayats across three states, it carried not merely religious symbolism but explicit political messaging. Calls for a Hindu Rashtra, vilification of Muslim communities, and assertions of majoritarian dominance raise serious questions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s provisions on promoting enmity, inciting violence, and disturbing public tranquillity. Yet, as the aftermath shows, ranging from protests in Datia to a clash in Vrindavan, the legal system’s response has been fragmented and cautious. This report interrogates that legal vacuum, situating the padyatra within established precedents of hate-speech jurisprudence and the enduring gap between statutory safeguards and ground-level enforcement.
Communalism
A Decade after Bisada: Why Uttar Pradesh’s attempt to drop the Akhlaq lynching case defies law and constitution
Ten years after the Dadri lynching shocked India and forced a national reckoning on hate violence, the Uttar Pradesh government has moved to withdraw prosecution against the accused — raising critical questions of law, constitutional duty, and deliberate impunity
India
Bihar Elections: Trains for votes? The unanswered mystery of the ‘phantom’ specials from Haryana to Bihar
Explosive RTI documents reveal unannounced special trains running from Haryana to Bihar mere days before polling, serious allegations of state-sponsored voter smuggling, as the dust settles on the Bihar 2025 verdict, video evidence of ‘free tickets’ compounds the mystery, leaving questions over the violation of the Model Code of Conduct, the definition of "Corrupt Practice" under the RP Act, and the deafening silence of the Election Commission dangerously unanswered
