Hate & Harmony

Censorship and the Drumbeats of Hate: Mapping the state of free speech ahead of the 2026 polls

A new report by Free Speech Collective traces five years of censorship, criminalisation of dissent, and the rise of hate-driven political discourse across Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry—raising urgent questions about the conditions for free and fair elections

Supreme Court asked to intervene as petitions flag “normalisation of hate” in Assam CM’s public speeches

CPIM, Annie Raja, former civil servants and clerics seek FIRs, an independent SIT and binding guidelines on speech by constitutional functionaries, alleging sustained communal targeting and abuse of executive authority

Suo moto cognisance of repeated hate speech by CM Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma must: Assam’s public intellectuals to Gauhati HC

Close to a dozen public intellectuals including Hiren Gohain, Harekrishna Deka, former DGP, Assam and author, Dr. Indrani Dutta, former Director, Omiyo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development, among so many others, have in a letter petition to CJ, Gauhati High Court, Justice Vijay Bishnoi drawn attention of the Court to series of inciteful statements by Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister and urged suo moto cognisance

How defending a 70-year-old Muslim shopkeeper triggered FIRs, highway blockades, and a law-and-order crisis in Uttarakhand

What began as a local intervention against alleged intimidation over a shop’s name spiralled into right-wing mobilisation, multiple FIRs, and a national debate on selective policing, free speech, and communal harmony in Kotdwar

Rajasthan: Gogamedi, a Rajput-Muslim shrine and the politics of communal capture

The onslaught on the syncretic Gogamedi shrine, that has, for 10 centuries (1,000 years) attracted Hindu and Muslim devotees alike—that too launched by an outside Brahmin influencer --is nothing but a hegemonizing project of appropriation and erasure

Hate Politics and the Message of Hazrat Bulleh Shah

Uttarakhand is increasingly emerging as a hotspot of hate crimes

CJP files NBDSA complaint over Zee News’s ‘Kalicharan Maharaj vs 4 Maulanas’, alleging communal framing and hate tropes

CJP moves NBDSA against Zee News for communal framing and editorial failure; seeks takedown, apology, and regulatory action

Demolition of Adivasi homes at Sanjay Gandhi National Park on Republic Day

Outrage of the demolition of Adivasi homes (padas) at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, without necessary verification of the land records under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 have cause consternation on Republic Day, 2026; while authorities claim this is as per an Order of the High Court, protesters say that no attempt of due process ensued: no notice; children are out of school and electricity and transport have been stopped

The Anatomy of Humiliation: Defining caste violence in the Constitutional era

Seventy-five years after the Constitution promised equality, caste hierarchy continues to define who may speak, study, worship, or even judge with dignity. From agrarian fields and university campuses to social media and the Supreme Court itself, this essay traces how violence against Dalits has evolved—becoming systemic, networked, and politically legitimised in India

From Purola to Nainital: APCR report details pattern of communal violence in Uttarakhand

Based on field investigations and testimonies, the report documents violence, intimidation, and displacement of Muslim families across the state over four years

Flip and then a Flop: 50 students of the Vaishno Devi MBBS institute will now be admitted to 7 medical colleges in Jammu, Kashmir

Hours after saying it cannot conduct fresh counselling, the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) had a change of heart and called students for counselling on January 24; Following nationwide outrage on the original move to cancel admissions, these students will now be adjusted in seven government-run medical colleges across J&K based on NEET-UG merit, their preferences

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“Inside the SIR”: Booklet flags ‘mechanical disenfranchisement’ in electoral roll revision

CJP–VFD publication combines training manual and ground documentation to question ongoing voter verification exercise

Censorship and the Drumbeats of Hate: Mapping the state of free speech ahead of the 2026 polls

A new report by Free Speech Collective traces five years of censorship, criminalisation of dissent, and the rise of hate-driven political discourse across Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry—raising urgent questions about the conditions for free and fair elections

AERO dies by suicide in Kolkata, family alleges extreme election duty pressure and humiliation

A 48-year-old Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) died by suicide in South Kolkata’s Bansdroni area after consuming pesticide, the tragic death of Malabika Roy Bhattacharyya has sparked serious concerns regarding the immense pressure placed on government officials tasked with SIR/Election duties, with her family explicitly blaming the ECI for the extreme workload

UP’s syncretic warrior cults facing Hindutva challenge

Be it the attack on the Gogamedi shrine in the Hanumangarh district of northern Rajasthan or the Neja Mela in the Sambhal district of western Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva’s systemic attack on India’s syncretic traditions, past and present, reveals its rigid and Brahmanical ideological orientation: imposition of a strictly hierarchical, exclusionary and structured notion of faith and practice

No Hearing, No Notice, Just Deletion: How Bengal’s SIR Erased a Decorated IAF Officer

The removal of Wing Commander Md Shamim Akhtar, who served the nation for 17 years, during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) highlights a systemic lack of due process that threatens the voting rights of even the most distinguished citizens

An Adivasi woman once in bonded labour now serves her village as a Sarpanch

As India marks 50 years of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, cases of bonded labour still surface in states like Telangana where many workers in sectors such as agriculture, brick kilns, fishing and construction remain trapped in debt and coercion; here the author reflects on a transformative journey of an Adivasi woman who serves as a Sarpanch.

Abdul Sheikh Citizenship Case: Deportation stayed as Gauhati High Court Hears challenge to ex parte foreigner declaration, state to raise maintainability issue

Court allows preliminary objection while continuing stay on deportation; petitioner explains delay to challenge FT order through prolonged detention, lack of access to the detenue, financial constraints, and absence of legal aid