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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
USCIRF’s Call for Sanctions on the RSS Is a Major Moral and Political Marker
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), in its 2026 Annual Report, has apart from continuing to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), also recommended targeted sanctions against the RSS; this is a first.
Odisha: 18 months, 54 incidents of communal hate crimes, 7 mob lynchings
Admitting to a spiral in communally driven hate crimes in eastern state of Odisha since June 2024 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a majoritarian outfit came to power, Odisha’s chief minister, Charan Majhi said on Monday, March 9 that 54 such incidents and seven mob lynchings were recorded in that state; this was in a written reply to the State Assembly
Varanasi, UP: No to war, we want peace
A vibrant protest and silent hunger strike (maun upwas) was undertaken by citizens of Varanasi protesting US-Israel’s unprovoked war on Iran; the protest took place at the symbolic Ambedkar Park on Saturday, March 7, under the banner of Sanjha Sanskriti Manch
Why Cricket should remain above religious nationalism
The sight of the captain of the victorious Indian T-20 team, Surya Kumar Yadav, jubilantly accompanying ICC Chairman Jay Shah to a temple in Ahmedabad has drawn sharp comments on social media.
A history that teaches, a historian that shared, in Memoriam: Professor K.N. Panikkar
On March 9, 2026, a Monday, noted historian and alumni of the indomitable Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), K.N.Panikkar, passed away at a hospital in Thiruvanthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala. Born on April 26, 1936, KN as he was fondly known by fellow academics and activists alike, was one of the pioneers of the Marxist school of historiography
US-Israel War on Iran sees spirals in Hate against Muslim Americans: CSOH
The Centre for the Study of Organised Hate has analysed how Islamophobic discourse has spiralled post February 28 when the US-Israel launched an attack on Iran
Maharashtra’s Anti-Conversion Bill: Legislating suspicion in the name of “love jihad”
CJP Team -
The proposed Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 2026 seeks to criminalise alleged forced conversions with harsh penalties and intrusive state oversight
Wars Fought in The Name of Women’s Rights
Can bombs liberate women? Can missiles deliver freedom? From...
STOP the War, NOW!
After the entire world said “Never Again!” post-World War II, and signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 – can the world’s people afford World War III?
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ALL STORIES
Communalism
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
Politics
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
Communal Organisations
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
Minorities
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
Dalit Bahujan Adivasi
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.
Rights
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
History
Bhagat Singh sent to gallows once again!
Repeated attempts by present day academics to whittle down the tradition followed and forged by young revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh are bound to fail; as history endures with the traditions laid by these very men