Politics

The Guardians of the Ballot: Supreme Court hearing the legality of executive primacy in ECI appointments

Across two days of intense legal arguments, the Supreme Court scrutinising the 2023 Act governing the appointment of Election Commissioners, as petitioners argued that replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Minister creates a "Home Umpire" system, while the Bench questioned the limits of parliamentary power, counsel warned that executive dominance over the "referee" of democracy threatens the basic structure of free and fair elections

Beware of Aadhaar: A warning on India’s biometric identity model on International Human Rights Day

On the eve of International Human Rights Day, 50 +, several organisations and individuals have launched a “Beware of Aadhaar” Campaign: The signatories have flagged the issue that Aadhaar is “not a model to emulate but it raises serious concerns about surveillance, exclusion and rights violations on the ground. This statement, “Beware of Aadhar” offers a concise critique of India’s digital ID experiment and why exporting it is dangerous

Mobile as Opium: A Nation Sedated By Screens

The Late Prof M. P. Manmathan (1915–1994) belonged to...

The Tamil Nadu Challenge: The Self-Respect Movement and Periyar E.V. Ramasami

Of late, in Tamil Nadu, the Communists and the Self Respecters (members of the DK) who have until now been viewing each other with disdain until two decades ago, have, through the re-discovery of Periyar by the former realised the value of a political reaffirmation of the fundamentals of the Self-Respect Movement. This is crucial in the state given the current context of the brutal march of ‘Hindutva Hegemons’.  Both movements now face a historical challenge, in theory and practice, to be able to convincingly – and through action - club the anti-caste struggle with the class struggle  

Baba Adhav the grassroots campaigner and leader of the socially oppressed passed away at 96

An intrepid and committed social reformer and organiser of the urban working class, labourers, domestic workers, waste-pickers, Baba Adhav of the “Ek Gaon Ek Panavtha” (One Village One Water Source/Well), who challenged the caste system, died in Pune on Monday December 8

It is religion-based politics that refuses to root out caste: Baba Adhav in conversation with Teesta Setalvad

In October 2014, Baba Adhav had this illuminating conversation with Teesta Setalvad, co-editor of Sabrangindia

Nearly 50 lakh names flagged for deletion in West Bengal, state government announces Rs. 2 Lakh relief for SIR-linked deaths, CM Mamta Banerjee launches...

The SIR flagged almost 50 lakh names in West Bengal as potentially removable from the voters’ list, triggering a wave of anxiety among the electors, 39 deaths the state links to “SIR panic,” the TMC government has announced compensation and block-level help camps from December 12 to assist affected residents

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

Massive duplicate entries in Mumbai voter rolls trigger political uproar; opposition flags “fraudulent patterns” and pressures SEC for action

With more than 10.6% of Mumbai’s electorate appearing multiple times in the SEC’s draft rolls—some duplicated over a hundred times—the Opposition alleges targeted tampering in their strongholds, raises alarm over rising “elected unopposed” patterns, and demands urgent corrective action and extended scrutiny

Israel, United States & and other complicit entities guilty of genocide, ecocide, and forced starvation in Palestine: International People’s Tribunal

After two days of intense hearings, coincidence of in-person and online testimonies, the Tribunal delivered its verdict to the world and found the US, Israel, UK, Germany, France, Hungary, The Netherlands and others guilty of ecocide and forces starvation of the Palestinian people

‘Designed to Exclude’: The ongoing enumeration phase of the SIR

In a multi-state report on the hasty and ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process being conducted by the ECI, the PUCL has, echoing what opposition parties and other civil rights groups been stating, called it ‘designed to excluide’

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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj: An inclusive ruler

The far Hindutva right continues its assault on the iconic Shivaji Maharaj in their crude bid to distort history and manipulate facts

The Guardians of the Ballot: Supreme Court hearing the legality of executive primacy in ECI appointments

Across two days of intense legal arguments, the Supreme Court scrutinising the 2023 Act governing the appointment of Election Commissioners, as petitioners argued that replacing the Chief Justice of India with a Union Minister creates a "Home Umpire" system, while the Bench questioned the limits of parliamentary power, counsel warned that executive dominance over the "referee" of democracy threatens the basic structure of free and fair elections

Anticipatory Bail Denied to Nida Khan in TCS Nashik Case: Sessions Court flags “systematic plan” and stresses custodial interrogation

While emphasising gravity and custodial interrogation, Sessions Court order leans heavily on narrative of “organised influence”—raising concerns over evidentiary thresholds, criminalisation of religious interaction, and expansion of bail-stage reasoning

“Reasonable Apprehension of Bias Is Enough”: Telangana High Court orders CBCID probe into SI’s death, reasserts constitutional demand for investigative neutrality

In a sharply reasoned ruling, the Court holds that when police investigate their own, fairness cannot merely exist—it must be demonstrable, credible, and constitutionally defensible

“Obnoxious and Caste-Coloured”: Supreme Court strikes down Odisha bail orders mandating cleaning work, declares them void

Acting on suo-moto proceedings triggered by media reports, the Court condemns “degrading” bail conditions imposed on Dalit and Adivasi accused, warns against judicial overreach, and reinforces that liberty cannot be conditioned on humiliation or caste-based labour

Caged Voices, Silenced Truths: FSC’s expansive indictment of India’s press freedom crisis

On World Press Freedom Day 2026, the Free Speech Collective (FSC) assembles a powerful, deeply layered account of repression, incarceration, and systemic silencing—centring the stories of jailed journalists Rupesh Kumar Singh and Irfan Mehraj to expose the widening fault lines in India’s democratic promise

Systematic Exclusion: Caste-based atrocities across Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, MP, and UP

A spate of anti-Dalit incidents—from a youth killed over leftover food in Amreli to a suspicious death after an inter-caste relationship in Tamil Nadu, and social boycotts in Khargone—also includes temple bans and clashes over Dalit wedding processions

May Day Dramatised

When Safdar Hashmi wrote a play on the centenary of May Day, 1986.