South Asia

This clarification from the Maharashtra State Council of Examination (MSCE) came days after the council’s directive for the June 28 examination; the initial instructions stated that candidates will not be allowed to wear items such as dupattas, burqas, masks and caps inside examination centres which triggered a debate among teachers and various social groups

Sanitation accused their supervisor of coercion, wage manipulation and caste-based abuse, alleging that workers are being pressured to surrender a recently approved ₹2,000 wage increase while being denied entitled leave. The allegations reflect the broader vulnerabilities faced by sanitation workers in Uttar Pradesh, which has recorded the highest number of sewer and septic tank deaths in India since 2017

After months of state-wide protests, thousands of objections and sustained civil society opposition, Maharashtra's controversial security law now faces a constitutional challenge before the Bombay High Court

The RSS shakha, well documented for its recounting of a manipulated history has, over past decades laid claims to being part of the wider democratic struggle against the Emergency; archival documents from independent sources, civil servants and writers, as also its own archive clearly document otherwise.

The reported desecration of graves in a century-old Muslim cemetery in Mathura raises troubling questions about dignity, religious freedom and state accountability

While efforts have been afoot in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh by civil rights groups and people’s movements to ensure inclusion of the maximum number of eligible voters under the ongoing, expanded, SIR process. The author argues how these efforts may come to naught, given the structural issues involved: a compromised ECI, rushed timelines and the unlawful and rigid document-test for citizenship. In fact, robust efforts in Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu where similar efforts were made also came to naught.

Ground Report I In Pani Sol, one of Bengal's largest villages of hawkers, Akbar Ali Mondal's killing has left thousands of Muslim traders fearful about earning a living and supporting their families