Rights

When Conservation Becomes Coercion: The silent violence faced by the Tharus of Kheri

Over 4,000 Tharu Adivasis in Lakhimpur Kheri — including a blind man, a chronically ill man, and several elders — have been wrongfully booked. This analysis shows how administrative discretion and recent forest-law amendments are further undermining the protections guaranteed to forest-dwelling communities under the Forest Rights Act, 2006

How high is the price of criticism? Professor Mahmudabad arrested for his criticism of politics of hatred

The targeting of a respected scholar from the minority community, for a critical comment on the politics of hatred during a national security operation underscores the growing erosion of free speech, institutional autonomy, and dissent in contemporary India

Full Text | Ashoka University Professor Ali Mahmudabad’s Posts that Haryana Police Calls ‘Sedition’

This is the full text of Ali Mahmudabad's posts for which he has been arrested under charges that point to sedition.

Pushed Out of Sight: The covert deportation and detention crisis at Assam’s Matia detention centre

From silent pushbacks to prolonged illegal detentions, India’s handling of Rohingya and other foreign nationals at the Matia detention centre reveals a disturbing erosion of due process, humanitarian obligations, and constitutional safeguards

BJP govt’s ‘inhumane deportation of 40 Rohingya refugees’ condemned: PUCL

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has condemned...

One woman against a thousand superstitions, Birubala Rabha’s battle against the superstition of ‘Witch-Hunting’

Though this pioneering feminist activist breathed her last on May 13, 2024, her work with the Thakurvilla Mahila Samiti and Missiom Birubala has been recognized internationally and May 13 has been declared Anti-Superstition Day in Assam

A Republic That Listens: The Supreme Court’s poetic defence of dissent through Imran Pratapgarhi judgment

In quashing the FIR against MP Imran Pratapgarhi, the Supreme Court reasserts that metaphors are not misdemeanours and that in a democracy, the right to dissent is not a crime but a constitutional commitment

Censorship: The Wire, India’s credible news and analysis portal blocked, widespread condemnation

The Wire, founded by Siddharth Varadarajan, MK Venu and Siddharth Bhatia a decade ago, was served blocking orders by the government of India on the morning of May 9; the censorship action has been widely condemned

Following executive order from government, X asked to block 8000 accounts in India

Social media platform ‘X’ (former Twitter) informed on its Global Affairs account that, “we have begun that process, however, we disagree with the government’s demands, blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary—it amounts to censorship of both existing and future content,” X acknowledged the decision wasn’t easy but “keeping the platform accessible in India is vital to Indians' ability to access information,” X also added it had received no evidence or justification for the sweeping block order, in a controversial move, even X’s own @GlobalAffairs account was temporarily withheld in India—though later restored

Maharashtra’s Special Public Security Bill, 2024 faces massive pushback, receives record 12,750 objections

The Maharashtra government’s proposed bill, allegedly aimed at enhancing public security, has sparked unprecedented opposition, with rights groups and citizens raising serious concerns over its impact on civil liberties, democracy, and dissent

India’s Free Speech Crisis Deepens: 329 violations recorded in just four months of 2025

From murdered journalists to banned films, the first quarter of 2025 marks a disturbing escalation in censorship, intimidation, and law fare—highlighted by the Free Speech Collective's latest findings

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Hate Has No Place in Elections: CJP moves State EC against BJP MP Ashwini Choubey’s communal speech

In Bhagalpur’s Pirpainti, the senior BJP leader urged “Muslim brothers” to reduce their population and referred to “infiltrators,” breaching the Model Code of Conduct and constitutional values

Hindutva’s Rajasthan Project: Brahmin-Bania Power, not just Muslim baiting

The RSS’ and Hindutva’s strategy in Rajasthan has systematically pushed the dominance of a Brahmin–Bania synergy that shrewdly ensures that while Muslims are scapegoated, Rajputs are historically and politically side-lined and the real beneficiaries are the Brahmin-Bania elites who monopolise both state power and wealth.

When Conservation Becomes Coercion: The silent violence faced by the Tharus of Kheri

Over 4,000 Tharu Adivasis in Lakhimpur Kheri — including a blind man, a chronically ill man, and several elders — have been wrongfully booked. This analysis shows how administrative discretion and recent forest-law amendments are further undermining the protections guaranteed to forest-dwelling communities under the Forest Rights Act, 2006

Lives in the Margins: Reading India’s suicide data beyond the numbers

India’s rising suicides tell a national story the state refuses to hear: of farmers abandoned, students crushed, and women erased from data

CJP seeks action against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and AIMIM’s Tausif Alam for election code violations in Bihar

In twin complaints to the Election Commission, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) alleges Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and AIMIM candidate Tausif Alam of crossing constitutional red lines — one by communalising the campaign with hate-laden rhetoric, the other by threatening brutal violence against a rival, exposing the deep decay of democratic discourse in the Bihar elections

PIL filed in the Patna High Court, claims the MMR Yojana was used to influence voters by making payments after the MCC was in effect

‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana’: A Public Interest Litigation [PIL] filed in the Patna High Court accuses the Bihar government of ‘political bribery,’ it alleges the state brazenly disbursed 2,500 crores in cash grants to 25 lakh women after the Model Code of Conduct for the 2025 Assembly Elections was already in effect

From Campaign Trail to Communal Provocation: CJP files complaint against Bandi Sanjay Kumar for divisive campaigning in Hyderabad by-election

Mocking Islamic practices and appealing to Hindu identity for votes, CJP’s complaint says that the BJP leader’s remarks violate the Model Code of Conduct, the Representation of the People Act, and the spirit of India’s secular Constitution

Say No to ‘Toxic Governance’: Arrest air pollution, not activists and protesters: NACEJ

The Delhi NCR Pollution crisis needs firm, well-implemented policy shifts and institutional action against prime causes of pollution, not citizens: Restore Fundamental Right to Breathe, says a nationwide alliance dedicated to the battle for a cleaner environment and against climate change.