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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

Healthcare in Karnataka: Is a Health Bill the Need of the Hour?

The Karnataka Janaarogya Chaluvali (Karnataka People’s Health Movement/Struggle) has written a strong critique of the draft Karnataka Right to Health and Emergency Medical Services Bill 2025, questioning its rationale and orientation; the critique points how this draft has been mostly borrowed from the Rajasthan Right to Health Act (2022). Besides, says KJC, while some activists in Karnataka have been clamoring for a replication of the Rajasthan Right to Health Act, this demand has been made without investing too much thought into whether this is what Karnataka requires

Assam’s Electoral Rolls in Crisis: CJP flags structural manipulation in Summary Revision

CJP-led memorandum to the Election Commission documents forged objections, misuse of Form 7, and violations of statutory safeguards meant to protect the right to vote

When Protest becomes a “Threat”: Inside the Supreme Court hearing on Sonam Wangchuk’s NSA detention

From alleged “Arab Spring inspiration” to missing exculpatory material, the case raises stark questions about preventive detention, free speech, and governance in India’s border regions

Indian Agriculture: Between the 2026 Union budget & US-India trade deal, a huge setback for Indian farmers

While the Indian corporate media has hailed the reduction of tariffs to the US, now at 18 per cent (still up from the previous single digit figures), it is the blanket non-tariff barriers to US agriculture goods that will hit Indian farmers hard

Parade of Public Shaming: How Rajasthan police’s illegal “arrest rituals” replace due process with public defilement

In open defiance of law, Supreme Court guidelines, and even their own DGP’s orders, Rajasthan Police have normalised the public parading of accused and suspects, turning due process into a degrading public spectacle—an illegality repeated through 2025 with the state’s top police office remaining silent

Hearing in batch of CJP-led petitions challenging state Anti-Conversion laws defers in SC; Interim relief applications pending since April 2025

Petitions pending since 2020 challenge the constitutional validity of conversion-regulating laws enacted by nine States; next hearing scheduled for February 3, 2026

British Citizen of Indian Origin detained in India: A Legal Analysis of Dr Sangram Patil’s Detention

A UK based Health Consultant at NHS Dr Sangram Patil Detained in India appeals to HC for the Quashing of the FIR and rescinding of the LOC

Bombay High Court rejects State’s adjournment plea in Sangram Patil case; hearing to proceed on February 4

Court refuses to delay hearing, noting continued travel restriction due to Look Out Circular and absence of State’s reply

MP: Village in Ratlam gives call to ‘socially boycott’ families over love marriages

Illustrative of how a regressive rhetoric by an aggressive right wing-- read ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies-- can embolden an archaic conservatism, a village in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh, has given a call for a ‘social boycott’ over love marriages. The call was reportedly given after eight couples from the village eloped and got married in the past six months

Form-7 and the Politics of Exclusion: How Assam’s voter revision has become a battleground

From mass objections in Sribhumi to legal notices by affected voters, the Special Revision has triggered alarm over the misuse of electoral procedures

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

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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

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

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