Everyone was shocked when recently the Maoists had tied bombs to the dead bodies of jawans in Latehar. The media highlighted this for days together. It deserved condemnation and rightly so. Why did they do it and from whom did they learn that type of cruelty?

Ranchi, October 1: Why are the Adivasis of Nagri refusing to part with their land? The people clearly see how the Jharkhand State Government is playing deadly games with their lives and showing a bias towards the elites at the cost of poor Adivasis.

Two very different world-views: the one of the Adivasi people and the other of the Jharkhand State Government.

“Tribal teams should be trained to undertake administration and development without too many outsiders being inducted.” (Jawaharlal Nehru)

Bagaicha-Namkum, 17 June: “In all areas, where Muslims are a majority, Muslim police officers should be appointed”, notified the Central Government recently to all the State Governments in keeping with Justice Sacher Commission’s recommendation in its report, ‘The Muslim Demography of India’ 2006. The State governments have been asked to report to the centre about their compliance in this regard. It is a commendable step in curbing the growing communal tendencies against minority communities in the country.

The five-year-long struggle in Pachwara, Pakud district, Jharkhand, led by the Rajmahal Pahad Bacho Andolan (RPBA) against the Panem company's captive mining for the Punjab Electricity Board was a much discussed people's movement in India. The movement had three distinct stages: resistance, legal battle and settlement with the company. It was the negotiated settlement with the company and the corresponding MoU signed by the company and the people's representatives that continued to invite more attention to Pachwara. One of the protagonists of the movement unfolds the important events in the last five years of struggle and settlement. Tom Kavala, a key representative of the RPBA, modestly cautions that he does not want to extol the MoU as the model for all situations where people's rights over land and resources are poised against the interest of the State or corporate agencies. Tom Kavala, SJ., has been working with tribal communities in Jharkhand for the last few decades. Tom Kavala is one of the active persons associated with the RPBA struggle in all its stages. His role in connecting the movement to other social actors is substantial. Tom is also actively participating in various social issues in Jharkhand and neighbouring states.