Thieves cut off Hindu sadhu’s ‘holy leg’

By Omer Farooq
BBC News, Hyderabad
Police in southern India are hunting for two men who attacked a Hindu holy man, cut off his right leg and then made off with it.
The 80-year-old holy man, Yanadi Kondaiah, claimed to have healing powers in the leg.
He is now recovering from his ordeal in hospital in the city of [...]

Hindu gods get summons from court

By Amarnath Tewary,Patna
A judge in India has summoned two Hindu gods, Ram and Hanuman, to help resolve a property dispute.
Judge Sunil Kumar Singh in the eastern state of Jharkhand has issued adverts in newspapers asking the gods to “appear before the court personally”.
The gods have been asked to appear before the court on Tuesday, after [...]

Muslims and Dalits discriminated in corporate India

For some time now and especially after publication of Sachar Committee Report Muslims put much emphasis on acquiring modern education. In rapidly globalized economy of India, education was promised to be the key to a brighter future for Muslim kids.
A recent study, however, finds that getting a call for interview can be reduced to as [...]

Untouchables’ left behind in booming nation

DALLIPUR, India — The hip young Indians working inside this country’s multinational call centers have one thing in common: Almost all hail from India’s upper and middle castes, elites in this highly stratified society.
India may be booming, but not for those who occupy the lowest rung of society. The Dalits, once known as untouchables, continue [...]

The false pride of the National Human Rights Commission of India

Indians take pride in several issues ranging from democracy to unity in diversity. Most of this “pride speech” is often by India’s middle class and neo-rich that are sometimes completely disconnected from reality. The government and its various agencies often reflect similar pride.
The government of India has spared no venue to boast about itself whenever [...]

India needs 124 years for clearing pending cases in its courts

Backlog of cases has become a big problem for the judiciary — from the Supreme Court to the subordinate courts. At the current speed, the lower courts, may take 124 years for clearing 2.5 lakh cases.
In the last seven years, the disposal rate has [...]

More than 50 pc Muslim women backward in West Bengal : survey

If being born as a girl child is not the bottom-line, as revealed by the nation-wide survey on child abuse, perhaps being born as a Muslim girl in West Bengal is, so points out the National Family Health Survey II.
Be it education, media exposure (watching TV, cinema), health family planning or even in basic decision-making [...]

Justice Rare for Victims of Minority Persecution in India

NEW DELHI, INDIA — For the first time an all-India picture has emerged of anti-Christian violence from a people’s tribunal.
Victims of Christian persecution from across India shared their horrific stories and highlighted the denial of justice to them before an independent people’s jury.
According to International Christian Concern (ICC), the depositions were part of « The [...]

Caste system is racial discrimination: UN rights panel

GENEVA: UN Human Rights Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has controverted India’s stand at its recent Geneva hearings that the caste system is not racial discrimination based on descent.
In its concluding observations, CERD, which consists of reputed international experts in international law, academics, sociologists and diplomacy, arrived at the conclusion that India’s [...]

Billionaires contribute 25 percent of India’s GDP !

Bad Governance Promotes Bad Business
Nandigram violence bespeaks inefficient policies of Indian government
India is a fascinating, incredible nation — the more one sees of it, the more one is mesmerized by its sheer diversity. Many of us Indians, seeing the country from within, wonder how it is perceived by the rest of the world.
In the mid-seventies, [...]