Why were Dr Narendra Dabholkar and Comrade Govind Pansare gunned down? Not because they had adopted an insular, narrow-minded stand against another such equally insular and narrow minded position; what

The other day when pope held an all-religion meeting at the site of 9/11 Monument in New York City. A young Hindu woman uttered the following ancient Sūtra: Asato Ma

Narendra Dabholkar, the founder of the ANS had started a campaign against the caste panchayats and had organised a series of meetings across the state under the program  named ‘Jaat

BILL No. …of 2015 A BILL to provide for the prohibition of social boycott of a person or group of persons including their family members, and for matters connected therewith

Khap Panchayats have no legal recognition and they interfere with normal functioning of society by making decisions. It is not the job of Khap Panchayats to make decisions in Republic

  Statement of Objects and Reasons There has been a spurt in illegal intimidation by self-appointed bodies for bringing pressure against Sagotra marriages and inter-caste, inter-community and inter-religious marriages between

In a state where self-appointed caste panchayats routinely ostracise people for transgressing social norms, the government is finally taking a step forward. This monsoon session, the Maharashtra government is due

We may believe that in the 21st century inequities like social boycott may be a thing of the past. But Raigad district in Maharashtra has again shown the harsh truth

Suman Tayde, 14-month-old Dipti’s grandmother is growing anxious as the child has gone without milk since Saturday. The village hasn’t run out of supplies, but since October 12, Dalits of

Picture your community ostracising you even if you hadn’t committed a crime. Your ‘crime’ could simply have been offending someone’s sentiments. Devendra Fadnavis wants to do away with such social

In awarding brutal punishment to people who defy social norms based on superstitions, patriarchy and casteism in villages, gaavkis or caste panchayats in Maharashtra openly subvert the law of the

While Indians take pride in calming that the Art (15) of our constitution provides for “Protection for Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of

Maharashtra will be the first state in the country to enact a law against social boycott of individuals or families by caste panchayats. A draft of the said act called

Maharashtra’s draft law to curb social boycott is welcome but it needs to be strengthened. The notoriety of the actions of North India’s khap panchayats has overshadowed the sizeable number